Security Engineer III - Detection & Response

Primer; United States; Remote; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Primer is looking for a Security Engineer to join our Detection & Response team. You will write and tune detections in SIEMs, build automation, and act as a first responder to threats across our cloud infrastructure and SaaS estate.

You’ll own investigations end to end, drive runbooks, and work closely with Application Security to continuously improve detection coverage and response. This is a fully remote role with global collaboration.

Qualifications

• Real experience responding to security incidents, from first alert through to write-up.
• Hands-on experience writing and tuning detections in a SIEM (Elastic, Splunk or similar).
• Experience with cloud-native detection and response in AWS or Google Cloud.
• Comfortable with Python or Go for scripting and automation.
• Clear, structured written communication, including under pressure.

Responsibilities

• Build, tune and maintain detections in our SIEM and onboard new log sources (e.g. AWS, Google Workspace, Kubernetes).
• Own investigation: triage, investigate, elevate and resolve security incidents with clear findings.
• Lead routine incidents end to end and contribute in larger incidents, driving investigation or stakeholder updates.
• Build runbooks and automations to reduce manual triage and response work.
• Join our on-call rotation for incident response and monitoring.
• Collaborate with Application/Product Security to shape detection priorities across products.

Skills

Incident response

SIEM detections tuning

Cloud security (AWS/GCP)

Python or Go

Clear written communication

Tools

Elastic SIEM

Splunk

Job description

An Introduction to Primer

Primer is the unified infrastructure for global payments. We give finance and payments teams the visibility and control to reduce complexity, improve performance, and capture more revenue - all from a single platform.

Backed by Sofina, Peak XV Partners, ICONIQ, Tencent, Accel, and Balderton, we’re building the payments layer the world’s best companies rely on.

Watch our showcase > https://primer.io/the-primer-showcase

Read up on our $100m Series C https://www.primer.io/blog/series-c

Learn more about our culture > https://primer.io/careers

What team will you be joining?

Primer processes payments for some of the world’s best companies, which makes us an attractive target and means getting detection and response right really matters. We’re looking for a Security Engineer to join our Detection & Response function and own a meaningful slice of how we detect, investigate and respond to threats across our cloud infrastructure and SaaS estate.

You’ll write and tune the detections in our SIEM, build the automation that speeds up how we react, and be a first responder when something looks wrong. You’ll have real ownership of the areas you work on, and the freedom to shape how we detect and respond to threats across them.

You’ll also work closely with our Application Security/Product Security engineers: what we learn from detections and incidents shapes how we build, and what they know about our products shapes what we look for.

What you’ll be doing:

Detection

• Build, tune and maintain detections in our SIEM (Elastic), and identify opportunities to onboard new log sources (e.g. AWS, Google Workspace, Kubernetes) and build new detections on top of them.
• Find what our current detections miss, and keep the rule set lean by removing what no longer adds value.
• Use Python and Terraform to build and maintain the infrastructure behind your detections and tooling.

Response

• Own investigation: triage, investigate, elevate and resolve security incidents, and write up findings clearly enough to stand on their own
• Lead routine incidents end to end, and take a clear role in larger ones, whether that’s driving the investigation or keeping stakeholders informed
• Build runbooks and automations (Python, Tines or similar) to cut manual work out of triage and response
• Join our on-call rotation for incident response and monitoring

Across both

• Make and document risk decisions in your area, and know when to pull in others.
• Keep the controls you own audit-ready and contribute evidence for audits (e.g. SOC 2, PCI DSS).
• Use AI tools to work faster across detection and response, from drafting rules and queries to summarising investigations, while maintaining a healthy level of scepticism.

What we’re looking for:

• Real experience responding to security incidents, from first alert through to write-up
• Hands-on experience writing and tuning detections in a SIEM (Elastic, Splunk or similar), using frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK to reason about coverage
• Experience with cloud-native detection and response in AWS or Google Cloud
• Comfortable with Python or Go for scripting and automation
• Clear, structured written communication, including under pressure

Nice to have

• Experience with Terraform or other infrastructure-as-code
• Experience with no-code security automation or SOAR-style tooling
• Exposure to compliance frameworks like PCI DSS, SOC 2 or ISO27001
• Background in fintech, payments or another regulated industry
• Experience using AI tools or agents in security work, and a clear view of where they help and where they don’t

A TYPICAL INTERVIEW PROCESS

• An initial intro call with a Talent Partner
• An interview with the Hiring Manager
• Challenge Stage - Contextualised to the role
• A final, values-alignment interview

WHAT’S THE CULTURE LIKE AT PRIMER?

We’re building a culture where people can do their best work and be proud of the impact they have. You’ll be working with people who are mission-driven, smart, and reflective, and who are genuinely invested in building exceptional products and delivering success for our merchants.

We work remotely, and have done since day one. We believe that building a successful, profitable company goes beyond proximity. We invest in our relationships through great remote working practices and thoughtfully designed face-to-face time, including workations, our annual company retreat, and access to co-working spaces across most major cities.

The work is challenging. Scaleups are a challenge, and building category-defining products is a challenge. But there’s a meaningful difference between a challenge and a struggle. At Primer, the right challenge comes with the right support: strong onboarding, a collaborative environment, and a team that is genuinely invested in your success. It’s never something you face alone.

OUR BENEFITS

We are fully remote and …