Lead Security Engineer

Kainos; Belfast City District; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Kainos is seeking a Lead Security Engineer (Consultant) in Belfast to guide security engineering and testing across platforms and services. You will set direction on defense-in-depth strategies and drive secure practices within agile teams, while mentoring junior engineers and shaping security outcomes across the organization.

You will lead penetration testing efforts, review code security, and ensure alignment with regulatory standards, as well as foster knowledge sharing and customer education

Qualifications

• Expertise in securing Web Applications and Cloud Platforms (e.g. AWS/Azure).
• Experience in Defence Sector.
• Current, Active Security Clearance.
• Experience with manual or automated security testing tools and delivering penetration tests.
• Experience in assessing software and infrastructure source code for security.
• Knowledge of CI/CD security practices and devsecops.
• Familiarity with OWASP Top 10 and common attack vectors.
• Excellent communication, mentoring and coaching abilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead security engineering and testing across platforms and services.
• Set direction for security testing methodology, scope, outputs, and tool selections.
• Collaborate with agile delivery teams to embed secure practices in the software lifecycle.
• Manage, coach and develop junior security engineers and guide the team.

Skills

Security strategy

Threat modelling

CI/CD security

Cloud security

Secure coding

Communication

Mentoring

Windows/Linux scripting

Tools

Burp Suite

OWASP ZAP

Nmap

Nessus

Kali Linux

Metasploit

Job description

At Kainos, we use technology to solve real-world problems that matter — transforming d...

MAIN PURPOSE OF THE ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES IN THE BUSINESS

As a Lead Security Engineer (Consultant) in Kainos, you will be responsible for leading our security engineering and security testing efforts across Kainos Platforms and Services. They will set direction on our security testing methodology, engagement scoping, outputs and tool/technology selections, whilst developing our more junior security engineers accordingly.

They’ll work with agile delivery teams to develop good security practices throughout the software development journey. As a technical leader in the team, you will share knowledge and help educate our customers and Kainos team members on good security practices.

You’ll manage, coach and develop a small number of staff, with a focus on managing employee performance and assisting in their career development. You’ll also provide direction and leadership for your team as you solve challenging problems together.

MINIMUM (ESSENTIAL) REQUIREMENTS

• Expertise in securing Web Applications and Cloud Platforms (e.g. AWS/Azure).
• Experience in Defence Sector
• Current, Active Security Clearance
• Expertise of testing software and infrastructure security using existing manual or automated security tools, e.g. perform and document penetration tests on web-based applications, networks and computer systems.
• Expertise in assessing software and infrastructure source code from a security standpoint.
• Expertise in Continuous Security, Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery techniques
• Knowledge of international security standards and regulations such as NCSC, NIST, CIS, PCI, GDPR, OWASP ASVS, HIPPA, SOC2 etc.
• Knowledge of typical cyber security attack vectors (e.g. OWASP Top 10, SQL, XSS, XXE, MITM etc.) and can articulate threats and risk via threat modelling exercises/workshops
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to convey security complexities to audiences of various technical abilities.
• We are passionate about developing people – a demonstrated ability in managing, mentoring and coaching members of your team and wider community is important
• Good programming or scripting experience across Windows/Linux/MacOS
• Stays up to date with new threats and attack types.

DESIRABLE

• Penetration testing qualifications (e.g. OSCP, CREST, TIGER or equivalent)
• Experience of working with the external penetration test companies to translate report findings into actionable tasks.
• Experience with security tools (e.g. Burp Suite, OWASP-ZAP, NMAP, Nessus, Kali, Metasploit etc.)
• Knowledge about main cyber security areas (e.g. OSINT, network scanning, enumeration, sniffing, session hijacking, social engineering, firewalls, honeypots, IDS/IPS/WAF/AV/DLP, Cryptography/PKI,IoTthreats, trojans/viruses/worms/backdoors/ransomware, etc.)
• Active participation in knowledge sharing activities, both within the team and at a wider level
• Active in the security community – conference speaking, active sharing of knowledge externally
• Experience of working in an Agile environment