Principal Software Engineer, Program Structure

Job Description

At Vanta, our mission is to help businesses earn and prove trust. We believe that security should be monitored and verified continuously, and we empower companies to practice better security and prove it with ease. Vanta has a kind and talented team, and while some have prior security experience, many have been successful at Vanta without it.

Vanta's Governance and Compliance platform is the operating layer enterprises trust to run their security programs. We are hiring an engineer who will own the architectural foundation that makes it work for their most complex organizational structures.

Program Structure and Trust is a newly chartered group at Vanta with a focused mission: build the enterprise org model that lets customers bring their compliance and security structure - product lines, business units, isolated data environments, cross-cutting audits, scoped approvals, and data residency requirements - natively into the platform. The problems this team solves determine whether Vanta can serve the enterprise customers it's increasingly winning.

This is the defining technical role of the group. The Principal Engineer owns the design, phased delivery, and long-term technical direction of Vanta's enterprise org model - a multi-quarter initiative that cuts across the platform and establishes the foundation for how enterprise customers structure, segment, and operate inside Vanta.

Visit our Vanta Engineering Blog to learn more about what our team is working on!

What you’ll do as a Principal Engineer at Vanta:

- Own the design and multi-quarter delivery of Vanta's enterprise org model, including hierarchical product lines and business units, isolated data access and ownership, cross-cutting audit workflows, scoped approvals, and EU and GovCloud data residency support

- Define and evolve the core abstractions that let the platform absorb structurally diverse, often conflicting enterprise requirements - solving for the general case rather than one-off customer accommodations

- Retrofit a live production system toward a multi-tenant org structure: design safe migration paths, sequence delivery incrementally, and preserve continuity for existing customers as the architecture evolves

- Carve out and ship meaningful customer value each quarter while progressing toward the full solution - this requires product judgment, direct engagement with enterprise customers, and the discipline to draw clean increment lines through a complex problem space

- Drive execution across squads outside your direct area, building alignment through technical clarity and credibility rather than authority

- Partner with Engineering leadership, Product, and Design to translate the long-term vision for enterprise structure into phased, deliverable work

- Set the technical standard for the group - define patterns others build to, shape architecture across teams, and model the engineering excellence the Program Structure and Trust charter is organized around

How to be successful in this role:

- 15+ years of deep backend engineering experience with a track record of leading complex, multi-quarter technical initiatives in fast-paced, product-focused environments

- Designed platform abstractions that absorbed messy, conflicting enterprise requirements across a diverse customer base - you've solved for the general case, not the loudest customer request

- A track record of shipping in stages: you've moved large, structurally complex problems forward incrementally, with each phase standing on its own, without getting ahead of what customers and the product can absorb

- A history of operating effectively across squads and teams you don't own - alignment built through technical clarity and credibility, not org chart proximity

- Deep familiarity with enterprise architectural patterns: tenancy models, role-based access control, data isolation, scoped permissions, cross-tenant operations, and access boundary design

- Strong communication skills - you make complex systems legible to engineering leadership, product partners, and customer-facing stakeholders, in writing and in the room

- Data residency or GovCloud exposure is a plus; the right person ramps on this in a quarter once the core structural problems are in hand

- Open to using AI to amplify your skills and strengthen your work - demonstrating curiosity, a willingness to learn, and sound judgment in applying AI responsibly to improve efficiency and impact.

What you can expect as a Vanta'n:

- Industry-competitive salary and equity

- Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, with 100% of employee-only benefit premiums covered for most medical plans

- 16 weeks paid Parental Leave for all new parents

- Health & wellness stipend

- Remote workspace, internet, and cellphone stipend

- Commuter benefits for team members who report to the SF and NYC office

- Family planning benefits

- Matching 401(k) contribution with immediate vesting

- Flexible PTO policy, plus 80 hours of Sick Time

- 11 company-paid holidays

- Virtual team building activities, lunch and learns, and other company-wide events!

- Offices in SF, NYC, London, Dublin, Tel Aviv, and Sydney

To provide greater transparency to candidates, we share base pay ranges for all US-based job postings regardless of state. We set standard base pay ranges for all roles based on function, level, and country location, benchmarked against similar-stage growth companies. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors and may vary based on candidate location, skills, depth of work experience, and relevant licenses/credentials.

#LI-remote

At Vanta, we are committed to hiring diverse talent of different backgrounds and as such, it is important to us to provide an inclusive work environment for all. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, gender identity, age, religion, sexual orientation, veteran or disability status, or any other protected class. As an equal opportunity employer, we encourage and welcome people of all backgrounds to apply.

About Vanta
We started in 2018, in the wake of several high-profile data breaches. Online security was only becoming more important, but we knew firsthand how hard it could be for fast-growing companies to invest the time and manpower it takes to build a solid security foundation. Vanta was inspired by a vision to restore trust in internet businesses by enabling companies to improve and prove their security. From our early days automating security monitoring for compliance standards like SOC 2, HIPAA and ISO 27001 to creating the world's leading Trust Management Platform, our vision remains unchanged.
Now more than ever, making security continuous-not just a point-in-time check- is essential. Thousands of companies rely on Vanta to build, maintain and demonstrate their trust- all in a way that's real-time and transparent.

Referral Instructions
If you are being referred for the role, please contact that person to apply on your behalf.