Staff Software Engineer, Identity & Access - AI Platform

Redpanda Data provides a platform for agent-data interaction that combines streaming, SQL analytics, intelligent connectivity, and governance for enterprise AI agents. The company is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to own the technical direction and implementation of authentication, authorization, and on-behalf-of delegation for agents across its Agentic Data Plane and Cloud platform. The role involves building production systems, influencing cross-functional technical strategy, partnering on identity federation, and mentoring engineers.

Responsibilities:

• 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

Requirements:

• 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
• Able to lead through influence rather than authority
• Eager to thrive with the thrill and ethos of a fast growing startup
• Accountable, bring a sense of ownership, and are self-driven
• 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
• 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