Security Engineer, Public Sector

Scale AI; New York (NY); On-site; USD 218,400 - 342,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Retirement benefits

Learning and development stipend

Generous PTO

Commuter stipend

Job summary

Scale is seeking a highly technical Security Engineer to join our Public Sector Infrastructure & Security team. You will design and ship high-precision detections across cloud services and enterprise SaaS, turning findings into durable engineering improvements and automation.

You will work cross-functionally to harden defenses, reduce containment timelines, and improve telemetry quality, while communicating security impact to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Active Top Secret clearance required.
• 5+ years in Detection Engineering, Incident Response, or Security Operations.

Responsibilities

• Engineer, test, and deploy detection logic across cloud and enterprise environments.
• Build and maintain incident response automation and runbooks.
• Mature telemetry pipelines through schema design, enrichment, and quality checks.
• Perform digital incident investigations to identify and contain breaches.
• Conduct digital forensics and malware analysis to understand attack vectors.
• Integrate alerting with messaging and ticketing systems for fast response.
• Harden identity and access patterns and implement scalable guardrails.
• Utilize threat intelligence to improve hunting and detection workflows.
• Explain incident significance and business impact to stakeholders.

Skills

Detection engineering

Incident response

Security operations

Threat intel

Tools

NodeJS

TypeScript

Python

Kubernetes

Go

Job description

We are seeking a highly technical Security Engineer to join our Public Sector Infrastructure & Security team as a security generalist. As a generalist you will ensure the security and integrity of our products and platform designing and shipping high-precision detections across cloud services and enterprise SaaS. You won't just investigate incidents, you'll build the systems that detect, contain, and prevent them. Your ability to write production-quality code is just as important as your ability to triage an alert.

You will structure investigations, analyze root causes, and clearly communicate the significance of security incidents, their impact, and recommended remediation steps - but you'll also turn those findings into durable engineering improvements: better detections, tighter schemas, and smarter automation.

You will:

• Engineer, test, and deploy detection logic across cloud and enterprise environments, treating detections as software with version control, peer review, and measurable performance.
• Build and maintain incident response automation, runbooks, and tooling that reduce containment timelines without sacrificing developer velocity.
• Mature telemetry pipelines through improved schema design, normalization, enrichment, and quality checks that reduce false positives and increase signal fidelity.
• Perform digital incident investigations to identify and contain potential security breaches.
• Conduct digital forensics and malware analysis to understand attack vectors and adversary methodologies.
• Integrate alerting with messaging and ticketing systems to enable fast, traceable response workflows.
• Partner cross-functionally with IT, security, and engineering teams to harden identity and access patterns, close logging and forensics gaps, and implement maintainable guardrails that scale with the organization.
• Utilize threat intelligence platforms to improve hunting, detection, and response workflows.
• Clearly explain the significance and impact of incidents, providing actionable recommendations to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Must have:

At least an active Top Secret clearance. This is a requirement and candidates will not be considered who do not hold at least a Top Secret clearance.

Ideally, you'd have:

• Proficiency in NodeJS, TypeScript, Python, and/or Kubernetes.
• 5+ years of experience in Detection Engineering, Incident Response, or Security Operations, with a strong emphasis on building and shipping security tooling and automation.
• Proficiency in at least one programming language (e.g., Python, Go) and comfort writing production-grade code - not just scripts.
• Hands-on experience designing or improving detection pipelines, SIEM content, and alerting workflows in cloud-native environments.
• Practical experience with SIEM, EDR, and SOAR tools, with a preference for candidates who have built integrations or extended these platforms programmatically.
• Strong understanding of modern cyber threats, common attack techniques, and adversary TTPs.
• Familiarity with digital forensics tools and malware analysis techniques.
• Experience with cloud-native environments (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure) and the security telemetry those environments generate.
• Exposure to threat intelligence platforms and integrating intel into detection and investigation workflows.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to translate complex security findings into clear business impact.
• Relevant security certifications (e.g., GCIH, GCFA, GCIA, CISSP, GDSA) are a plus.

Compensation packages at Scale for eligible roles include base salary, equity, and benefits. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position and may be inclusive of several career levels at Scale; it will be determined during the interview process based on work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, qualifications, interview performance, and relevant education or training. Scale employees in eligible roles are also granted equity based compensation, subject to Board of Director approval. You'll also receive benefits including, but not limited to: comprehensive health, dental and vision coverage, retirement benefits, a learning and development stipend, and generous PTO. Additionally, this role may be eligible for additional benefits such as a commuter stipend.

Please reference the job posting's subtitle for where this position will be located. For pay transparency purposes, the base salary range for this full-time position in the locations of San Francisco, New York, Seattle is: $218,400 - $342,000 USD

The base salary range for this full-time position in the locations of Hawaii, Washington DC, Texas, Colorado is: $196,800 - $307,000 USD

The base salary r