Staff Product Security Engineer
UpGuard Inc. · Remote · Sydney · Brisbane · Hobart · Melbourne ·
COMPENSATION
€•• – ••k
Listed on the employer's job board (Ashby)
- Staff-level individual contributor
- Fully remote (global)
- First security hire
- GCP + Kubernetes focus
- AI-driven security tools
As the first dedicated product security hire at UpGuard, you will establish security standards, tooling, and practices for the company's Cyber Risk Posture Management platform. You will have significant autonomy to shape the security roadmap, focusing on threat modeling, vulnerability management, and secure-by-default configurations in GCP and Kubernetes.
What you'll do
- Lead threat modeling and security reviews across product portfolio and cloud infrastructure
- Build automation and AI-driven tooling to embed security into the SDLC
- Design secure-by-default configurations for cloud and Kubernetes environments
- Own end-to-end vulnerability management and drive remediation with engineering teams
- Build scalable detection and response systems for malicious activity
- Partner with product and platform teams to deliver secure-by-design solutions
What you'll need
- 7+ years in security engineering, software engineering, or security operations
- Experience with cloud security, preferably GCP, but AWS or Azure accepted
- Strong knowledge of Kubernetes services and container security principles
- Deep understanding of securing IAM and cloud identities
- Proven ability to lead technical security reviews and threat modeling exercises
- Knowledge of common web application vulnerabilities such as OWASP Top 10
- Hands-on experience with Infrastructure as Code tools like Terraform or OpenTofu
Nice to have
- Experience as the first security hire or founding member of a security team
- Familiarity with AI/LLM security risks and securing AI-powered features
- Strong backend engineering skills, particularly in Go
- Experience supporting SOC 2 or ISO 27001 audits from an engineering perspective
- Public security research, CVEs, or open-source security tooling contributions
- Offensive security skills with ability to validate findings via exploitation
Stack
- GCP
- Kubernetes
- Terraform
- OpenTofu
- Go
- AI/LLM tools
How you'll work
- Fully remote with optional offices in Sydney and Hobart
- No mandatory office attendance required
- National police history check and reference checks required before start
What you get
- Work from home setup allowance within first three months
- Monthly lifestyle subsidy for well-being
- $1500 USD annual learning and development allowance
- Paid time off plus two additional leave days
- 18 weeks paid parental leave irrespective of parenting role
- Personal leave allowance including sick and carer’s leave
- Top-spec laptops provided for all team members
- Paid subscriptions for generative AI tools
- Stock options in the company