About Us:
Proofpoint is a global leader in human- and agent-centric cybersecurity. We protect how people, data, and AI agents connect across email, cloud, and collaboration tools. Over 80 of the Fortune 100, 10,000 large enterprises, and millions of smaller organizations trust Proofpoint to stop threats, prevent data loss, and build resilience across their people and AI workflows. Our mission is simple: safeguard the digital world and empower people to work securely and confidently. Join us in our pursuit to defend data and protect people.
How We Work:
At Proofpoint you’ll be part of a global team that breaks barriers to redefine cybersecurity guided by our BRAVE core values:
Bold
in how we dream and innovate
Responsive
to feedback, challenges and opportunities
Accountable
for results and best in class outcomes
Visionary
in future focused problem-solving
Exceptional
in execution and impact
Role Overview
We are seeking an experienced
Senior Architect
to lead the design and evolution of
enterprise-scale distributed systems
supporting
50M+ connected sensors
and
high-volume event processing pipelines
.
This role is critical to building and operating
mission-critical backend platforms
that process
millions of events per second
across both
synchronous and asynchronous architectures
, with stringent requirements for
scalability, reliability, security, and performance
.
The ideal candidate brings a proven track record of architecting and scaling
production-grade systems at extreme scale
, along with the ability to drive
technical strategy, governance, and cross-functional alignment
in a complex enterprise environment.
Key Responsibilities
Architecture & System Design
Define and lead the architecture of
large-scale distributed systems
capable of ingesting and processing
high-velocity data streams from 50M+ sensors
Design resilient systems across
synchronous (API-driven)
and
asynchronous (event-driven, streaming)
paradigms
Establish architectural standards for
scalability, fault tolerance, and performance optimization
Data Platform Engineering
Architect
real-time and batch data pipelines
for high-throughput ingestion, transformation, and storage
Drive design decisions across
streaming, processing, and storage layers
to ensure optimal performance and cost efficiency
Enable support for
time-series, event-driven, and analytical workloads
Technology Strategy & Governance
Define and enforce
enterprise architecture principles, standards, and best practices
Evaluate and guide adoption of modern data technologies, including:
Distributed messaging systems (e.g., Kafka, Pulsar)
Scalable data stores (e.g., Cassandra, DynamoDB, Bigtable, ClickHouse, Elasticsearch)
Stream and batch processing frameworks (e.g., Flink, Spark, Beam)
Ensure alignment with
security, compliance, and data governance requirements
Scalability, Reliability & Observability
Establish and operationalize
SLAs, SLOs, and error budgets
Design for
high availability, multi-region resilience, and disaster recovery
Implement enterprise-grade
observability frameworks
(monitoring, logging, tracing)
Leadership & Collaboration
Partner with engineering, product, security, and data teams to align architecture with organizational objectives
Provide technical leadership, mentorship, and architectural oversight across multiple teams
Lead design reviews and ensure adherence to architectural standards
Required Qualifications
Experience
10+ years of experience in
distributed systems and backend architecture
Demonstrated success in scaling systems to:
50M+ connected devices/sensors
, or
Comparable high-scale environments (e.g., IoT, telecom, fintech, ad-tech, infrastructure platforms)
Proven experience with
high-throughput event-driven architectures in production environments
Technical Expertise
Deep understanding of distributed systems concepts, including:
CAP theorem, consistency models, and trade-offs
Partitioning, replication, and sharding strategies
Event delivery semantics (at-least-once, exactly-once, idempotency)
Strong experience with:
Streaming and messaging systems (Kafka, Pulsar, or equivalent)
Real-time and batch processing frameworks
Scalable NoSQL and analytical data stores
System Design & Engineering
Expertise in designing:
Low-latency, high-throughput APIs
Event-driven and asynchronous processing systems
Multi-region, highly available architectures
Strong programming proficiency in one or more of:
Go, Java, Scala, or Rust
Preferred Qualifications
Experience with
large-scale IoT or telemetry platforms
Familiarity with
edge-to-cloud architectures
Experience operating in
multi-cloud or hybrid environments
Knowledge of
enterprise security frameworks, data governance, and compliance (e.g., SOC2, ISO, GDPR)
Exposure to
AI/ML data pipelines and large-scale analytics platforms
Success Metrics
Architecture supports
billions of daily events
with consistent performance and reliability
Systems demonstrate
horizontal scalability and fault isolation
Clear separation and optimization of
real-time vs batch workloads
Strong adherence to
enterprise architecture and governance standards
Why Proofpoint?
At Proofpoint, we believe that an exceptional career experience includes a comprehensive compensation and benefits package. Here are just a few reasons you’ll love working with us:
Competitive compensation
Comprehensive benefits
Career success on your terms
Flexible work environment
Annual wellness and community outreach days
Always on recognition for your contributions
Global collaboration and networking opportunities
Our Culture:
Our culture is rooted in values that inspire belonging, empower purpose and drive success-every day, for everyone.
We encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. If you need accommodation during the application or interview process, please reach out to
accessibility@proofpoint.com
.
How to Apply
Interested? Submit your application along with any supporting information- we can’t wait to hear from you!
Consistent with Proofpoint values and applicable law, we provide the following information to promote pay transparency and equity. Our compensation reflects the cost of labor across several U.S. geographic markets, and we pay differently based on those defined markets as set out below. Pay within these ranges varies and depends on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The actual offer will be based on the individual candidate. The range provided may represent a candidate range and may not reflect the full range for an individual tenured employee. This role may be eligible for variable compensation and/or equity. We offer a competitive benefits package, including flexible time off, a comprehensive well-being program with two paid Wellbeing Days and two paid Volunteer Days per year, plus a three-week Work from Anywhere option.
Base Pay Ranges:
SF Bay Area, New York City Metro Area:
Base Pay Range: 254,000.00 - 349,250.00 USD
California (excludes SF Bay Area), Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Washington DC Metro, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Texas, Washington, Virginia, and Alaska:
Base Pay Range: 208,800.00 - 287,100.00 USD
All other cities and states excluding those listed above:
Base Pay Range: 187,000.00 - 257,180.00 USD
