Engineering Director, Application Security

Trail of Bits; United States; On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Trail of Bits is seeking a hands-on leader to helm its Application Security practice, a team of 12 security engineers delivering code audits, vulnerability research, and secure design reviews for high-profile clients. The role requires direct review of audit findings, guiding technical approaches, and maintaining credibility with sophisticated clients.

You will own the practice’s financial performance, staffing, and team development, while staying hands-on with source code work.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in security, including significant time performing source code audits.
• Recent, demonstrable hands-on security work.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical delivery of the Application Security practice and ensure profitability.
• Staff and grow the practice by managing utilization and hiring pipelines.
• Develop engineers by providing growth opportunities and conference participation.
• Set technical direction for tooling, methodology, and capabilities.

Skills

Code audits

Vulnerability research

Security leadership

Staff management

Client engagement

Tools

Rust

Go

C/C++

Python

Solidity

JavaScript

Job description

Who We Are

Founded in 2012 by 3 expert hackers with no investment capital, Trail of Bits is the premier place for security experts to boldly advance security and address technology's newest and most challenging risks. It has helped secure some of the world's most targeted organizations and devices. Our combination of novel research with practical solutions reduces the security risks that our clients face from emerging technologies. Our work helps drive the security industry and the public understanding of the technology underlying our world.

Cybersecurity preparedness is a moving target. Companies like ours are the tip of the spear in the fight against attackers. Our research-based and custom-engineering approach ensures that our client's capabilities are at the forefront of what's available. For companies and technologies that live and die by their security, a proactive, tailored approach is required to keep one step ahead of attackers.

Democratizing security information is essential. As part of our business, we provide ongoing informational support through blogs, whitepapers, newsletters, meetups, and open-source tools. The more the community understands security, the more they'll understand why a company like ours is so unique and valuable.

Role

You will lead Trail of Bits' Application Security practice: a team of 12 security engineers who perform code audits, vulnerability research, and secure design reviews for some of the most technically demanding clients in the industry.

This is a hands-on leadership role. You will personally review audit findings, guide technical approaches, and maintain the credibility to engage with sophisticated clients who expect their security partner to operate at their level. You will own the practice's financial performance, project staffing, and team development.

Your team works on source code. They do static analysis, manual code review, fuzzing, and protocol-level vulnerability research across Rust, Go, C/C++, Python, Solidity, and JavaScript. You need to be able to do this work yourself, not just manage people who do it.

What You’ll Achieve

• Lead technical delivery. Own the quality and profitability of every engagement your team ships. Review findings, guide technical direction on complex audits, and step in when projects need senior expertise. Maintain direct relationships with your most important clients.
• Staff and grow the practice. Make project assignment decisions that balance engineer development, client needs, and profitability. Manage utilization, identify when to hire, and build the pipeline through the intern program and recruiting. Own the practice's P&L.
• Develop your engineers. Create space for your team to present at conferences, publish research, contribute to open source tools, and advance their careers. Identify and remove obstacles. Your success is measured by their output, not yours.
• Set technical direction. Decide where the practice invests in tooling, methodology, and capability development. Stay hands-on enough to know what's working and what isn't. Ensure the team's approach evolves with the threat landscape and client needs.
• Integrate AI into the practice. Champion and model the use of AI tools across your team's workflows. Help engineers adopt AI-assisted auditing, reporting, and research practices that amplify their effectiveness.

What You’ll Bring

• 10+ years in security, including significant time performing source code audits, not only penetration testing
• Recent, demonstrable hands‑on security work (