Director, Cyber Defense Engineering

NVIDIA; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 216,000 - 345,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading tech company in Seattle seeks a Director of Security Engineering to lead cybersecurity initiatives, focusing on AI-enhanced SOC development. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in SOC engineering and a strong technical background. Responsibilities include optimizing detection capabilities and mentoring a skilled team. Base salary ranges from $216,000 to $345,000, with equity and benefits included.

Benefits

Equity

Comprehensive benefits package

Qualifications

• 15+ years of proven experience in cybersecurity, with 6+ years in a leadership role.
• Proven track record in SOC engineering and automation tool management.
• Hands-on experience in detection logic and correlation pipelines.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of AI-enhanced SOC for autonomous detection.
• Define architecture for SOC engineering functions with AI integration.
• Supervise lifecycle of security toolsets for enterprise and cloud environments.

Skills

Leadership in cybersecurity

Detection engineering

Automation and scripting

Communication skills

Education

MS degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field

Ph.D. in relevant technical field

Tools

SIEM

SOAR

EDR/XDR

Automation tools (Python, PowerShell, Terraform)

Cloud-based security solutions

Job description

Overview

Today, we’re tapping into the unlimited potential of AI to define the next era of computing. An era in which our GPU acts as the brains of computers, robots, and self-driving cars that can understand the world. Doing what’s never been done before takes vision, innovation, and the world’s best talent. As an NVIDIAN, you’ll be immersed in a diverse, supportive environment where everyone is inspired to do their best work.

Director of Security Engineering

NVIDIA is looking for an outstanding leader for security engineering to lead the composition, validation, and implementation of secure product engineering and delivery. The candidate is encouraged to adopt a strong, technical approach to secure development and engineering practices across multiple internal teams. Those in this role will assist in mitigating risk, threats, and vulnerabilities in NVIDIA’s machine learning, graphics, compute, and associated online and container deployed services.

What you’ll be doing

• Lead the development and deployment of an innovative, AI-enhanced SOC that employs autonomous detection, response, and remediation capabilities.
• Define the architecture for SOC engineering functions, integrating AI copilots, SOAR workflows, and agent-based detection logic.
• Supervise the lifecycle of SOC toolsets (SIEM, SOAR, EDR, XDR, cloud-native security services, TIP).
• Optimize tool integration, coverage, and cost-effectiveness across enterprise and cloud environments.
• Lead the detection engineering program to develop, test, and maintain high-fidelity detection logic aligned to MITRE ATT&CK.
• Build a threat engineering function to simulate adversary behavior, validate controls, and stress-test detection pipelines.
• Facilitate the creation of automation pipelines to reduce mean time to detect (MTTD) and mean time to respond (MTTR).
• Incorporate analytics for anomaly detection, incident triage, and contextual enrichment.
• Build and mentor a cross-functional team of detection engineers, threat engineers, automation specialists, and tool engineers.
• Work closely with the SOC Operations, Threat Intelligence, and Cloud Security teams to ensure coverage of top threats.

What we need to see

• We are looking for candidates with an MS degree or equivalent experience, a Ph.D. degree or equivalent experience in CS, EE (or a related technical field).
• 15+ overall proven experience in cybersecurity with at least 6+ years in a leadership/manager role.
• Proven track record in SOC engineering, detection engineering, or automation/security tool management.
• Background in building or running an SOC environment that incorporates AI/ML is strongly favored.
• Proven understanding of SIEM, SOAR, EDR/XDR, and cloud-based security solutions (such as AWS GuardDuty, GCP SCC, Azure Sentinel).
• Hands-on experience with detection logic, rule tuning, and correlation pipelines.
• Familiarity with adversary simulation (red/purple team), MITRE ATT&CK, MITRE D3FEND.
• Proficiency with automation and scripting (Python, PowerShell, Terraform, etc.).
• Understanding of agent-based AI models and their application in cybersecurity.
• Ability to build, mentor, and encourage highly technical teams with strong communication skills across various functions to influence both engineers and executives.

Ways to stand out from the crowd

• Understanding of GPU architectures, and associated programming techniques.
• Application development skills: C, C++, Java, Python.
• Candidates with an MS or Ph.D. or equivalent experience in CS, EE (or a related technical field) or relevant background are preferred.
• Experience with brand new AI, automation, and threat detection initiatives at enterprise scale.

Base salary will be determined based on location, experience, and the pay of employees in similar positions. The base salary range is 216,000 USD - 345,000 USD.

You will also be eligible for equity and benefits.

Applications for this job will be accepted at least until October 11, 2025.

NVIDIA is committed to fostering a diverse work environment and proud to be an equal opportunity employer. As we highly value diversity in our current and future employees, we do not discriminate (including in our hiring and promotion practices) on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status or any other characteristic protected by law.