Staff Software Engineer – Query and Access Control

About the role

As a Staff Software Engineer on the Query and Access Control team, you will own the core layer that resolves data queries and enforces permission checks for every read operation in Asana. You will ensure correctness and performance as customer domains, permission structures, and AI callers grow.

Key responsibilities

• Design and implement a scalable query layer over the Work Graph that remains correct and performant.
• Evolve the access‑control model to keep permission checks sound, auditable, and fast.
• Define authorization for new caller classes, including AI agents, without weakening guarantees.
• Drive multi‑quarter, cross‑team projects from design through deployment and iteration.
• Collaborate with infrastructure, framework, and product engineers to align designs and support large‑scale functionality.

Required profile

• 8+ years of experience building reliable backend services at scale.
• Proven track record leading large technical initiatives across multiple teams.
• Deep problem‑solving ability, taking designs from first principles to production.
• Strong communication skills for cross‑functional collaboration.
• Rigorous approach to system correctness and impact analysis.

Required skills

• Backend services development and operations at scale.
• Query engine or graph‑shaped data access experience.
• Authorization systems, permission models, or multi‑tenant data isolation.
• Infrastructure‑as‑code tools such as Terraform.
• Container orchestration platforms like Kubernetes.

What we offer

• Competitive base salary of 1 600 000–1 800 000 ISK per month.
• Equity and additional compensation components.
• Mental health, wellness, and fitness benefits.
• Career coaching, inclusive family‑building benefits, and long‑term savings plans.
• In‑office culinary options and a hybrid work schedule (onsite Monday, Tuesday, Thursday).