Security Engineering Manager

SmartBiz; Northbrook (IL); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity participation

Medical, dental, vision, life, andDis/

Flexible vacation policy

Job summary

SmartBiz Bank in the United States is seeking an experienced Security Engineering Manager to lead our security engineering function and define the company’s security strategy. This is a hands-on individual contributor role reporting to the Director of DevOps and IT, and it will involve close collaboration with the CTO to drive security across cloud, applications, and infrastructure.

This role emphasizes threat modeling, IAM, cloud security, incident response, and secure SDLC, with cross‑team

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in information security/security engineering.
• Experience owning or influencing a security program in a regulated environment.
• Strong AWS/cloud security knowledge.
• Experience securing Kubernetes/containerized environments.
• Deep understanding of IAM, encryption, secrets management and cloud security.
• Strong AppSec and secure-SDLC experience.
• Experience with SIEM, telemetry, detection and incident response.
• Familiarity with Infrastructure as Code and CI/CD security.
• Experience in regulated financial services and familiarity with NIST CSF, CIS Controls, FFIEC guidance and GLBA.
• Excellent communication skills for executives.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the security engineering strategy and roadmap with CTO and Director of DevOps.
• Lead security architecture across cloud, applications, identity, endpoints, and developer platforms.
• Design and improve preventive and detective controls in the cloud environment.
• Prioritize initiatives based on risk, impact, and resources to maximize security posture.
• Build partnerships across Engineering, DevOps, IT, Risk, and Compliance.
• Mature application security practices including threat modeling, design reviews, SAST/DAST/SCA, and remediation.
• Own vulnerability management across apps, cloud infra, containers, and third-party software.
• Strengthen identity and access security, least privilege, and secrets management.
• Develop security monitoring, logging, detection, and incident response capabilities.
• Lead security incident response, containment, and root-cause analysis.
• Perform security architecture reviews for new initiatives and vendors.
• Establish practical security standards and guardrails for secure delivery.
• Support regulatory examinations and translate requirements into technical controls.
• Develop security metrics and communicate risks and roadmap progress to stakeholders.
• Build security documentation and playbooks; foster security awareness across the org.

Skills

Security engineering

AWS/cloud security

Kubernetes security

AppSec / secure-SDLC

SIEM / incident response

Infrastructure as Code

Tools

Terraform

Job description

SmartBiz Bank offers a broad range of business banking solutions to small businesses across the U.S. – solutions built specifically to serve the dynamic needs of entrepreneurs and foster the growth of the small business community. SmartBiz Bank’s commitment to transparency and personalized customer service offers an unparalleled banking experience, ensuring small businesses have the financial services they need to grow and thrive. Headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, with an additional office in Austin, Texas, we are proud to serve both our local and national small business communities.

Position Overview

Security is a critical part of how SmartBiz Bank designs, builds, and operates its technology. We are looking for an experienced Security Engineering Manager to lead our security engineering function and help define and execute the company’s security strategy.

This is a hands-on individual contributor role with no direct reports. Reporting to the Director of DevOps and IT, you will lead security strategy and priorities in close partnership with the CTO and Director of DevOps and IT while remaining directly involved in the technical work required to improve our security posture.

Success in this role requires strong technical judgment, thoughtful prioritization, and the ability to work effectively across Engineering, DevOps, IT, Risk, Compliance, and other teams to get things done. You will need to identify and prioritize the security improvements that will have the greatest impact, balancing security and risk‑management requirements with available resources and the needs of the business. You should be comfortable operating in a regulated environment where practical, risk‑based decision‑making is essential.

How You Will Make An Impact:

• Define and execute the security engineering strategy and roadmap in close partnership with the CTO and Director of DevOps and IT.
• Serve as the technical security leader for cloud infrastructure, applications, identity, endpoints, and developer platforms.
• Design, implement, and continuously improve security architecture and preventive and detective controls across our cloud environment.
• Continuously assess and prioritize security initiatives based on risk, impact, effort, and available resources, focusing on the improvements that will have the greatest impact on the company’s security posture.
• Build strong partnerships across Engineering, DevOps, IT, Risk, and Compliance to drive security improvements that require coordination and execution across teams.
• Mature application security practices including threat modeling, security design reviews, SAST, SCA, DAST, secrets scanning, vulnerability triage, and remediation.
• Own and mature vulnerability management across applications, cloud infrastructure, containers, endpoints, and third‑party software.
• Strengthen identity and access security through least privilege, privileged‑access controls, secure service identities, authentication controls, and secrets management.
• Develop and improve security monitoring, logging, detection, alerting, and investigation capabilities.
• Lead technical security incident response, including investigation, containment, remediation, root‑cause analysis, and post‑incident improvements.
• Perform security architecture reviews for new applications, infrastructure, SaaS platforms, vendors, and major technology initiatives.
• Establish practical security standards, policies, and technical guardrails that enable teams to operate securely without unnecessarily slowing delivery.
• Support regulatory examinations, audits, risk assessments, and compliance initiatives by translating requirements into effective technical controls.
• Develop meaningful security metrics and communicate security posture, material risks, priorities, incidents, and roadmap progress to technical and executive audiences.
• Build and maintain security documentation, standards, procedures, playbooks, and incident‑response processes.
• Help build a strong security culture through security awareness, engineering education, and partnership across the organization.

Who You Are:

• 8+ years of experience in information security/security engineering, with meaningful hands‑on engineering experience.
• Experience owning or significantly influencing a security engineering program in a regulated environment.
• Strong AWS/cloud security knowledge.
• Experience securing Kubernetes/containerized environments.
• Deep understanding of IAM, network security, encryption, secrets management and cloud security architecture.
• Strong AppSec and secure‑SDLC experience.
• Experience with SIEM, security telemetry, detection engineering and incident response.
• Familiarity with Infrastructure as Code and CI/CD security.
• Experience working in regulated financial‑services environments and familiarity with cybersecurity and regulatory frameworks such as NIST CSF, CIS Controls, FFIEC guidance, GLBA, and related banking security requirements.
• Strong communication skills, particularly translating technical risk for executives.

Opportunities & Benefits at SmartBiz Bank:

• Mission‑driven culture focused on small business banking.
• Competitive compensation and equity participation where applicable.
• Employer‑paid medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance for eligible employees and dependents.
• Flexible vacation policy.

-- SmartBiz Bank is an Equal Opportunity employer and proud to provide equal employment opportunity to all job seekers without regard to any status protected by applicable law.

California residents can learn more about how we use your

California residents can learn more about how we use your information by visiting https://sites.google.com/view/smartbizloans-employment-ccpa