Staff Software Engineer, Identity & Access - AI Platform

About the Role:

Identity is one of the two gates every enterprise puts in front of agentic AI before it touches production data — alongside observability, it is what turns a compelling demo into something a security team will actually approve. We already ship a per-data-plane OAuth 2.1 authorization server and token vault, delegated tool access, and support for external agent clients (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Copilot Studio) connecting in through governed paths. What comes next — how an agent acts on behalf of a human or another agent, how that delegation is proven and audited rather than assumed, and how Redpanda's identity model federates with (rather than replaces) a customer's existing IdP — is still being actively defined, inside Redpanda and across the industry. Standards for agent identity, delegated authorization, and on-behalf-of (OBO) access patterns are moving fast and are genuinely unsettled: this is a domain where the right technical bet made now becomes a durable competitive advantage, and the wrong one becomes years of migration pain.

We're looking for a Staff Software Engineer to own that direction end to end — AuthN, AuthZ, and OBO for agents — as a charter that spans both Agentic Data Plane and the Cloud platform it runs on. This is a high-autonomy, high-influence individual contributor role: you will set the technical bet Redpanda makes on an evolving landscape, then roll up your sleeves and build it, not just architect it and hand it off.

You are:

• A recognized technical authority on identity, access, and delegation systems, comfortable being the person in the room who has to make the call when the industry itself hasn't converged yet

• Excited to roll up your sleeves and do what it takes to deliver objective results — this role designs, builds, and ships, it does not stop at the design doc

• Able to lead through influence rather than authority — your charter spans both Agentic Data Plane and the Cloud platform team, and on the Cloud platform side you will be driving technical direction with no reporting relationship to lean on

• Eager to thrive with the thrill and ethos of a fast growing startup

• Accountable, bring a sense of ownership, and are self-driven

You have:

• 10+ years of experience in software development and delivery, with deep, hands-on expertise in authentication, authorization, or identity systems specifically

• Production experience with OAuth 2.0/2.1, OIDC, token exchange or delegation patterns (e.g. RFC 8693, on-behalf-of flows), and the practical tradeoffs of running an authorization server and token vault at scale

• A strong, current point of view on where agent identity standards are heading — MCP auth, A2A, cross-app access patterns (e.g. Okta XAA, Entra Agent ID, Auth0 for AI Agents) — and the judgment to bet on a direction before the market fully settles

• Experience designing systems that must federate with, rather than replace, a customer's existing identity provider (Okta, Entra, Ping, or similar) in security-conscious enterprise environments

• A track record of driving technical direction across multiple teams or orgs as an individual contributor — through design docs, RFCs, code, and direct influence, including with teams outside your own reporting chain

• Comfortable working with a globally distributed engineering team, collaborating on GitHub, in the open, and a self starter

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain identity and delegation tradeoffs to engineers, security teams, and customers who may not share your specialist vocabulary

You will:

• Own the technical direction for AuthN, AuthZ, and OBO across Agentic Data Platform and the Cloud platform — deciding which emerging industry patterns Redpanda adopts, adapts, or deliberately avoids

• Design and build the systems yourself: extending the OAuth 2.1 authorization server and token vault, delegated tool-access flows, and the cryptographic delegation model that lets an agent act on-behalf-of a human or another agent with a provable, auditable chain of authority

• Partner closely with the identity-federation surface (Okta, Entra, Ping, and similar) so Redpanda enforces access locally while federating cleanly with what enterprise customers already run

• Work cross-functionally with Agentic Data Plane and Cloud platform engineering, Security, and Product to make sure identity and delegation decisions hold up under real customer security review — not just internal design review

• Represent Redpanda's technical position on agent identity externally where relevant — in customer-facing security conversations, documentation, or engagement with emerging standards efforts

• Ship to customers: this is an IC role measured on shipped, production-hardened systems, not just architecture proposals

• Mentor and level up engineers across both Agentic Data Platform and Cloud platform on identity and access concepts, without formal management authority over them

• Bring up difficult and/or systemic challenges and impediments to the attention of engineering leadership

• Actively discuss strategic topics with peers and Directors to help shape engineering's environment

• Track progress, assess risks, and actively communicate contingency and mitigation plans for the initiatives you own

Kindly highlight if applicable to you:

• Direct experience building or operating an OAuth 2.1/OIDC authorization server, token vault, or equivalent identity infrastructure in production

• Experience with agent-specific identity or delegation protocols (MCP auth, A2A, cross-app access/token exchange patterns) rather than only traditional human-user identity systems

• Experience contributing to or closely tracking open standards bodies or working groups relevant to identity, OAuth, or agent authorization

• Experience working in regulated or security-sensitive enterprise environments where identity and access decisions faced direct customer security review

• Prior Staff/Principal-level individual contributor experience driving technical direction across multiple engineering organizations

U.S. base salary range for this role is $220,000 - $260,000. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. We strive to consider each candidate's job-related skills, location, experience, relevant education or training to determine individual base salary. Your talent partner will share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.

Please note that Redpanda uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology to assist in the screening and assessment of applications for this position. However, all final hiring decisions are made by our human hiring team.

Vacancy Status: This job posting is for an existing vacancy.