Senior Staff Software Engineer, Temporal Technologies

• Note: We're looking for Senior Staff level - think L/7+ at Amazon, Google, Meta
• Proven experience architecting and delivering high-availability, security-critical networking or proxy systems
• Deep understanding of authentication/authorization patterns (OIDC-OpenID Connect on top of OAuth), mTLS, JWT-JASON Web Token, custom identity integrations)
• Expertise in data encryption at rest and in transit, including envelope encryption and key management
• Strong proficiency in Go or a comparable systems programming language
• Familiarity with distributed systems, RPC frameworks (gRPC), and cloud networking patterns
• Track record of leading complex, multi-team technical initiatives to successful delivery
• Ability to navigate ambiguity, define vision, and create alignment
• Experience influencing technical direction across organizational boundaries

Desirable

• We are seeking a Senior Staff Engineer in Temporal's Cloud Global Services team to lead the technical strategy and execution of the Unified Temporal Proxy initiative
• This individual will be responsible for consolidating disparate proxy implementations into a single, extensible, open-source, and productized solution
• The unified proxy is not only a critical enabler for customers—providing security, encryption, and advanced integration capabilities—but also a core component of Temporal Cloud’s own infrastructure, powering hybrid-cloud scenarios and new functionality such as HTTP endpoint support and AI/agent workloads
• The role spans architecture, cross-team collaboration, customer engagement, open-source leadership, and long-term product ownership, with a mandate to build and deliver a reliable, extensible foundation that will serve both customer-facing and internal needs for years to come
• The Unified Proxy will be a critical enabler for both customers and Temporal Cloud. It is a foundational component that will unlock the next phase of Temporal’s platform evolution:
• Customers can depend on the proxy as a secure, production-grade tool that enforces policies consistently and reduces the risk of misconfiguration across all Temporal-related activities. Key concerns addressed include payload encryption, fine-grained authorization logic, and integration with custom identity stores, among others
• The unified proxy introduces capabilities that are otherwise not possible, such as migrations between self-hosted clusters and Temporal Cloud without requiring complex custom setups. It will also become the preferred way to support HTTP endpoints for Temporal services, expanding accessibility and simplifying integrations
• In a future where AI agents are abundant and interact via the Temporal Nexus protocol with MCP servers, the proxy will serve as a central component to ensure secure, controlled, and seamless communication patterns
• Beyond enabling customer adoption, the unified proxy is a pillar of Temporal Cloud’s own infrastructure, powering internal services and extending Temporal’s ability to support hybrid-cloud and enterprise-grade scenarios
• Define and drive the architecture for a unified, pluggable proxy framework
• Establish technical standards for authentication, authorization, encryption, and observability across proxy implementations
• Evaluate and integrate existing customer-built, S2S, and Cloud Auth proxies into a single supported solution
• Translate high-level business and security requirements into technical designs
• Ensure proxy meets Tier 0 workload reliability, security, and performance standards
• Partner with Product, Security, and Customer Success to align roadmap with customer needs
• Work closely with Infra Foundations, Security, OSS Server, and CGS teams
• Engage directly with strategic customers to understand and incorporate their requirements
• Mentor other engineers on distributed systems architecture, networking, and security
• Drive the open-source development model, ensuring code quality, documentation, and extensibility
• Advocate for and implement patterns that simplify adoption by both internal and external developers
• Success Criteria (12–18 Months):
• Unified proxy is in production use for key customers, with measurable improvements in reliability, maintainability, and adoption
• Pluggable architecture enables rapid development of new proxy features
• Documentation, tooling, and test coverage meet Tier 0 production standards
• Customer feedback reflects improved integration experience and reduced operational burden
• Existing fragmented proxies developed on the Temporal Cloud side are deprecated in favor of the unified, productized solution, with a clear migration path for internal teams and customers