Manager, Attack Engineering

NightDragon Acquisition Corp.; United States; Hybrid; USD 235,000 - 280,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid & remote work

Competitive compensation

Stock options

Health, vision & dental insurance

Job summary

Horizon3 seeks an Engineering Manager to lead the External Attack Engineering team within the NodeZero platform, focusing on external/public-facing infrastructure, SaaS, and enterprise software. You will balance hands-on direction with strategic execution to reflect real-world attacker tradecraft.

You will mentor engineers, shape product strategy, and partner with Product, Design, and GTM to deliver high-impact, secure attack capabilities across cloud and AI environments.

Qualifications

• 5+ years leading offensive security, red team, or attack engineering teams.
• Experience managing teams of 6-10+ engineers and scaling organizations.
• Balanced hands-on technical depth with strategic leadership.

Responsibilities

• Lead and grow External Attack Surface team focused on external/public assets.
• Define direction, priorities, and quality standards for offensive capabilities.
• Mentor engineers and drive scalable, production-safe attack tooling.
• Partner with Product/Design to translate insights into roadmap input.

Skills

Leadership

External attack surface

Python

CI/CD

Terraform

Job description

Get to Know Us

Horizon3 is a fast-growing, remote cybersecurity company dedicated to the mission of enabling organizations to proactively find and fix and verify exploitable attack vectors before criminals exploit them. Our flagship product, the NodeZeroTM platform, delivers production-safe autonomous pentests and other key assessment operations that scale across the largest internal, external, cloud, and hybrid cloud environments. NodeZero has been adopted by organizations of all sizes, from small educational institutions to government agencies and Global 100 enterprises. It is used by ITOps/SecOps teams, consulting pentesters, and MSSPs and MSPs.

We are a fusion of former U.S. Special Operations cyber operators, startup engineers, and formerly frustrated cybersecurity practitioners. We're committed to helping solve our common security problems: ineffective security tools, false positives resulting in alert fatigue, blind spots, "checkbox" security culture, cybersecurity skills shortage, and the long lead time and expense of hiring outside consultants. Collectively, we are a team of learn it alls, committed to a culture of respect, collaboration, ownership, and results.

Summary

We’re seeking an experienced Engineering Manager to lead our External Attack Engineering team. In this role, you’ll oversee a team responsible for designing, validating, and scaling offensive capabilities within the NodeZero platform targeting the modern external attack surface, including public-facing infrastructure, SaaS platforms, and externally-facing enterprise commercial software.

You’ll operate at the intersection of offensive security, engineering, and product, driving both hands-on technical direction and strategic execution. This leader will ensure our external attack capabilities reflect real-world attacker tradecraft while remaining production-safe, high-signal, and impactful for customers.

Ideal candidates bring a strong mix of technical depth, leadership experience, and product mindset, and are excited to build and scale a team shaping the future of autonomous offensive security.

Essential Functions

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead and grow a team of Attack and Full-Stack Engineers specializing in the External Attack Surface, including Commercial and SaaS platform.

• Set technical direction, priorities, and quality standards for external offensive capabilities.

• Mentor engineers and raise the bar for offensive rigor, delivery quality, and customer-facing clarity.

• Drive hiring and organizational scaling as the External Attack team expands.

External Attack Strategy & Execution (Hack, Fix, Verify, Repeat)

• Own offensive strategy across:

  • External and Public-facing platforms and infrastructure

  • Enterprise SaaS and externally-facing enterprise commercial software

  • Identity, SaaS providers, and enterprise platform layers

• Guide development of end-to-end attack methodologies (Discovery and verification):

  • Drive continuous, at-scale discovery of public-facing external assets.

  • Evaluate identity-centric threats by leveraging dark web and open-source intelligence to simulate credential compromise and phishing consequences.

  • Implement stealth-oriented authentication and password testing methodologies reflecting modern attacker tradecraft.

  • Simulate access abuse and data exfiltration across critical SaaS-based knowledge and information management ecosystems.

• Ensure NodeZero capabilities are realistic, production-safe, and aligned with modern attacker tradecraft.

Product & Cross-Functional Partnership

• Partner with Product and Design to translate field insights into prioritized roadmap input and productized capabilities.

• Create tight feedback loops between real-world attack findings and platform evolution.

• Help define next-generation attack surfaces across cloud and AI systems.

• Own the UI/UX and product design for the external attack surface and perimeter breach scenarios, including simplifying the configuration of attack operations and developing visualizations that translate complex attack paths into clear, actionable storytelling regarding customer risk, exploitability, and findings.

Customer & External Impact

• Oversee high-impact customer engagements and technical briefings.

• Ensure clear articulation of exploitability, business impact, and remediation.

• Contribute to external content such as blogs, demos, and thought leadership where appropriate.

Competencies / Requirements

Leadership

• 5+ years leading offensive security, red team, or attack engineering teams.

• Experience managing teams of 6-10+ engineers and scaling organizations.

• Proven ability to balance hands-on technical depth with strategic leadership.

External Attack Surface Expertise

• Strong expertise in one or more:

  • External/Public-facing infrastructure attack surfaces

  • Enterprise SaaS platforms and externally-facing enterprise commercial software

  • Identity and access abuse across diverse ecosystems

• Deep understanding of:

  • Common misconfigurations and exploitation paths in external platforms

  • System-level compromise and lateral movement in externally-facing enterprise commercial software

  • Complex multi-platform attack scenarios

• Ability to chain attack paths end-to-end and clearly explain impact.

Technical / Engineering Fluency

• Strong background in software engineering (Python preferred). Experience with APIs, cloud automation, and infrastructure tooling.

• Familiarity with CI/CD and infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, CloudFormation, etc.).

• Comfortable working with Git, MR workflows, and product development cycles.

Product + Customer Orientation

• Experience translating offensive findings into product capabilities.

• Strong communication skills across technical and non-technical audiences.

• Customer-first mindset with focus on real-world impact.

Desired Skills

• Experience across diverse environments, including cloud infrastructure, enterprise SaaS, and externally-facing enterprise commercial software.

• Familiarity with AI/LLM systems and associated attack surfaces.

• Experience in security tooling, red teaming, or offensive engineering products.

• Relevant security certifications (e.g., OSCP, cloud or SaaS security) are a plus.

• Public research, blogs, or open-source contributions related to external attack surfaces.

Expectations

• Highly self-directed and effective in ambiguous environments.

• Able to operate at both strategic and hands-on technical levels.

• Maintains high standards for quality, safety, and customer trust.

• Strong cross-functional partner across Engineering, Product, and GTM.

• Manage an on-call rotation for the team, ensuring appropriate coverage and response to critical incidents.

Travel Required

This job may require up to 10% travel.

Perks of Horizon3

• Inclusive Team: We value diversity and promote an inclusive culture where everyone can thrive.

• Growth Opportunities: Be part of a dynamic and growing team with numerous career development opportunities.

• Innovative Culture: Work in a collaborative environment that encourages creativity and out-of-the-box thinking.

• Hybrid & Remote Work: We embrace a mix of remote and hybrid work models depending on role and location, including our Chicago office, where some roles require regular in-office presence.

• Competitive Compensation: We offer competitive salary, equity and benefits. Our benefits include health, vision & dental insurance for you and your family, a flexible vacation policy, and generous parental leave.

Compensation and Values

At Horizon3, we believe that our people are our greatest asset, and our compensation philosophy reflects this core value. We are committed to fostering an environment where all employees feel valued, respected, and rewarded for their contributions. Our compensation structure is designed to be fair, competitive, and transparent, ensuring that every team member is recognized and compensated equitably across roles, levels, and locations.

In accordance with various State's transparency regulations, we provide the following salary range information for this position:

• Base salary range: $235,000 - $280,000 annually. The exact salary will be determined based on the selected candidate's location, qualifications, experience, and relevant skills.

• Additional compensation: All full-time roles are eligible for an equity package in the form of stock options.

You Belong Here

Horizon3 is not just an equal opportunity employer - we are a community that values diversity, equity, and inclusion as fundamental principles of our culture and success. We are dedicated to fostering a workplace where everyone feels welcome and respected, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, or any other legally protected status by law.

Our commitment to diversity and inclusion means we strive to attract, develop, and retain a workforce that reflects the varied communities we serve. We believe that diverse perspectives drive innovation and strengthen our ability to create cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions. At Horizon3, every team member is valued and supported in an environment that encourages personal and professional growth.

We welcome candidates from all backgrounds and experiences, and we encourage all qualified individuals to apply. Come be a part of Horizon3, where your unique contributions are recognized, and your potential is limitless.

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Application Note

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