Tailscale
Backend Engineer, Identity
Remote Backend Engineering role with clear candidate location fit.
PostedJun 21, 2026
Eligible countries1 accepted country
Seniority signalMiddle
Work settingRemote
Accepted candidate locations
USA
Role overview
Backend Engineer, Identity
Requirements and responsibilities
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Job Description
- Develop the Tailscale product, contributing to both open source client code and related backend services
- Take ownership of the entire product lifecycle, from writing code to product ideation and strategic decision-making
- Work closely with UX/UI designers and product managers to shape features
- Bring a special focus to building features related to identity and access management
Key Responsibilities
- Work as part of a team of engineers to design, build, test, and document core software components
- Develop product features in areas that include our control plane, platform, and identity services
- Develop features that support a broad range of sign-on functionality, such as SSO, OAuth2, SAML, and WebAuthn
- Develop and maintain SCIM style capabilities to synchronize users, groups and other attributes from IdPs
- Exhibit ownership over the running services that comprise Tailscale’s product by building for observability, participating in incident response, and fielding customer support escalations
- Analyze and improve efficiency, scalability, and stability of various system resources
- Bring a security-first mindset to both design and implementation
- This role requires participation in our on-call rotation every x weeks, to triage and mitigate incidents.
What We Are Looking For
- Familiarity with authentication/authorization protocols, standards and frameworks such as OAuth2, OIDC, SSO, and SAML. Familiarity with SCIM is a plus.
- Experience with distributed systems and building observable, secure, scalable, and resilient services
- Most of the non-front-end portions of the system are developed in the Go programming language. Experience with Go is a plus.
- Experience with one or more SQL databases
- Ability to give and process constructive feedback, as well as work independently
- Flexibility to adjust to the dynamic nature of a startup
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Familiarity with networks (IP addressing, routing, etc.) is a plus
What We Offer
- An inclusive, flexible environment where you can be your authentic self. We recognize the impact of diverse voices and backgrounds on the growth of our people, product, and company. And that flexibility in how and when you work empowers our team to integrate work and life.
- A competitive total compensation package. This includes a base salary, an equity incentive plan and variable commission (for quota-based roles).
- Comprehensive group benefits with no waiting period. Take advantage of coverage for health, vision, dental, and more for you and your family!
- Remote first company—most of our teams work fully remotely. Enjoy a change of scenery wherever you can get wifi, participate in virtual and in-person social events, and leverage our corporate co-working program to visit WeWork (or other similar spaces near you). Some roles require in-office collaboration depending on team needs, which will be clearly noted in the job description.
- Connect with other Tailscalars IRL. Attend our annual company retreat, participate in team off-sites, and collaborate in person with teammates across Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. We support intentional in-person connection through team travel and distributed collaboration.
- Support for your personal and professional development. Grow your career thoughtfully with $1500 USD annually for professional development, or take advantage of mentorship, coaching, and internal promotion opportunities.
- Paid time off and a healthy work-life integration. Our flexible, paid time off program supports you for any situation life throws your way, whether moving homes or travelling the world!
- A build-your-own home office setup. You choose your own company-owned laptop (Mac or PC), receive a monthly home internet reimbursement, and $1000 USD to customize your workstation to make it your own.
- Generous parental leave program from your first day. We care about your life outside of work and encourage new parents to take advantage of parental leave top-ups for up to 26 weeks.
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