Software Engineer - AI Access Management

Do you remember the first time you deployed an Apache Cassandra cluster with Chef or Puppet? Did you realize that the world had changed and you were never deploying by hand again? When AWS suffers a regional outage of DynamoDB, do you immediately think about resiliency and replication lag? Do you understand how your services respond to these incidents? How did you feel when you first used Claude Code or Cursor to open a PR? Did you realize that you should never be without that rapid feedback and iterative power again?

At C1, we know that the world has been transformed yet again and we never want to go back. We're building AI tools and we're building with AI tools-every day. We ship fast and we ship constantly. The hard problems are still hard, but the pace at which we can attack them has changed forever.

We are looking for exceptional Staff and Principal Engineers to join our Functions team in New York. You'll be one of the first engineers in our new NYC office-helping establish the culture, hiring bar, and technical direction from day one. We want high-agency engineers who are excited to build an AI-native product using AI-native tooling. These are senior technical leadership roles crucial to driving our technical strategy, mentoring teams, and delivering complex, high-impact projects. If you bias toward action and care deeply about shipping, we want to talk to you.

Here are a few blog posts highlighting how we approach hard problems:

• Incremental Sync: How C1 Keeps Identity Data Fresh in Real Time
• Building Trust Through Connector Reliability

About C1

C1 is the first AI-native identity security platform that protects every identity: human, non-human, and AI. We make it possible for enterprises to move beyond the limitations of legacy identity governance-reducing their attack surface while actually improving the experience for everyone involved.

Forward-thinking companies like DigitalOcean, Instacart, Ramp, and Zscaler trust C1 to secure their identities. We're backed by top investors and growing fast, but we're still small enough that every engineer shapes the product and culture.

What You'll Do

• Own the Automations platform end-to-end -from the policy engine that evaluates rules to the execution framework that takes action across hundreds of integrated systems
• Plan and drive large projects with incremental deliverables-you'll contribute to major architectural decisions, assess technical risks, and communicate tradeoffs across teams
• Work directly with customers to understand complex requirements and resolve hard problems-the best solutions come from deep understanding, not guesswork
• Set the bar for code quality -deliver code that's maintainable, well-tested, and sets the standard for the team
• Be a stabilizing force when things are ambiguous-keep the team aligned on priorities and moving forward even when the path isn't clear
• Mentor and elevate others -delegate effectively, trust people with real ownership, and help engineers around you grow

What We're Looking For
You Likely Have

• A track record of delivering complex, multi-team projects-you've shipped systems that handle real scale, real failures, and real customers
• Deep experience with Go or similar backend languages, with strong opinions on how to write maintainable, performant code
• Strong systems thinking-you balance technical debt against feature velocity and make pragmatic tradeoffs
• Demonstrated technical leadership-you've driven architectural decisions, built consensus across teams, and helped other engineers grow
• High agency-you figure out what needs to be built, not just how to build what you're told. You move fast and unblock yourself.
• Deep understanding of production environments-you know how to debug, monitor, and operate the systems you build
• Experience with AI-assisted development (Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot, or similar)-you're already using these tools and excited about what's next
• Clear, persuasive communication-you can explain complex technical concepts to diverse audiences and build alignment
• Ego in check-you care about getting it right, not being right

You Might Also Have

• Experience building AI-native products-integrating LLMs into production systems, prompt engineering, retrieval-augmented generation
• Experience with identity and access management systems (SCIM, SAML, OAuth, LDAP, or similar)
• Background in building multi-tenant SaaS platforms with enterprise security requirements
• Familiarity with workflow orchestration technologies (Temporal, Airflow, or custom implementations)
• Contributions to open source projects or engineering communities

How We Work

• Ship, Ship, Ship -we bias toward action. We'd rather ship something and learn than debate endlessly. Iteration beats perfection.
• Build with AI -we use AI tools daily to write code, review PRs, explore ideas, and move faster. If you're not excited about this, we're not the right fit.
• Earn the Customer's Trust -we build for real problems, not hypothetical ones. We talk to customers constantly and take their security seriously.
• Practice Compassionate Candor -we give direct feedback because we care about each other's growth. Ego takes a back seat to getting it right.
• Be the Conductor -we take ownership of outcomes, not just tasks. If something needs doing, we do it.

Hiring Philosophy

We're looking for people with passion, grit, and integrity. We encourage you to apply even if your experience doesn't precisely match every requirement above. We welcome diverse perspectives and people who think rigorously and aren't afraid to challenge assumptions.

ConductorOne is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.