Engineering Manager - Linux Platform Security | Top Hedge Fund (D874A54)

Referment; New York (NY); On-site; USD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Referment is seeking an Engineering Manager to own Linux platform security across a complex, high-performance environment for a leading investment firm. You will lead a technically strong team, set the security roadmap, and translate ambitious ideas into production-ready controls.

You’ll isolate AI agents, redesign privileged access, strengthen workload identity and modernise authentication and trust models, while staying actively involved in engineering work and mentoring talented engineers.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience securing complex Linux/Unix environments.
• Track record delivering security engineering into production.
• Ability to lead engineers and security programmes through ambiguity.
• Wamiliarity with production-grade identity and trust models.

Responsibilities

• Lead engineering team responsible for Linux and platform security.
• Define roadmap by identifying critical vulnerabilities and attack paths.
• Design, build and deploy security improvements across a large Linux estate.
• Stay hands-on with prototyping and problem solving.
• Collaborate with infra teams to strengthen authentication for privileged workflows.
• Improve service-to-service identity and workload identity using certificates.
• Develop approaches to sandboxing aggressive AI agents and untrusted workloads.
• Evaluate new Linux security capabilities and drive production adoption.
• Build evidence, metrics and support to move controls from prototype to production.
• Make pragmatic security decisions balancing security, usability and resilience.

Skills

Linux security architecture

Linux Security Modules

SELinux

AppArmor

Authentication & authorization

Certificates & cryptography

Kerberos

OIDC/TLS/LDAP

Unix shell & Python

Security leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science

Tools

Kerberos

OIDC

TLS

LDAP

Job description

Want to lead the security engineering behind a complex, high-performance Linux environment

Referment is working with a leading investment firm to appoint an Engineering Manager who will take ownership of Linux platform security across a sophisticated and business-critical technology environment.

This is not a policy, governance or oversight position.

You will lead a highly technical team, set the direction for platform security and remain close enough to the engineering to help turn ambitious security ideas into controls that work in production.

The challenges are substantial: isolating autonomous AI agents, redesigning privileged access, strengthening workload identity and modernising how systems authenticate and establish trust. You will have the authority to identify the most important weaknesses, decide where the team should focus and lead improvements from initial design through to widespread adoption.

If you enjoy difficult Linux problems, thoughtful security engineering and leading talented people without giving up the technical work, this is an unusually compelling opportunity.

What You’ll Own

• Lead and develop the engineering team responsible for Linux and wider platform security.
• Establish the technical roadmap, identifying the vulnerabilities and attack paths that present the greatest risk.
• Design, build and deploy security improvements across a large and complex Linux estate.
• Remain directly involved in engineering, prototyping and technical problem-solving.
• Work with infrastructure teams to introduce stronger authentication and authorisation for privileged workflows.
• Improve how users, services and workloads authenticate, establish identity and communicate securely.
• Develop practical approaches to sandboxing AI agents and isolating potentially untrusted workloads.
• Evaluate new Linux security capabilities and determine where they can materially strengthen the environment.
• Build the evidence, metrics and internal support required to move security controls from prototype to production.
• Make pragmatic decisions that balance security, usability, operational resilience and business impact.

The Problems You Could Be Solving

Your Work Could Include

• Containing AI agents that need meaningful access to systems without allowing unrestricted movement across the environment.
• Applying SELinux, AppArmor or other Linux Security Modules within complex production infrastructure.
• Strengthening privileged access without creating processes that engineers work around.
• Modernising legacy authentication and trust models.
• Improving service-to-service identity using certificates and workload identity.
• Using kernel-level visibility and enforcement to detect or prevent unwanted behaviour.
• Determining which technical risks deserve immediate investment and which can be managed differently.
• Persuading experienced infrastructure teams to adopt controls that materially change how they operate.

These are not theoretical research projects. The objective is to deliver security improvements that are adopted, measurable and effective in production.

You will bring extensive experience securing complex Linux or Unix environments and a track record of delivering meaningful security engineering work into production.

You Are Likely To Have

• Deep knowledge of Linux security architecture and operating-system security controls.
• Practical experience with Linux Security Modules and technologies such as SELinux or AppArmor.
• Strong understanding of authentication, authorisation, certificates, cryptographic primitives and network protocols.
• Experience relevant to technologies such as Kerberos, OIDC, TLS and LDAP.
• The ability to work confidently in the Unix shell and use Python to build tooling, automate processes or investigate problems.
• Experience leading engineers, technical projects or security programmes through ambiguity.
• A record of working effectively with infrastructure, platform or systems engineering teams.
• The judgement to explain technical trade-offs clearly and secure support for changes that may initially encounter resistance.
• A genuine interest in remaining technically involved while taking responsibility for people, priorities and delivery.

A degree in computer science or another highly technical discipline would be useful, but it is not essential where equivalent depth has been developed through experience.

Why Consider This Opportunity?

This role offers something increasingly difficult to find: genuine technical ownership, complex infrastructure problems and the opportunity to lead without moving away from engineering.

You will join an environment where security engineering is treated as an important technical discipline. You will have access to capable engineers, sophisticated infrastructure and problems that cannot be solved by buying another security product or writing another policy.

It could be an excellent next step for a Platform Security Lead, Linux Security Engineering Manager, Senior Linux Security Engineer or senior infrastructure security specialist ready to take on broader leadership responsibility.

If you want to shape how a complex Linux estate is secured and still be directly involved in building the answer, we would like to hear from you.