Security Engineer

Chainguard; United States; On-site; USD 105,000 - 123,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible & Remote-First

Stock options

Health insurance

Flexible time off

Parental leave 18 weeks

Job summary

Chainguard seeks a Security Engineer to support IAM, AI, and Cloud across teams. The role is an early-career position requiring a solid IT admin or software foundation and hands-on skills in at least one area, with growth into security under senior guidance.

You'll work with a fast-moving team at Chainguard, a late-stage startup that values practical learning, collaboration, and strong fundamentals to protect cloud, AI, and identity systems powering our product.

Qualifications

• Airtight IT administration skills and/or software development background as foundation.
• Hands-on in IAM, AI/ML infrastructure, or cloud platforms (GCP/AWS/Azure).
• Strong fundamentals with a genuine desire to grow into security.

Responsibilities

• Operate and sustain Chainguard’s technology platforms (cloud, IAM, AI).
• Help implement and maintain access controls and authentication systems.
• Support hardening and monitoring of cloud infrastructure with senior architects.
• Assist in securing AI/ML pipelines and agentic workflows at scale.
• Troubleshoot, automate, and document processes; contribute to runbooks.

Skills

IT administration

Software development

IAM

AI/ML infrastructure

Cloud platforms

Tools

GCP

AWS

Azure

Job description

Chainguard is the trusted source for open source. By delivering hardened, secure, and production-ready builds of all the open source software engineers and AI agents rely on, Chainguard helps organizations build faster, stay compliant, and eliminate risk.

Our customers include Fortune 500 enterprises and global industry leaders, including Anduril, Canva, Fortinet, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, OpenAI, Snap Inc., and Snowflake.

Chainguard is venture-backed by leading investors, including Amplify, IVP, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mantis VC, Redpoint Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Spark Capital.

United States - Remote

Chainguard is the trusted source for open source. By delivering hardened, secure, and production-ready builds of all the open source software engineers and AI agents rely on, Chainguard helps organizations build faster, stay compliant, and eliminate risk.

The Role In a Nutshell

We're looking for a Security Engineer to support fellow engineers across three critical functional areas: Identity and Access Management (IAM), AI, and Cloud. This is an earlier-career role built for someone with a strong IT administration and/or software development foundation who's ready to grow into security — you don't need deep expertise across all three areas, but you should bring real, hands‑on experience in at least one, along with the technical fundamentals to ramp quickly into the others. You'll report to the Director of Cyber Resiliency and work shoulder‑to‑shoulder with more senior engineers, learning modern security practices while directly contributing to how we protect the cloud, AI, and identity systems our product and company run on. We also love folks who think bonfires are the jam. We're a late‑stage startup, so priorities and tooling can shift quickly — this is a great environment to learn in, provided you're energized by that pace rather than thrown off by it. Like every Chainguardian, you'll take the work seriously without taking yourself too seriously, and default to good intentions in how you work with others.

What You'll Do

• Operate and sustain Chainguard’s technology platforms (cloud, IAM, and AI)
• Help implement and maintain access controls, identity policies, and authentication/authorization systems
• Support the hardening and monitoring of cloud infrastructure alongside senior cloud architects
• Assist in securing AI/ML pipelines and agentic workflows as they scale across the company
• Troubleshoot, automate, and maintain systems using solid IT administration or software engineering skills
• Document processes and contribute to runbooks, playbooks, and internal knowledge‑sharing
• Adapt to shifting priorities and pick up new tools or systems as the company's needs evolve
• Learn and apply security best practices under the guidance of senior engineers, with room to specialize over time

What We're Looking For

• Airtight IT administration skills and/or software development background — this is a must‑have foundation for the role
• Hands‑on experience in at least one of the following: IAM, AI/ML infrastructure, or cloud platforms (GCP, AWS, or Azure)
• Security experience or working knowledge is a plus, not a requirement — we're looking for strong fundamentals and a genuine desire to grow into security
• Comfort with scripting, automation, and a troubleshooting mindset
• Outstanding interpersonal skills — you'll be supporting engineers across multiple teams, so clear communication and collaboration matter as much as technical chops
• Comfort with ambiguity and rapid change — this is a fast‑moving, late‑stage startup environment
• A team‑first mentality — someone who's eager to learn, shares context generously, and is motivated by helping teammates succeed

Base Salary Range

$105,000—$123,000 USD

About Us

We live and breathe our company values:

• We are customer obsessed — We focus on delivering solutions to our customers that create value and make their lives better.
• We have a bias for intentional action — We prioritize, plan, try things, and fail fast.
• We don't take ourselves too seriously (but we do serious work) — We are solving an important problem which takes focus, but we also like to enjoy the journey.
• We trust each other and assume good intentions — We're transparent with decisions to empower team members to make well informed decisions.

A Few Of The Benefits We Offer

• Flexible & Remote-First Culture: Work remotely with team meetup opportunities, bi-annual destination summits, and a monthly stipend for coworking spaces, phone and internet costs.
• Our Approach to Equity: Receive stock options upon hire and promotion. Plus, you can participate in secondary offerings and have 10 years to exercise your options (yes, you read that correctly: 10 years!).
• 100% Covered Health Insurance: We cover 100% of your health, vision and dental insurance premiums for you and your dependents. Nothing comes out of your paycheck.
• Flexible Time Off: Take the time you need – to do our best work, we need to recharge and reset.
• 18 Weeks Paid Parental Leave: We offer 18 weeks for birthing parents and 12 weeks for non‑birthing parents, with the option to use it all at once or throughout your child's first year.

Chainguard is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health decisions, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, political views or activity, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law.

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