Senior Information Security Manager

Backstory; United States; On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Backstory is seeking a Senior Information Security Manager to build, scale, and own preventative security capabilities protecting people, systems, data, and customers. The role is a hands‑on leadership position reporting to the CISO, collaborating with IT, Engineering, and Product to embed security across the tech stack.

You will drive strategy, implement controls across cloud and SaaS environments, lead incident response, and communicate risk and metrics to executives.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of progressive experience in information security with hands‑on security controls.
• 2+ years in technical leadership or people management.
• Strong hands‑on experience implementing security tooling and controls.

Responsibilities

• Own and mature preventative security capabilities across cloud, SaaS, endpoint, identity, network, and data environments.
• Translate objectives into technical requirements, controls, tooling, and plans.
• Develop, maintain, and test incident response playbooks and disaster recovery plans.
• Partner with IT, Engineering, and Product to integrate security into new technologies and initiatives.
• Build metrics and reporting to show effectiveness of security controls.

Skills

Security leadership

Cloud security

Security tooling

Auditing & compliance

Incident response

Python scripting

Tools

Terraform

CI/CD security

OAuth & API security

Job description

Backstory (formerly People.ai) is the leading AI answers platform for sales teams. With more than a decade of training AI models on billions of sales interactions, Backstory enables modern sales teams to ask questions and get the right answer in the moment directly within their existing AI workflows. Sales leaders from companies like Red Hat, Five9, Palo Alto Networks, Iron Mountain, TransUnion, Randstad and others rely on Backstory to get trusted answers wrapped in real business context helping them orchestrate deals more effectively and drive revenue.

By connecting every signal to the right accounts and opportunities, Backstory shows teams exactly what is happening and what to do next. Customers across industries including enterprise, cybersecurity, data and analytics, and defense use Backstory to drive trillions in pipeline and revenue.

Recognized by Gartner and Forrester, the Inc. 5000, Y Combinator Top Companies, and the Forbes AI 50, Backstory is based in San Francisco and backed by ICONIQ Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Akkadian Ventures and Mubadala Capital.

The Role

Backstory is looking for a Senior Information Security Manager to help build, scale, and own the preventative security capabilities that protect our people, systems, data, and customers.

This is a hands‑on leadership role for someone who can take a broad security objective and independently turn it into a thoughtful technical strategy and implementation plan. You’ll report to the CISO and work closely with Head of IT and partner across Engineering, Platforms, Product, and business teams to continuously strengthen our security posture as we scale.

Responsibilities

• Own and mature preventative security capabilities across cloud, SaaS, endpoint, identity, network, and data environments.
• Translate broad security objectives into concrete technical requirements, controls, tooling, and implementation plans.
• Evaluate, select, configure, and deploy security platforms and tooling across areas such as DLP, insider threat, endpoint security, IAM, vulnerability management, access controls, and security monitoring.
• Continuously assess Backstory’s security posture, identify gaps and vulnerabilities, prioritize risk, and drive remediation through completion.
• Partner closely with IT, Engineering, DevOps, and Product to integrate security controls into new technologies, infrastructure, and business initiatives.
• Build metrics and reporting that provide clear visibility into the effectiveness of our security controls and overall security posture.
• Partner with Security Operations to ensure preventative controls provide the visibility and protection needed to investigate and respond to potential threats.
• Develop, maintain, and test incident response playbooks, business continuity processes, and disaster recovery plans.
• Partner with CISO, CIO and CTO on security compliance initiatives and work directly with auditors to provide evidence, explain controls, and remediate findings.
• Translate requirements from frameworks and regulations including SOC 2, ISO 27001, ISO 42001, GDPR, CCPA/CPRA and EU AI Act into practical technical controls.
• Provide technical direction and mentorship to security engineers, analysts, IT partners, and external contractors.
• Serve as a trusted security advisor across the organization, translating complex threats and vulnerabilities into actionable recommendations for both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Take ownership of ambiguous security challenges from strategy and evaluation through implementation, measurement, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of progressive experience in information security, with meaningful hands‑on experience implementing enterprise security controls.
• 2+ years of technical leadership, team lead, or people management experience.
• Deep understanding of cloud, SaaS, endpoint, identity, network, and data security, including traditional and Agentic AI environments and workloads.
• Strong hands‑on experience implementing security tooling and controls rather than solely defining policy or overseeing implementation.
• Experience across areas such as DLP, IAM, endpoint security, vulnerability management, insider threat, access management, and security monitoring.
• Strong understanding of modern cloud infrastructure, security architecture, and risk management.
• Experience operating in a modern Mac, Linux, cloud, SaaS, and open‑source‑heavy environment.
• Experience automating security controls and workflows through scripting (e.g., Python) and infrastructure as code security (e.g., Terraform, policy as code, CI/CD pipeline guardrails).
• Working knowledge of security frameworks including NIST, CIS, ISO 27001, SOC 2, and Zero Trust.
• Experience participating in security audits, working directly with auditors, gathering technical evidence, and remediating findings.
• Deep knowledge on securing third‑party API and OAuth integrations; scoping, token lifecycle management, and revocation across SaaS and data platforms.
• Ability to translate complex technical threats and vulnerabilities into actionable solutions with Engineering, Product, IT, and non‑technical stakeholders.
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills with the ability to independently evaluate security challenges and determine the right technical approach.
• Experience working within U.S.-based technology environments and familiarity with enterprise security expectations.
• Comfortable operating autonomously in a fast‑moving environment where priorities and requirements will continue to evolve.

Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Backstory is backed by Y Combinator and Silicon Valley’s top investors, including ICONIQ Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Akkadian Ventures, and Mubadala Capital. Backstory is listed in the top 20 percent of Inc 5000 companies, is a regular leader in our key categories on G2, and is on the Forbes list of America’s Best Startup Employers. For more information, please visit www.Backstory.ai.

Regular employees may be eligible for commissions or bonus programs (target included in OTE), equity, and benefits. The range is subject to change. Backstory takes into wide range of factors when determining an individual’s pay. These factors can include, skill set, training and experience, licensure and certifications, and location and metropolitan area.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.