Cybersecurity Engineer

This role is for a highly skilled and versatile Security Engineer who will lead offensive security engagements while also establishing and managing defensive controls and governance frameworks. The position involves hands-on penetration testing, adversarial testing of AI and large language models (LLMs), and building security programs from the ground up. You will work across the company and its clients, balancing red-team exercises with compliance documentation and security policy development. This is a unique opportunity to shape the security function, develop tooling and processes, and grow a security team as demand increases.

Key Responsibilities

- Conduct comprehensive penetration tests on networks, applications, APIs, and cloud environments using recognized methodologies (e.g., PTES), covering all phases from scoping to retesting.
- Lead red-team and adversary simulation exercises aligned with the MITRE ATT&CK framework, focusing on realistic attack paths rather than isolated vulnerabilities.
- Perform social engineering and phishing assessments where authorized.
- Deliver detailed findings with proof-of-concept exploits, business impact analysis, severity ratings (CVSS), and actionable remediation guidance.
- Exploit and report on the full OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities, including injection flaws, broken access controls, authentication weaknesses, SSRF, and insecure deserialization.
- Conduct deep PHP application testing across frameworks like Laravel, WordPress, and legacy custom stacks, including source-assisted code review and exploitation of common CMS/plugin vulnerabilities.
- Test REST and GraphQL APIs and single-page applications against current attack vectors.
- Red-team AI and LLM systems against the OWASP LLM Top 10, addressing prompt injections, jailbreaks, data exfiltration, insecure tool use, and denial-of-service risks.
- Evaluate agent and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems for tool-call abuse and data isolation failures, translating findings into engineering guardrails and test cases.
- Embed secure development practices within engineering teams, including threat modeling, secure code review, and integration of security testing (SAST, DAST, dependency and secret scanning) into CI/CD pipelines.
- Design, deploy, and maintain security controls across cloud platforms (AWS preferred), corporate infrastructure, endpoints, and identity management systems.
- Manage identity and access with least-privilege principles, multi-factor authentication, and periodic access reviews.
- Establish and operate cloud security posture management (CSPM) solutions.
- Monitor threats and vulnerabilities, triage alerts, and lead incident detection, response, and post-incident reviews.
- Select, deploy, and manage security tools including SIEM, EDR, vulnerability scanners, and CSPM platforms.
- Develop and maintain security policies, standards, and procedures aligned with recognized frameworks.
- Drive compliance and audit readiness for SOC 2, ISO 27001, and NIST CSF, including evidence collection and control mapping.
- Assess vendor and client security postures, providing clear, prioritized remediation recommendations.
- Communicate risks, incidents, and metrics effectively to leadership and clients, translating technical risks into accessible language.
- Deliver security awareness training to internal teams.
- Define the security team’s structure, roadmap, and hiring plans as the function expands.

Required Qualifications

- Minimum five years of hands-on cybersecurity experience with a strong focus on offensive security, including penetration testing or red-teaming as a core responsibility.
- Proven expertise in web application testing, particularly with PHP-heavy environments such as Laravel, WordPress, or legacy custom codebases.
- Deep understanding of the OWASP Top 10 and modern web/API attack techniques, with demonstrated ability to produce working exploits beyond automated scan results.
- Familiarity with AI and LLM attack surfaces (prompt injection, jailbreaks, agent and RAG abuse) or the capacity to learn quickly.
- Strong working knowledge of at least one major cloud platform (AWS preferred) and its native security tools.
- Practical experience in incident response, threat detection, and log analysis using SIEM and EDR solutions.
- Solid foundation in networking, operating systems, identity management, and encryption technologies.
- Proficiency in scripting and automation using Python, Bash, or PowerShell.
- Experience with at least one compliance framework such as SOC 2, ISO 27001, or NIST CSF.
- Self-directed and able to prioritize effectively under pressure, comfortable owning a security function independently.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, capable of translating complex technical risks into clear, non-technical language for diverse audiences.

Preferred Qualifications and Benefits

- Offensive security certifications such as OSCP (strongly preferred), OSWE, OSEP, or CRTP.
- Broader certifications including CISSP, CEH, CompTIA Security+, or recognized cloud security credentials.
- Publicly visible contributions such as bug bounty achievements, CVEs, published research, or a portfolio of tools and write-ups.
- Expertise with Burp Suite Professional and custom tooling or extension development.
- Hands-on experience with AI red-teaming against production LLM or agent systems.
- Exposure to multiple cloud environments and experience working in consulting or multi-client delivery settings.

This role offers the chance to lead and shape a critical security function while engaging in cutting-edge offensive and defensive security work across diverse environments.