Principal Security Engineer: Cloud, Blockchain & AI Defense

Circle; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 128,000 - 197,000; Full time

Job summary

Circle is seeking a Principal Security Engineer to lead detection and response initiatives across blockchain, cloud, and AI surfaces. You will own key security projects, drive incident response, and advance our SOC capabilities in a fast-paced environment.

You will collaborate across teams, implement detections as code, and influence threat modeling, vulnerability management, and audits. Strong AWS security knowledge and blockchain experience are highly valued.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in detection, response, or security engineering.
• 3+ years of experience commanding security incidents, especially those involving engineering.
• Deep cloud security knowledge in AWS environments: IAM, identity federation, KMS, EKS, runtime exploitation, and CSPM tooling (e.g., Wiz).
• Working knowledge of blockchain and crypto-native threats: wallet and custody attack patterns, on-chain monitoring, protocol-level risks, and smart contract abuse.
• Hands-on experience using AI tooling to accelerate work and address threats, with understanding of shadow AI and MCP/tool integrations.
• Extensive knowledge of SIEM, Case Management, and SOAR solutions (e.g., Panther, Tines).

Responsibilities

• Lead security projects and deliverables across Circle teams in a high‑stakes environment.
• Build detection coverage for blockchain, cloud, and AI surfaces across the organization.
• Develop AI deployments to enhance SOC detection triage and analyst acceleration.
• Lead on-call incidents and coordinate across engineering and security teams.
• Provide guidance on threat modeling, vulnerability scanning, and audits.
• Develop detections as code and maintain core tooling like SIEM and orchestration platforms.
• Identify gaps in infrastructure and drive visibility through logging and detection.

Skills

Detection & Response

Security Engineering

Cloud Security (AWS)

Blockchain security

SIEM / SOAR

Python / Golang

Incident Response Leadership

AI tooling for threat defense

Tools

Panther

Tines

Wiz CSPM

Job description

Circle is seeking a Principal Security Engineer to lead detection and response initiatives across blockchain, cloud, and AI surfaces. You will own key security projects, drive incident response, and advance our SOC capabilities in a fast-paced environment.

You will collaborate across teams, implement detections as code, and influence threat modeling, vulnerability management, and audits. Strong AWS security knowledge and blockchain experience are highly valued.