Security Engineer (Senior/Staff) - VC Backed Startups
Join SignalFire’s Talent Network for Security Engineer (Senior/Staff) Roles at VC-Backed Startups
🛑 This is not an application for a specific job. Instead, this is a way to get on the radar of VC-backed startups that are actively hiring Security Engineering talent. If you have any questions, please direct inquiries to talentnetwork@signalfire.com.
At SignalFire, we partner with top early-stage startups that are shaping the future of technology. Our portfolio spans 200+ innovative companies across AI, cybersecurity, healthtech, fintech, developer tools, and enterprise SaaS.
We’re looking to connect with exceptional Senior and Staff Security Engineers who are excited about building secure products, protecting critical systems, and establishing scalable security practices at high-growth startups.
By joining SignalFire’s Talent Network, your profile will be shared with our portfolio companies, giving you visibility into exclusive early-stage opportunities that may not be publicly listed.
Who Should Join?
We’re looking for engineers who are:
✔ Passionate about building secure, resilient products and infrastructure
✔ Experienced in identifying vulnerabilities and translating security risks into practical engineering solutions
✔ Excited to establish security programs and technical standards in fast-moving startup environments
✔ Comfortable partnering across engineering, product, infrastructure, and business teams
✔ Interested in balancing strong security controls with product velocity and customer needs
Typical Roles & Responsibilities
Design and implement security controls across applications, cloud infrastructure, internal systems, and development environments
Conduct architecture reviews, threat modeling, code reviews, and security assessments for new products and features
Identify, prioritize, and remediate vulnerabilities across the technology stack
Embed security into the software development lifecycle through secure coding standards, automated testing, and developer tooling
Build and improve detection, monitoring, incident response, and vulnerability management capabilities
Partner with engineering and infrastructure teams to strengthen cloud, container, network, identity, and access security
Lead or support the investigation and remediation of security incidents
Develop reusable security tooling, automation, documentation, and technical guardrails
Evaluate third-party technologies, integrations, and vendors for potential security risks
Support customer security reviews, enterprise diligence, and technical compliance requirements
Help establish security policies and controls aligned with frameworks such as SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, or PCI DSS
Mentor engineers and promote shared ownership of security across the organization
Common Qualifications
While each startup has its own hiring criteria, many Senior and Staff Security Engineer roles in our network look for:
5+ years of experience across security engineering, application security, cloud security, infrastructure security, or related disciplines
Strong software engineering or systems engineering foundation, with proficiency in languages such as Python, Go, Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, or Rust
Experience securing cloud-native applications and infrastructure on AWS, GCP, or Azure
Knowledge of common application and infrastructure vulnerabilities, attack techniques, and mitigation strategies
Experience with threat modeling, secure design reviews, penetration testing, or vulnerability research
Familiarity with identity and access management, secrets management, encryption, and network security
Experience building security automation and integrating controls into CI/CD pipelines
Ability to communicate technical risks and recommendations to engineering teams and business stakeholders
Strong judgment around risk prioritization, remediation, and balancing security with execution speed
Experience in venture-backed startups, security-sensitive industries, or rapidly scaling technology companies
💡 Technologies You Might Work With:
Languages & Development: Python, Go, Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, Rust, Bash
Cloud & Infrastructure: AWS, GCP, Azure, Kubernetes, Docker, Terraform, Linux
Application Security: SAST, DAST, software composition analysis, dependency scanning, API security, penetration testing
Detection & Response: SIEM, EDR, intrusion detection, log analysis, incident response, security orchestration
Identity & Data Security: IAM, SSO, OAuth, SAML, secrets management, key management, encryption
Security Platforms & Tools: Wiz, Snyk, Semgrep, Burp Suite, CrowdStrike, Okta, Datadog, Splunk
What Happens Next?
Submit your application to join SignalFire’s Talent Ecosystem.
We review applications on an ongoing basis to identify strong candidates.
If there’s a match, a SignalFire talent partner or a leader from one of our startups may reach out directly.
No match yet? We’ll keep your profile on file for future Security Engineering roles across our portfolio.