Security Engineer, Detection & Response

We are seeking a Senior Security Engineer with a specialty in Detection and Incident Response to join our Security Engineering team. This role sits at the intersection of security operations and software engineering — you won't just investigate incidents, you'll build the systems that detect, contain, and prevent them. You will design and ship high-precision detections across cloud services and enterprise SaaS, develop automation that shortens response timelines, and mature the telemetry pipelines that make it all possible. Your ability to write production-quality code is just as important as your ability to triage an alert.

You will structure investigations, analyze root causes, and clearly communicate the significance of security incidents, their impact, and recommended remediation steps — but you'll also turn those findings into durable engineering improvements: better detections, tighter schemas, and smarter automation.

You will:

• Engineer, test, and deploy detection logic across cloud and enterprise environments, treating detections as software with version control, peer review, and measurable performance.
• Build and maintain incident response automation, runbooks, and tooling that reduce containment timelines without sacrificing developer velocity.
• Mature telemetry pipelines through improved schema design, normalization, enrichment, and quality checks that reduce false positives and increase signal fidelity.
• Perform digital incident investigations to identify and contain potential security breaches.
• Conduct digital forensics and malware analysis to understand attack vectors and adversary methodologies.
• Integrate alerting with messaging and ticketing systems to enable fast, traceable response workflows.
• Partner cross-functionally with IT, security, and engineering teams to harden identity and access patterns, close logging and forensics gaps, and implement maintainable guardrails that scale with the organization.
• Utilize threat intelligence platforms to improve hunting, detection, and response workflows.
• Clearly explain the significance and impact of incidents, providing actionable recommendations to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Ideally, you'd have:

• 5+ years of experience in Detection Engineering, Incident Response, or Security Operations, with a strong emphasis on building and shipping security tooling and automation.
• Proficiency in at least one programming language (e.g., Python, Go) and comfort writing production-grade code — not just scripts.
• Hands-on experience designing or improving detection pipelines, SIEM content, and alerting workflows in cloud-native environments.
• Practical experience with SIEM, EDR, and SOAR tools, with a preference for candidates who have built integrations or extended these platforms programmatically.
• Strong understanding of modern cyber threats, common attack techniques, and adversary TTPs.
• Familiarity with digital forensics tools and malware analysis techniques.
• Experience with cloud-native environments (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure) and the security telemetry those environments generate.
• Exposure to threat intelligence platforms and integrating intel into detection and investigation workflows.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to translate complex security findings into clear business impact.
• Relevant security certifications (e.g., GCIH, GCFA, GCIA, CISSP, GDSA) are a plus.

Compensation packages at Scale for eligible roles include base salary, equity, and benefits. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position and may be inclusive of several career levels at Scale; it will be determined during the interview process based on work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, qualifications, interview performance, and relevant education or training. Scale employees in eligible roles are also granted equity based compensation, subject to Board of Director approval. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process, and confirm whether the hired role will be eligible for equity grant. You'll also receive benefits including, but not limited to: comprehensive health, dental and vision coverage, retirement benefits, a learning and development stipend, and generous PTO. Additionally, this role may be eligible for additional benefits such as a commuter stipend.

Please reference the job posting's subtitle for where this position will be located. For pay transparency purposes, the base salary range for this full-time position in the locations of San Francisco, New York, Seattle is:

$237,600 — $297,000 USD

PLEASE NOTE: Our policy requires a 90-day waiting period before reconsidering candidates for the same role. This allows us to ensure a fair and thorough evaluation of all applicants.

About Us:

At Scale, our mission is to develop reliable AI systems for the world's most important decisions. Our products provide the high-quality data and full-stack technologies that power the world's leading models, and help enterprises and governments build, deploy, and oversee AI applications that deliver real impact. We work closely with industry leaders like Meta, Ernst & Young, Mayo Clinic, Time Inc., the Government of Qatar, and U.S. government agencies including the Army and Air Force. We are expanding our team to accelerate the development of AI applications.

We believe that everyone should be able to bring their whole selves to work, which is why we are proud to be an inclusive and equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability status, gender identity or Veteran status.

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with physical and mental disabilities. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation in the application or recruiting process due to a disability, please contact us at accommodations@scale.com. Please see the United States Department of Labor's Know Your Rights poster for additional information.

We comply with the United States Department of Labor's Pay Transparency provision.

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