Principal Security Engineer | MongoDB | NYC, Seattle, Remote

The Briefed; New York (NY); Remote; USD 260,000 - 320,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity and an employee stock purchase

Flexible paid time off

20 weeks of parental leave

Fertility and adoption assistance

401(k) plan

Mental health counseling

Transgender-inclusive health insurance

Job summary

MongoDB’s Global Security Organization seeks a Principal Security Engineer to act as a senior technical anchor, staying hands-on with security and architecture challenges. You will work with product teams to align identity and permission models for the autonomous agent platform and collaborate with integration security teams on AI-driven vulnerability detection, reproduction, and remediation.

You will mentor senior engineers, drive cross-functional security initiatives, and shape risk-based

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience in security engineering, software engineering, or a related discipline, including senior individual-contributor or technical-lead experience.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Security, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Deep, credible technical expertise across compute, network, and storage architecture.
• Track record of forming and defending independent technical positions and committing when appropriate.
• Experience influencing without formal authority, with cross-functional partners.
• Comfort owning ambiguous, deadline-driven work such as M&A diligence or partner risk reviews.
• Genuine interest in mentoring and connecting other senior engineers without a management title.

Responsibilities

• Maintain technical depth in security and product architecture to evaluate actual risk.
• Form independent opinions on security and architecture decisions and voice them.
• Push teams to balance speed and risk; slow down when necessary.
• Debate hard, then align and execute on the right call.
• Seed and grow a community of senior ICs across security domains.
• Lead time-boxed, high-stakes, cross-functional engagements such as M&A security due diligence.
• Close knowledge gaps quickly and stay accountable for outcomes.

Skills

Security engineering

Security architecture

Compute architecture

Network architecture

Storage architecture

Identity models for AI

Independent judgment

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Job description

MongoDB's Global Security Organization (GSO) secures the company's products, infrastructure, and customer trust, spanning product security, corporate security, and risk. As Principal Security Engineer, you will be a senior technical anchor for the team in a deep individual-contributor role, staying hands-on with hard security and architecture problems. Key areas include working with product teams so identity and permission models meet customer needs for the new autonomous agent platform, and working with integration security teams on AI-driven detection, reproduction, and remediation of vulnerabilities. You will also build up the bench of senior technical talent around you.

Key Responsibilities

• Maintain real technical depth in security and in MongoDB's product architecture (compute, network, and storage), enough to evaluate actual risk rather than apply generic best practice
• Form independent, well-reasoned opinions on security and architecture decisions, and voice them even when they cut against consensus
• Push teams to move faster when process or over-engineering adds complexity without reducing risk, and to slow down when go-to-market pressure outruns a clear view of the risk
• Debate hard, then align, then commit: help the organization land on the right call and execute on it
• Seed and grow a community of senior ICs across security operations, product security, and enterprise security, connecting people and creating venues for sharing knowledge
• Lead time-boxed, high-stakes, cross-functional engagements such as M&A security due diligence and partner risk assessments, often with incomplete information
• Draw on your own expertise where it applies, and close knowledge gaps quickly elsewhere, staying accountable for the outcome

Requirements

• 12+ years of experience in security engineering, software engineering, or a related discipline, including senior individual-contributor or technical-lead experience
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Security, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
• Deep, credible technical expertise in security, with working depth across compute, network, and storage architecture
• Track record of forming and defending independent technical positions, with the judgment to know when to stop debating and commit
• Experience influencing without formal authority, including with management and cross-functional partners, in both directions (accelerating and slowing decisions)
• Comfort owning ambiguous, deadline-driven work such as M&A diligence or partner risk reviews
• Genuine interest in mentoring and connecting other senior engineers without needing a management title

Skills

Technical Skills

• Security engineering and architecture review
• Compute, network, and storage architecture
• Identity and permission models for AI agent platforms
• AI-driven vulnerability detection, reproduction, and remediation
• M&A security due diligence and partner risk assessment

Soft Skills

• Independent judgment and sound decision-making
• Influence without formal authority
• Mentoring and community building
• Cross-functional collaboration

Nice to Have

• Direct experience leading M&A security due diligence or partner/vendor risk assessments
• Background spanning multiple layers of the stack (e.g., network and storage, or application and infrastructure security)
• A history of building or growing technical communities of practice

Success Measures

• Leadership trusts your technical judgment on the hardest, most ambiguous calls
• Your willingness to disagree, whether pushing faster or slower, improves decisions
• A real community of senior security talent forms around you in GSO

Benefits

Benefits for eligible U.S.-based employees may include:

• Equity and an employee stock purchase program
• Flexible paid time off
• 20 weeks of fully paid, gender-neutral parental leave
• Fertility and adoption assistance
• 401(k) plan
• Mental health counseling
• Transgender-inclusive health insurance coverage and other health benefits