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Senior Software Engineer - Identity & Authorization Platform

ClickHouse

Full-time
2-5 years experience
Remote OK

Key Skills

Backend Systems
Authentication
Authorization
Go
Rust
C++
TypeScript
Python
RBAC
ReBAC
SAML
SCIM
OIDC
OAuth2
Distributed Systems
API and SDK Design

Job Description

The Platform Auth team’s goal is to support our ‘one customer identity’ vision by providing tools, processes, and expertise for our engineering teams to create a unified access management experience while simplifying and standardizing engineering patterns in the space. We are looking for engineers to join our growing team! What You Will Be Doing Design and build the platform services that power authentication, authorization, and audit across ClickHouse Cloud. This includes a unified RBAC/ReBAC service, token issuance and session handling, and the SDKs that product teams embed to make authorization decision. Model permissions and access control primitives (resources, roles, relationships, policies) that work across ClickHouse, SQL Console, ClickPipes, and HyperDX. Ship the libraries and APIs that other engineers build against. Implement protocol-level support for SAML, SCIM, OIDC, OAuth2, and MFA/passwordless flows. Own the integrations that make enterprise SSO and provisioning work end to end. Build the audit and authorization-decision telemetry pipeline so every access decision is observable, queryable, and surfaceable to customers. Partner with product engineering teams to migrate bespoke per-product auth implementations onto the shared platform, and design APIs that make adoption straightforward. Carry the platform on-call rotation and own production reliability for systems on the critical path of every customer request. What You Bring Along Minimum 4+ years building production backend systems at scale. Comfort with at least one systems language (Go, Rust, C++) and one application language (TypeScript, Python). Hands-on experience designing and implementing an authentication or authorization service. Examples include building a token issuer, an OIDC or OAuth2 provider, a policy engine, a permissions model, or an FGA/ReBAC system in the style of Zanzibar, OpenFGA, SpiceDB, or Cedar. Working knowledge of SAML, SCIM, OIDC, and OAuth2 at the protocol level and are able to implement them. Experience designing APIs and SDKs that other engineers depend on, with strong opinions on what makes them adoptable. Experience operating distributed systems at scale, including caching strategies, consistency tradeoffs, and multi-region concerns. Familiarity with identity vendors (Auth0, WorkOS, AWS/GCP/Azure IAM) as building blocks you've extended or integrated into a larger platform. Strong production debugging instincts and a high bar for systems that are easy to develop against. Bonus You've built or contributed to a Zanzibar-style authorization system, or run an OpenFGA or SpiceDB deployment beyond the demo. You've designed a multi-tenant permission model that survived real customer requirements like custom roles, hierarchies, delegation, and ABAC attributes. You've shipped an SDK that product teams across an org actually adopted, and have opinions about why most internal SDKs fail. Perks Flexible work environment - ClickHouse is a globally distributed company and remote-friendly. We currently operate in over 25 countries. Healthcare - Employer contributions towards your healthcare. Equity in the company - Every new team member who joins our company receives stock options. Time off - Flexible time off in the US, generous entitlement in other countries. A USD$500 Home office setup if you’re a remote employee. Global Gatherings – We believe in the power of in-person connection and offer opportunities to engage with colleagues at company-wide offsites. Culture - We All Shape It As part of a rapidly scaling start-up, you will be instrumental in shaping our culture. Are you interested in finding out more about our culture? Learn more about our values here. Check out our blog posts or follow us on LinkedIn to find out more about what’s happening at ClickHouse. Equal Opportunity & Privacy ClickHouse provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type based on factors such as race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. Please see here for our Privacy Statement.

Core Responsibilities

Design and operate ClickHouse Cloud platform services for authentication, authorization, access auditing, token issuance, and session handling, including shared permission models, APIs, and SDKs. Implement enterprise identity integrations and observable authorization telemetry, help product teams migrate to the shared platform, and own production reliability and on-call responsibilities.

Requirements

Requires at least four years of experience building production backend systems at scale, hands-on experience implementing authentication or authorization services, and proficiency in a systems language and an application language. Candidates should understand SAML, SCIM, OIDC, and OAuth2 protocols, have experience designing APIs and SDKs, and be familiar with distributed systems, identity integrations, and production debugging.

Benefits

  • Healthcare Contributions
  • Stock Options
  • Flexible Time Off
  • Home Office Setup Allowance
  • Company-Wide Offsites
  • Flexible Work Environment

About ClickHouse

Industry: Software Development

Company size: 501-1,000 employees

ClickHouse is a fast, open-source columnar database built for real-time data processing and analytics at scale. ClickHouse Cloud delivers the query speed and concurrency that applications demanding instant insight from large volumes of data require. As AI agents become more embedded in software, generating higher query volumes at tighter latency, ClickHouse provides a high-throughput, low-latency engine purpose-built for that workload.

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