PhD Security Engineer Intern: Threat Research & Response

Speedrun Talent Network; San Francisco, New York (CA, NY); On-site; USD 84,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Housing stipend

Travel reimbursement

Job summary

Figma is seeking a PhD Intern, Security Engineer to apply research methods to real-world security challenges in our product, platform, and infrastructure. You will collaborate with mentors and teams to drive systemic improvements and risk reduction.

This 12- or 16-week internship can be based in SF or NYC, starting May/June 2027. You will perform code audits, design mitigations, and contribute to incident response while gaining practical industry experience.

Qualifications

• Currently enrolled as a 4th/5th year PhD student in CS with security focus.
• Proficient in at least one general-purpose programming language.
• Track record applying security techniques to projects in academia or industry.
• Strong knowledge of statistical methods or experimental design.
• Experience solving complex problems and evaluating trade-offs.

Responsibilities

• Perform security assessments, code audits, and design reviews.
• Design solutions to prevent or mitigate vulnerabilities across products.
• Lead security investigations, build datasets, tooling, and analyses.
• Translate threat intel into actions to guide detection and strategy.

Skills

Programming language

Security techniques

Statistics / design

Analytical thinking

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

PhD student in CS (Security)

Tools

Copilot

ChatGPT

Claude

Job description

Figma is seeking a PhD Intern, Security Engineer to apply research methods to real-world security challenges in our product, platform, and infrastructure. You will collaborate with mentors and teams to drive systemic improvements and risk reduction.

This 12- or 16-week internship can be based in SF or NYC, starting May/June 2027. You will perform code audits, design mitigations, and contribute to incident response while gaining practical industry experience.