Senior Security Engineer

Cognichip; Toronto; On-site; CAD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation package including equity

Work in a cloud-native microservices-based environment

Collaborative and innovative startup culture

Job summary

Cognichip is seeking a Senior Security Engineer to enhance its security function and ensure compliance with industry standards. This role is pivotal in a rapidly growing AI SaaS company focusing on semiconductor design.

As a Senior Security Engineer, you will lead key initiatives in cloud security and incident response while developing secure CI/CD practices. You will work in a collaborative environment with leading engineers and a competitive compensation package that includes equity.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of security engineering experience.
• Strong understanding of cloud security architecture.
• Hands‑on experience leading incident investigations and building detection capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Develop and enhance the security function at Cognichip.
• Ensure compliance with industry standards like SOC 2.
• Build security guardrails across CI/CD pipelines and cloud environments.

Skills

Cloud Security

Incident Response

Communication

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

AWS

Kubernetes

IAM

Java

Python

Golang

TypeScript

Job description

Senior Security Engineer

At Cognichip, we are building the next-generation IDE to empower semiconductor design engineers with a 10x productivity boost through AI-native workflows and seamless integration with high-performance simulation engines. We are seeking an experienced Security Engineer to help grow our security function. As an AI SaaS company serving the semiconductor industry, we are entrusted with sensitive design, model, and infrastructure data. You will be responsible for key security initiatives across our product, infrastructure, compliance, and operations—ensuring we meet and exceed industry standards like SOC 2 and maintain the trust of enterprise customers.

Core Responsibilities

• Cloud Security
• Security Operations and Incident Response

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years of security engineering experience
• Strong understanding of cloud security architecture (AWS preferred), Kubernetes, and IAM
• Hands‑on experience leading incident investigations, building detection capabilities, and developing IR playbooks
• Experience with building security guardrails across CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure-as-code, and cloud environments to enable engineering teams with secure defaults, templates, and self‑service security tooling
• Excellent communication and ability to influence cross‑functional stakeholders

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with SOC 2, ISO 27001, or similar frameworks
• Prior startup experience and ability to thrive in a fast‑paced, high‑ownership environment
• Proficiency in at least one of the following: Java, Python, Golang or TypeScript
• Experience with corporate security (endpoint protection, identity management, SSO/MFA)

What We Offer

• A greenfield opportunity to help build out the security function at a high‑growth startup from day one.
• Work at a company at the intersection of AI, semiconductor design, and developer productivity.
• A cloud‑native, microservices‑based environment (AWS/Kubernetes) with strong engineering values and high autonomy.
• Competitive compensation package including equity.
• Work alongside world‑class engineers, scientists, and product designers.
• Collaborative and innovative startup culture where your impact is direct and visible.