Security Engineer II, Detection and Response

Circle; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 122,500 - 165,000; Full time

Job summary

Circle, based in Austin, Texas, is seeking a skilled Security Team member to tackle emerging threats and manage security operations. You will play a crucial role in leading security projects and collaborating across teams in a dynamic environment.

With 2+ years in security engineering, familiarity with AWS/EKS, and experience in AI tooling, you will help protect Circle and its clients. Competitive compensation with a salary ranging from $122,500 to $165,000 annually is offered.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of experience in detection or response.
• Experience with AWS and EKS environments.
• Hands-on experience with AI tooling.

Responsibilities

• Identify and respond to emerging security threats.
• Manage core tooling for security operations.
• Develop detection techniques for anomalous behaviors.

Skills

Collaboration under stress

Problem-solving

AWS + EKS environment

AI tooling

Programming in Python or Golang

Understanding of organizational risks

Tools

Slack

Apple MacOS

GSuite

Job description

Circle (NYSE: CRCL) is one of the world’s leading internet financial platform companies, building the foundation of a more open, global economy through digital assets, payment applications, and programmable blockchain infrastructure. Circle’s platform includes the world’s largest regulated stablecoin network anchored by USDC, Circle Payments Network for global money movement, and Arc, an enterprise-grade blockchain designed to become the Economic OS for the internet. Enterprises, financial institutions, and developers use Circle to power trusted, internet-scale financial innovation. Learn more at circle.com.

What You’ll Be Part Of

Circle is committed to visibility and stability in everything we do. As we grow as an organization, we’re expanding into some of the world's strongest jurisdictions. Speed and efficiency are motivators for our success and our employees live by our company values: High Integrity, Future Forward, Multistakeholder, Mindful, and Driven by Excellence. We have built a flexible work environment where new ideas are encouraged and everyone is a stakeholder.

What You’ll Be Responsible For

The Circle Security Team works to protect Circle; our customers, clients, and partners; and the financial markets upon which we rely.

As a member of this team, you’ll lead projects and be responsible for key deliverables of the security program while collaborating across Circle teams. You will continue to learn and stay current in a fun and rapidly changing environment.

Also note that this position will require you to perform on‑call duties mainly during working hours to support security operations, and you will assist the team with the occasional night time and weekend incident. We would also like someone with a strong response background and some exposure to insider risk.

What You’ll Work On

• Proactively identify and respond to emerging security threats.
• Advance deployment of AI to SOC function.
• Help manage core tooling, such as SIEM and Orchestration platforms.
• Identify gaps in our infrastructure, and work with business partners to gain visibility through logging and detection.
• Respond to incidents and collaborate across teams to investigate and resolve.
• Develop detection techniques to identify anomalous behaviors and attacks across the environment.
• Support broader security team projects such as threat modeling, vulnerability scanning, audits, and custom tool building.
• Take on‑call shifts.

What You’ll Bring To Circle

• Strong ability to work collaboratively across teams during high‑stress situations, which sometimes involves after hours work.
• Ability to manage multiple competing priorities and use good judgment to establish order of priorities on the fly.
• Self‑motivated and creative problem‑solver able to work independently with minimal guidance.
• Experience/familiarity with Slack, Apple MacOS, and GSuite.

We’re looking for strong, impactful work experience, which typically includes:

• 2+ years of experience in detection, response, or security engineering.
• Experience working security incidents, especially those involving engineering.
• Experience working in an AWS + EKS environment required.
• Hands‑on experience using AI tooling both to accelerate work and to address threats, coupled with a strong understanding of the organizational risks AI introduces and strategies to defend against them.
• Knowledge of operating systems, file systems, and memory on MacOS.
• Programming experience in Python, Golang, or similar programming languages.
• Professional or hobbyist blockchain exposure is preferred.

You Are The Right Person If You

• View Security Detection & Response as a data and engineering problem.
• Exude positivity.
• Aren’t afraid to share your ideas.
• Meet problems head‑on and view them as opportunities.
• Are self‑reliant and motivated.
• Communicate fearlessly.

Circle is on a mission to create an inclusive financial future, with transparency at our core. We consider a wide variety of elements when crafting our compensation ranges and total compensation packages. Starting pay is determined by various factors, including but not limited to: relevant experience, skill set, qualifications, and other business and organizational needs. Please note that compensation ranges may differ for candidates in other locations.

Base Pay Range: $122,500 - $165,000

We are an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, or any other protected status required by the laws in the locations where we hire. Additionally, Circle participates in the E‑Verify Program in certain locations, as required by law.

Should you require accommodations or assistance in our interview process because of a disability, please reach out to [e-mail] for support. We respect your privacy and will connect with you separately from our interview process to accommodate your needs.