Staff Software Engineer, GRC

About the role

Vanta is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to join our Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) team. This role is pivotal in shaping the technical direction of our core product offerings, enabling us to scale and serve enterprise clients. You will lead significant technical projects and mentor engineers, contributing to Vanta's mission of building trust for businesses. In this capacity, you will be responsible for architecting solutions that underpin critical compliance workflows. Your work will directly influence how enterprise customers perceive the reliability and robustness of our platform. You will play a key role in ensuring our technical infrastructure meets the stringent demands of regulated industries. This position offers the opportunity to solve complex problems at the intersection of software engineering and regulatory requirements. You will be a central figure in driving the long-term technical strategy for the GRC organization.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Take ownership of large-scale technical initiatives, designing and implementing highly reliable and scalable systems.
• Guide the development of complex projects that span multiple quarters, ensuring sustained impact across product areas.
• Collaborate with and influence cross-functional teams to achieve project goals, even without direct reporting lines.
• Contribute to Vanta's technical strategy, making decisions that impact the engineering organization.
• Promote engineering best practices and continuously improve development processes and methodologies.
• Provide technical guidance and support to teams, helping to resolve complex challenges and balance trade-offs.
• Act as a cultural leader, fostering collaboration and mentoring engineers to enhance team performance.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and determine their applicability to our product roadmap and compliance needs.
• Partner with product managers and leadership to translate business requirements into technical specifications.
• Ensure that our systems adhere to security and compliance standards from the ground up.
• Drive the implementation of observability and monitoring solutions to improve system reliability.
• Facilitate technical design discussions and code reviews to maintain high quality across the codebase.
• Identify and mitigate technical debt to ensure long-term maintainability and scalability.
• Serve as a subject matter expert in specific technical domains relevant to GRC product development.

Requirements

• A minimum of 10 years of professional software engineering experience, with deep knowledge in at least one technical domain such as distributed systems, databases, or APIs.
• Demonstrated success in leading complex technical projects and improving engineering workflows in fast-paced environments.
• Proficiency in system design and software architecture, with the ability to balance technical requirements with practical execution.
• Experience building SaaS products for both startup and enterprise users.
• Proven ability to develop new products from inception and solve large-scale technical problems.
• Strong experience in mentoring engineers and elevating team capabilities.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to influence technical decisions across all organizational levels.
• Curiosity and a willingness to responsibly use AI to enhance efficiency and impact.
• A Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field or equivalent practical experience.
• Eligibility to work in the United States is required, as this is a Remote U.S. position.
• You must be able to pass a background check as part of the hiring process.
• Prior experience with compliance, risk, or governance software is a strong asset for this role.
• Familiarity with security frameworks and standards is highly valued.
• You have a track record of delivering high-quality software on schedule.
• You are comfortable working in an asynchronous remote environment.
• You have experience with cloud platforms and infrastructure as code.
• You have a history of writing clean, maintainable, and well-tested code.
• You are skilled in diagnosing and troubleshooting production issues.
• You have collaborated with cross-functional stakeholders to align on technical strategies.

Nice to have

• Experience building 0 to 1 products.

Practical notes

• Vanta offers comprehensive benefits including medical, dental, and vision coverage, with 100% of employee-only premiums covered for most medical plans.
• New parents receive 16 weeks of fully-paid parental leave.
• Additional benefits include a health and wellness stipend, remote workspace and internet stipend, family planning benefits, matching 401(k) contributions with immediate vesting, flexible PTO, sick time, and company-paid holidays.
• Vanta has offices in San Francisco, New York City, London, Dublin, Tel Aviv, and Sydney.
• The company is committed to diversity and inclusion, and does not discriminate based on protected classes.
• If referred, please contact the referring person to apply.
• This is a full-time position based in the United States.
• All compensation details are outlined in the key facts section.
• The application process may include technical assessments and interviews.
• Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States.
• This role requires a high degree of self-motivation and discipline.
• You will be expected to participate in regular sprint planning and review ceremonies.
• The successful candidate will be required to document technical designs and decisions.
• You will work closely with the GRC product team to iterate on features based on customer feedback.
• The role involves a significant amount of collaboration with engineering teams across the company.
• You will be responsible for ensuring that your codebase adheres to the company's coding standards.
• The position requires a proactive approach to identifying and solving potential problems before they escalate.
• You will be expected to mentor junior engineers and conduct technical interviews.
• The role involves working with sensitive customer data in a secure environment.
• You must be comfortable with version control systems and modern development workflows.
• The successful candidate will contribute to the open-source community where applicable.
• This role requires a strong understanding of software development lifecycle methodologies.
• You will be expected to participate in on-call rotations as needed.
• The position involves working with third-party APIs and integrating them into our systems.
• You will be responsible for maintaining and updating technical documentation.
• The role requires a strong commitment to continuous learning and professional development.
• You will work with a distributed team across multiple time zones.
• The position involves close collaboration with the security team to ensure compliance.
• You will be expected to provide regular updates on project status to stakeholders.
• The role requires a strong ability to prioritize tasks in a fast-paced environment.
• You will be responsible for ensuring that all technical deliverables are completed on time.
• The position involves working with agile methodologies to manage project scope.
• You will be expected to contribute to the technical roadmap for the GRC team.
• The role requires a strong understanding of cloud infrastructure and deployment pipelines.
• You will be responsible for ensuring that the codebase is scalable and maintainable.
• The position involves working with data models to support compliance reporting.
• You will be expected to participate in the hiring process for new engineering candidates.
• The role requires a strong ability to communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
• You will be responsible for ensuring that all technical work aligns with business objectives.
• The position involves close collaboration with customer success teams to understand needs.
• You will be expected to contribute to the engineering culture and values of the company.
• The role requires a strong understanding of risk management principles as they apply to software.
• You will be responsible for ensuring that technical solutions are compliant with industry standards.
• The position involves working with security audits and compliance checks.
• You will be expected to contribute to the improvement of internal tools and processes.
• The role requires a strong ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
• You will be responsible for ensuring that all technical deliverables meet the highest quality standards.
• The position involves close collaboration with the product team to define features.
• You will be expected to contribute to the technical documentation of the codebase.
• The role requires a strong understanding of software architecture best practices.
• You will be responsible for ensuring that the codebase is secure and resilient.
• The position involves working with cross-functional teams to define project requirements.
• You will be expected to contribute to the technical leadership of the organization.
• The role requires a strong ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
• You will be responsible for ensuring that all technical work is completed to a high standard.
• The position involves close collaboration with the engineering leadership team.
• You will be expected to contribute to the technical strategy of the company.
• The role requires a strong understanding of the software development process.
• You will be responsible for ensuring that all technical deliverables are completed on time and within budget.
• The position involves close collaboration with the sales engineering team.
• You will be expected to contribute to the technical vision of the company.
• The role requires a strong ability to work in a fast-paced environment.
• You will be responsible for ensuring that all technical work aligns with the company's goals.
• The position involves close collaboration with the customer support team.
• You will be expected to contribute to the technical excellence of the organization.
• The role requires a strong understanding of the compliance landscape.
• You will be responsible for ensuring that all technical solutions are scalable.
• The position involves close collaboration with the legal team.
• You will be expected to contribute to the technical roadmap of the product.
• The role requires a strong ability to work with distributed teams.
• You will be responsible for ensuring that all technical deliverables are of the highest quality.
• The position involves close collaboration with the design team.
• You will be expected to contribute to the technical culture of the company.
• The role requires a strong understanding of the technical challenges in the compliance space.
• You will be responsible for ensuring that all technical solutions are maintainable.
• The position involves close collaboration with the operations team.
• You will be expected to contribute to the technical leadership of the engineering organization.
• The role requires a strong ability to work with stakeholders across the company.
• You will be responsible for ensuring that all technical work is aligned with the product vision.
• The position involves close collaboration with the engineering team.
• You will be expected to contribute to the technical excellence of the engineering organization.
• The role requires a strong understanding of the technical requirements of the GRC product.
• You will be responsible for ensuring that all technical solutions are delivered on time.
• The position involves close collaboration with the product manage