Security Engineer

chess; United States; Remote; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Chess.com is seeking a Security Engineer to safeguard our global gaming platform. You will collaborate with engineering teams to identify vulnerabilities, model threats, and drive secure development practices across the lifecycle.

The role emphasizes remote-first operations, strong incident response capabilities, and ongoing security program maturation to protect user data and platform integrity.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Security, or related technical field, or equivalent professional experience
• Minimum 3+ years of professional experience specifically in web application security
• Demonstrated expertise with security testing tools such as Burp Suite or equivalent web request analysis and tampering tools
• Strong written communication skills in English with ability to clearly explain technical security concepts to diverse audiences
• Experience working effectively in fully distributed/remote team environments
• Proven ability to collaborate cross-functionally with engineering and development teams

Responsibilities

• Lead vulnerability management program by triaging, reproducing, and assessing security vulnerabilities submitted through Bug Bounty programs, working directly with engineering teams to prioritize and remediate discovered security gaps
• Conduct comprehensive threat modeling by collaborating with engineering teams to analyze proposed solutions, ensuring designs meet security industry standards and identifying potential attack vectors before implementation
• Manage security incident response by reviewing penetration testing results and SIEM reports, translating technical findings into actionable remediation tasks, and tracking resolution progress through completion
• Optimize security infrastructure by applying updates to Web Application Firewalls (WAF) and other security systems, ensuring configurations align with current threat landscape and organizational needs
• Drive security tool evaluation and implementation by researching, evaluating, and recommending security software solutions, attending vendor demonstrations, and leading procurement processes from requirements gathering through deployment
• Provide security consultation and guidance by serving as subject matter expert to development teams, ensuring security best practices are integrated into software development lifecycle and architectural decisions
• Maintain security awareness and documentation by communicating security updates, progress reports, and recommendations to stakeholders through established channels and maintaining current security policies and procedures

Skills

Strong written communication

Remote work experience

Cross-functional collaboration

Bug Bounty participation

PHP

JavaScript

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science / Information Security or related field

Tools

Burp Suite

Job description

About Us

Chess.com is one of the largest gaming sites in the world and the #1 platform for playing, learning, and enjoying chess.

We are a team of 600+ fully remote people in 60+ countries working hard to serve the global chess community. We are here to support 250M+ chess players worldwide with the best possible product, content, and tools to serve the community!

We are a tech company. A gaming company. A content company. And we do it all with passion and commitment to the game. Above all we prize our mission-driven, flat, life-celebrating, no-corporate culture, and we look forward to meeting you and learning more about what you can bring to the team.

About The Role

The Security Engineer plays a critical role in protecting our technology infrastructure and maintaining the security posture of our gaming platform. This position exists to proactively identify, assess, and mitigate security vulnerabilities while serving as a trusted security advisor to engineering teams across the organization. The role directly impacts our ability to safeguard user data, maintain platform integrity, and ensure secure development practices are embedded throughout our product development lifecycle.

This position is essential for building and maintaining robust security defenses in a fast-paced, remote-first technology environment where security expertise must be seamlessly integrated into daily engineering operations and strategic decision-making processes.

What you'll do

• Lead vulnerability management program by triaging, reproducing, and assessing security vulnerabilities submitted through Bug Bounty programs, working directly with engineering teams to prioritize and remediate discovered security gaps
• Conduct comprehensive threat modeling by collaborating with engineering teams to analyze proposed solutions, ensuring designs meet security industry standards and identifying potential attack vectors before implementation
• Manage security incident response by reviewing penetration testing results and SIEM reports, translating technical findings into actionable remediation tasks, and tracking resolution progress through completion
• Optimize security infrastructure by applying updates to Web Application Firewalls (WAF) and other security systems, ensuring configurations align with current threat landscape and organizational needs
• Drive security tool evaluation and implementation by researching, evaluating, and recommending security software solutions, attending vendor demonstrations, and leading procurement processes from requirements gathering through deployment
• Provide security consultation and guidance by serving as subject matter expert to development teams, ensuring security best practices are integrated into software development lifecycle and architectural decisions
• Maintain security awareness and documentation by communicating security updates, progress reports, and recommendations to stakeholders through established channels and maintaining current security policies and procedures

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Security, or related technical field, or equivalent professional experience
• Minimum 3+ years of professional experience specifically in web application security
• Demonstrated expertise with security testing tools such as Burp Suite or equivalent web request analysis and tampering tools
• Strong written communication skills in English with ability to clearly explain technical security concepts to diverse audiences
• Experience working effectively in fully distributed/remote team environments
• Proven ability to collaborate cross-functionally with engineering and development teams

Preferred Skills and Qualifications

• Previous hands-on experience managing or participating in Bug Bounty programs
• Programming experience in PHP or JavaScript
• Experience with penetration testing methodologies and tools
• Knowledge of SIEM platforms and security monitoring systems
• Familiarity with Web Application Firewall (WAF) configuration and management
• Understanding of secure software development lifecycle (SDLC) practices
• Experience with Jira or similar project management and issue tracking systems
• Strong sense of ownership and accountability in a flat organizational structure
• Passion for continuous learning and staying current with evolving security threats and technologies

About the Opportunity

• This is a full-time opportunity
• We are 100% remote (work from anywhere!)

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You can learn more about us here:

• Chess Is For Everyone!
• Our Values