Director of Security Engineering & Operations

WHOOP; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 230,000 - 290,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible Vacation

Parental leave 18 weeks

Stock options

WHOOP membership for team

Medical, dental, vision benefits

Wellness stipend $500/year

Sleep performance bonus $100

Job summary

WHOOP in Boston is seeking a Director of Security Engineering & Operations to lead enterprise security engineering and security operations, reporting to the CISO. This leader will shape strategy, grow a team of managers, engineers, and analysts, and drive measurable security outcomes in a fast-moving tech environment.

The role blends strategic oversight with deep technical expertise across identity, cloud, data protection, AI security, and incident readiness.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in information security with security operations and engineering experience.
• 5+ years in people leadership, incl. managers and senior ICs.
• Proven ability to scale security programs in high-growth environments.
• Strong judgment and collaboration across product, risk, legal, and exec leadership.
• Experience securing AI-enabled products and enterprise AI deployments.
• Experience managing MDR/MSSP or security partners is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead Security Engineering and Security Operations, defining strategy, priorities, standards, and outcomes.
• Advance detection and response programs linking threat scenarios to telemetry, detections, investigation, and response.
• Lead security incident readiness and response, including incident command and post-incident follow-up.
• Guide secure design and operation of controls across identity, endpoint, cloud, data, AI, and infrastructure.
• Shape security strategy for AI-enabled products and enterprise AI adoption, including access controls and data handling.
• Drive execution across the security portfolio with metrics, roadmaps, and governance.
• Develop and mentor managers, engineers, and analysts, elevating quality and execution.
• Collaborate with Product Security, Platform, IT, Risk, Legal, Privacy, and other stakeholders.
• Partner with CISO on workforce planning and communication of security posture and priorities.

Skills

Security leadership

Security operations

Detection engineering

Incident response

SIEM & telemetry

Cloud security

Data protection

AI security

Team leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

• WHOOP is seeking a Director, Security Engineering & Operations to lead the teams responsible for enterprise security engineering and security operations. Reporting directly to the CISO and serving as a senior member of the Security leadership team, this leader will shape strategy, lead a growing team of managers, engineers, and analysts, and drive measurable security outcomes across a fast-moving technology environment
• This is a leadership role for someone who has successfully scaled security operations in complex, high-growth environments and brings strong security engineering experience. The right leader combines strategic judgment with strong technical depth, staying close enough to the work to set a high bar for engineering quality, guide critical technical decisions, and lead effectively through significant security events
• This leader will play a significant role in shaping the team, operating model, and technical roadmap as WHOOP scales, advancing capabilities across security engineering, detection and response, incident management, security automation, identity, cloud, endpoint, SaaS, data protection, and other enterprise security domains
• As WHOOP expands its use of AI across member-facing products, internal technology, and engineering, and continues to evolve its capabilities in health, this leader will help ensure security scales alongside the company’s technology, data, regulatory, and threat landscape
• Lead Security Engineering and Security Operations, defining strategy, priorities, technical standards, performance expectations, and measurable outcomes across both functions
• Advance a risk and threat-informed detection and response program that connects priority threat scenarios to the telemetry, detections, investigation capabilities, response procedures, and operational controls required to address them, including identity-centric, data protection, and insider risk scenarios
• Lead security incident readiness and response, including escalation, incident command for significant events, cross-functional coordination, post-incident review, and accountability for follow-up actions
• Guide the engineering and operationalization of preventive and detective security controls across identity, endpoint, cloud, SaaS, infrastructure, data, AI-enabled systems, and other high-value enterprise environments, while setting a high bar for technical design, testing, documentation, maintainability, and lifecycle management
• Lead the security strategy and engineering approach for AI-enabled products and enterprise AI adoption, including access controls, sensitive data handling, model and application security, third-party integrations, tool and agent permissions, monitoring, auditability, and secure use of AI across the company
• Drive an outcome-oriented approach to security technology and managed services, maximizing the effectiveness of existing capabilities, making disciplined decisions about when to automate, build, buy, or use external partners, and holding security partners accountable to measurable outcomes
• Drive disciplined execution across the security engineering and operations portfolio through effective prioritization, roadmap and backlog management, capacity planning, metrics, ownership, and operating cadence
• Lead, coach, and develop managers, engineers, and analysts, setting clear expectations for technical quality, judgment, ownership, execution, and professional growth
• Strengthen collaboration across Product Security, Security Architecture, Platform, Fraud, Engineering, IT, GRC, Legal, Privacy, and other business functions, creating clear ownership and effective operating relationships across organizational boundaries
• Partner with the CISO on organizational design, workforce planning, hiring, and development of the capabilities required as the Security organization evolves, while providing clear, data-driven communication on security posture, operational performance, significant risks, and strategic priorities

Benefits

• Flexible Vacation: WHOOP has a flexible vacation policy that allows you to unwind, laptop-free, when you need it most.
• Focus on Family: We offer 18 weeks paid parental leave, plus an additional 2 weeks to gradually return to work.
• Get Invested: In addition to a competitive base salary and 401k, you’re eligible to receive stock options to share in the future of WHOOP.
• WHOOP +1: Everyone on the team gets a complimentary WHOOP membership—plus another membership to share with a loved one.
• Health Matters: Our competitive benefits package covers medical, dental, and vision, in addition to mental health services, life and disability insurance, and more.
• Find Your Fit: Full-time employees get $500 a year to spend on wellness in whatever way they see fit, from fitness classes and memberships, to recovery services.
• It Pays to Sleep: Our Sleep Performance Program incentivizes employees to get more sleep. Log an average sleep performance of 85% or higher for the month and get a $100 bonus.
• Location, Location, Location: You can’t beat the views from the rooftop of One Kenmore Square. Feel inspired daily as you work, enjoy free snacks and coffee, and collaborate in the heart of Boston.

• Experience managing MDR, MSSP, or similar security partners and holding them accountable to measurable operational outcomes
• Deep technical expertise in detection engineering, SIEM and telemetry strategy, incident response, and modern security operations, including experience leading significant security incidents
• Strong judgment and relationship-building skills, with a track record of working effectively across technical, product, risk, legal, and senior leadership teams
• Proven ability to drive disciplined execution across priorities, roadmaps, backlogs, metrics, and ownership, while maximizing existing capabilities before introducing additional technology
• Experience in health technology or another sensitive-data environment is a plus
• 10+ years of experience in information security, with deep experience in Security Operations and meaningful experience across Security Engineering in complex technology environments
• Experience securing AI-enabled products, enterprise AI adoption, or AI development environments, including risks related to sensitive data, models, agents, third-party services, access, and monitoring
• 5+ years of people leadership experience, including multiple years managing managers and senior technical individual contributors. This is not a first-time people leadership role. Demonstrated strength in hiring, coaching, performance management, organizational design, and raising the bar for team quality and execution