Principal Engineer Cryptography

As a Principal Engineer Cryptography at GoDaddy, you will define requirements and guide the evolution of our Certificate Authority (CA) platform. Reporting to GoDaddy's Vice President Engineering Partners, you will translate industry standards into technical requirements, define specifications for compliance automation, and provide technical guidance for next-generation cryptographic systems. This role combines technical leadership with strategic requirements development, focusing on post-quantum cryptography readiness, certificate lifecycle automation, and CA infrastructure resilience.

What you'll do

• Actively participate in standards bodies such as the IETF, representing GoDaddy in working groups for TLS and related SSL standards
• Conduct deep-dive technical assessments of CA infrastructure, identifying architectural gaps, security vulnerabilities, and performance bottlenecks
• Define technical requirements for the evolution of certificate issuance pipelines, HSM integrations, and cryptographic key management systems
• Specify requirements for automated testing frameworks for compliance validation, including CT log integration, OCSP responder infrastructure, and revocation mechanisms
• Develop automation scripts for compliance testing and validation processes
• Define SLIs/SLOs focused on certificate issuance latency, system availability, and compliance metrics
• Document requirements for infrastructure-as-code solutions for CA deployment, disaster recovery, and high-availability architectures
• Research and define requirements for post-quantum cryptographic algorithms (e.g., ML-KEM, ML-DSA, SLH-DSA) and hybrid certificate chains
• Develop migration strategies and technical requirements for transitioning legacy cryptographic systems to next-generation algorithms
• Create technical specifications for proof-of-concept implementations for emerging standards (ACME extensions, certificate transparency v2, delegated credentials)
• Collaborate with cryptography researchers to evaluate algorithm performance, key sizes, and implementation trade-offs
• Define the technical requirements roadmap for CA platform capabilities including certificate lifecycle automation, API development, and integration frameworks
• Specify requirements for scalable APIs and automation tools for certificate issuance, renewal, and revocation workflows
• Document specifications for self-service platforms and tools to reduce manual intervention in certificate operations
• Develop automated testing scripts and define requirements for continuous compliance monitoring systems with automated remediation capabilities
• Partner with security engineering teams on threat modeling, secure coding practices, and vulnerability management
• Lead architecture reviews and technical design sessions with cross-functional engineering teams, providing requirements and guidance
• Establish technical documentation standards and compliance engineering requirements for CA-related systems
• Mentor engineers on PKI concepts, cryptographic implementations, and compliance engineering patterns

What you bring

• 8+ years of hands-on engineering experience in PKI systems, applied cryptography, or security infrastructure with proven technical leadership and strong technical background in languages such as Go, Python, Java, or C++
• Deep expertise in PKI architecture including X.509 certificate structures, ASN.1 encoding, certificate chain validation, HSM operations, and cryptographic primitives
• Proven experience translating CA/Browser Forum Baseline Requirements into technical specifications, including controls for key generation, certificate issuance, and audit logging
• Systems engineering background with experience in distributed systems, API design, database architecture, and cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, Azure)
• Strong ability to define requirements for PKI protocols (ACME, Certificate Transparency, OCSP/CRL) and translate compliance requirements into technical specifications, detailed engineering requirements, and test automation scripts

Nice to have

• Advanced degree in Computer Science, Cryptography, Mathematics, or Electrical Engineering
• Experience researching and evaluating post-quantum cryptographic algorithms (NIST PQC finalists, hybrid modes)
• Security certifications such as CISSP, CEH, or specialized cryptography credentials
• Experience with security audit processes (WebTrust for CAs, ETSI EN 319 411) from a technical implementation perspective
• Contributions to PKI-related projects (Boulder, cert-manager, OpenSSL, BoringSSL, etc.)
• Experience defining requirements for high-availability systems design, hardware security modules (HSMs), and secure key ceremony procedures
• Knowledge of DevSecOps practices, CI/CD pipelines for security-critical systems, and infrastructure automation (Terraform, Kubernetes, Ansible)
• Familiarity with cryptographic libraries (OpenSSL, BoringSSL, PKCS#11) and performance considerations for cryptographic operations
• Experience developing test automation scripts for compliance validation

What we offer

• Competitive pay based on skills, experience, and geographic location
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) retirement plan
• Paid sick time, paid flexible time off, and paid holidays
• Paid parental leave and paid Wellness days
• Life insurance, short- and long-term disability, and AD&D insurance
• Mental health or EAP programs
• Remote work options
• Tuition assistance
• Adoption, surrogacy, and fertility benefits
• Dependent daycare and backup care benefits
• Employee stock purchase plan
• Financial education and advice
• Eligibility for corporate bonus and/or equity awards
• Salary ranges by location: Bay Area and Los Angeles, $215,000-$323,000 USD; Austin, D.C. Metro, CA (non-Bay Area), HI, IL, MA, NH, OR, VA, WA, $185,500-$278,500 USD; New York City Metro and Kirkland/Seattle, $197,200-$295,800 USD; all other US locations, $165,500-$248,500 USD

About GoDaddy

GoDaddy is empowering everyday entrepreneurs around the world by providing the help and tools to succeed online. The company helps people name their ideas, build professional websites, attract customers, sell products and services, and manage their work. GoDaddy embraces diverse culture and offers Employee Resource Groups for all employees.