Job description

WHY WE'RE LOOKING FOR YOU AI is making it possible for anyone to build software in minutes. But building fast and building safely are two very different things. As development democratizes and more people across an organization create apps, agents, and workflows, the risk surface expands dramatically. The question enterprises are asking isn't "can we build it?" but rather "can we trust what's been built?" On the AI Governance team, we're solving this problem by building the foundational layer that sits between builders and data. This is the policies, access controls, audit trails, and security infrastructure that make Retool the platform enterprises trust to scale across their entire organization. Your work will span the stack, from full-stack web development to product infrastructure. You'll focus on the problems that matter most to customers with thousands of employees on Retool: What slows them down? What keeps their security teams up at night? How do we make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard? This team is responsible for making Retool deeply trusted by our largest customers. PROJECTS YOU MIGHT WORK ON • Data Access Control Layer : Design and build the system that enforces table-level, column-level, and row-level access controls across Retool's database connectors. You might work on: policy modeling, query rewriting to inject security constraints at the data engine, and building the admin UX that makes complex rules intuitive to configure. The goal: when a builder creates an app, the data security is already handled, automatically. • Agentic Governance : When does human authority need to back agent actions? How does this evolve as more parts of day to day work are automated over time? What does an admin need to answer "what's the worst this agent could do?" at a glance? Design & build the primitives that ensure agents are soundly permissioned and observable. • Automated Security Center & Admin Control Panel : Build the intelligent layer that proactively keeps Retool secure and well-governed. Surface under-authenticated resources, flag potentially dangerous access patterns, monitor usage analytics and spend, and integrate with compliance and DLP tools so security and admin teams get actionable insights instead of raw data, and Retool gets smarter about protecting customers the more they use it. THE SKILLSET YOU'LL BRING • 2–8 years of professional software engineering experience on high impact teams; ideally some of which has been at startups • Experience owning technically challenging, cross-functional projects from start to finish • Strong fundamentals across the entire stack, with a strong grasp of backend systems design, data modeling, and building reliable, scalable software • You communicate clearly in design docs, code reviews, and cross-functional discussions • You care about code quality, testing, and leaving the codebase better than you found it • You're motivated by solving real customer problems, not just writing clever code NICE TO HAVE • Experience building authorization, access control, or security systems • Experience with policy engines, query rewriting, or data governance platforms • Familiarity with RBAC, ABAC, or relationship-based access control models (Zanzibar, OPA, Cedar) • Familiarity with authentication and authorization protocols (OAuth, SAML, SCIM, or similar) • Experience designing taming complexity in admin-facing UIs or platform management tools WHO YOU'LL WORK WITH You'll join a team that sits at the intersection of security, platform infrastructure, and product experience. You'll work alongside engineers, product managers, and designers who care deeply about making enterprise governance feel effortless rather than burdensome. You'll also partner closely with teams across Retool because governance touches everything. We're a hard-working, passionate bunch who are motivated by collaboration, strong results, and bringing the impact of Retool to our customers. When we're in the office, we enjoy eating lunch together, and we've been known for our lively game nights. But at the root of it all, we come together to show our customers and not-quite-yet customers how Retool can make them and their companies more efficient and successful. We're building systems that the largest companies in the world will rely on to keep their data safe and their teams productive. If you want your work to be foundational, the kind of engineering that unlocks everything else, this is the team. Location: San Francisco, CA Retool offers generous benefits to all employees and hybrid work location. For more information, please visit the benefits and perks section of our careers page!

Requirements

Must-haves

2–8 years of professional software engineering experience on high impact teams; ideally some of which has been at startups
Experience owning technically challenging, cross-functional projects from start to finish
Strong fundamentals across the entire stack, with a strong grasp of backend systems design, data modeling, and building reliable, scalable software
You communicate clearly in design docs, code reviews, and cross-functional discussions
You care about code quality, testing, and leaving the codebase better than you found it
You're motivated by solving real customer problems, not just writing clever code
Location: San Francisco, CA
Retool offers generous benefits to all employees and hybrid work location. For more information, please visit the benefits and perks section of our careers page!

Nice-to-haves

Experience building authorization, access control, or security systems
Experience with policy engines, query rewriting, or data governance platforms
Familiarity with RBAC, ABAC, or relationship-based access control models (Zanzibar, OPA, Cedar)
Familiarity with authentication and authorization protocols (OAuth, SAML, SCIM, or similar)
Experience designing taming complexity in admin-facing UIs or platform management tools

Application prep

Use the role’s language and application details while tailoring your materials.

Keywords to mirror

Platform: gem
Effort: medium