Director, Security Operations & Detection Engineering

Aurora; Seattle (WA); Hybrid; USD 212,000 - 307,000; Full time

Job summary

Aurora is seeking a Senior Manager for Detection & Response to lead a growing team protecting Onboard, Cloud, and Enterprise environments.

You will guide detections, incident response, and threat hunting while remaining hands-on with strategy and engineering efforts, in a hybrid setting with on-site collaboration several days per week.

Qualifications

• Strong technical foundation in threat detection, incident response, and forensic analysis.
• Experience defining and executing a technical strategy or roadmap.
• Experience with security tools like SIEM, EDR, NDR.
• Experience authoring and maintaining detections (anomalous, network, host, or cloud activity).
• Experience securing operating systems (Linux, macOS, Windows).
• Strong understanding of cloud-native environments (AWS, Kubernetes) and securing them.
• Experience with DevSecOps, CI/CD, and Infrastructure-as-Code (Git, Terraform).
• End-to-end incident management experience, driving cross-departmental collaboration.
• Deep knowledge of MITRE ATT&CK and NIST CSF.
• Ability to write quality, testable code in Python, C++.
• 10+ years of progressive security experience, 3+ as a manager.

Responsibilities

• Oversee design, development, and implementation of detections and tooling across Cloud, Enterprise, and On-Vehicle environments.
• Drive integration of threat intelligence into detection strategy and proactive threat hunting.
• Lead cross-functional projects touching D&R (centralized log management, CAN-IDS integration, SOC workflows).
• Collaborate with Incident Response and Security Operations during investigations and ensure proper tooling and training.
• Mentor and grow a cybersecurity team; conduct regular one-on-ones and reviews.
• Lead quarterly and annual planning, tracking, and reporting to improve D&R capabilities.

Skills

Threat detection

Incident response

Code in Python/C++

Team leadership

Threat intelligence

MITRE ATT&CK

NIST CSF

Cloud security AWS/K8s

DevSecOps CI/CD IaC

Tools

SIEM

EDR

NDR

AWS

Kubernetes

Terraform

Git

Job description

Who We Are

Aurora’s mission is to deliver the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly, and broadly.

The Aurora Driver will create a new era in mobility and logistics, one that will bring a safer, more efficient, and more accessible future to everyone.

At Aurora, you will tackle massively complex problems alongside other passionate, intelligent individuals, growing as an expert while expanding your knowledge. For the latest news from Aurora, visit aurora.tech or follow us on LinkedIn.

Who We Are

Aurora’s mission is to deliver the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly, and broadly.

The Aurora Driver will create a new era in mobility and logistics, one that will bring a safer, more efficient, and more accessible future to everyone.

At Aurora, you will tackle massively complex problems alongside other passionate, intelligent individuals, growing as an expert while expanding your knowledge. For the latest news from Aurora, visit aurora.tech or follow us on LinkedIn.

What We Are Looking For

We’re searching for a Senior Manager of our Detection & Response (D&R) team under our Technical Assurance division. This role leads and scales the team and technical capabilities that protect Aurora from cybersecurity threats across Onboard (vehicle), Cloud, and Enterprise environments. This is a player-coach role: you'll manage and grow a team of cybersecurity engineers while staying hands-on with strategy, detection design, and incident response.

In this role you will

• Oversee design, development, and implementation of detections and tooling across Cloud, Enterprise, and On-Vehicle environments (SIEM, EDR, network anomaly detection, incident response automation, forensics)
• Drive integration of threat intelligence into detection strategy and champion proactive threat hunting
• Drive solutions for cross-functional projects that touch D&R (e.g., centralized log management, CAN-IDS integration with the Onboard Detection Engine, Security Operations Center workflows and improvements)
• Collaborate with Incident Response and Security Operations during investigations; ensure the team has the tools, processes, and training needed to respond effectively, minimizing impact; participate in an on-call rotation, providing leadership during critical incidents
• Lead, mentor, and grow a team of cybersecurity engineers; foster a culture of technical excellence, collaboration, and professional development; conduct regular one-on-ones and performance reviews
• Drive quarterly and annual planning, tracking, and reporting to improve D&R capabilities

Required Qualifications

• Strong technical foundation in threat detection, incident response, and forensic analysis
• Demonstrated experience defining and executing a technical strategy or roadmap
• Experience with security tools like SIEM, EDR, NDR.
• Experience authoring and maintaining detections (anomalous, network, host, or cloud activity)
• Experience securing operating systems (Linux, macOS, Windows)
• Strong understanding of cloud-native environments (AWS, Kubernetes) and securing them
• Experience with DevSecOps, CI/CD, and Infrastructure-as-Code (e.g., Git, Terraform)
• End-to-end incident management experience, driving cross-departmental collaboration to contain incidents
• Deep knowledge of the MITRE ATT&CK framework and modern adversarial techniques; understanding of NIST CSF
• Ability to write quality, testable code in Python, C++
• 10+ years of progressive security experience, 3+ as a manager leading, mentoring, and managing a high-performing cybersecurity engineering or operations team

Desirable Qualifications

• Experience with vehicle/embedded or OT security, or willingness to ramp up quickly in this area
• Experience using, building, and maintaining data lakes for cybersecurity
• Experience with big data tools and methodologies (e.g., AWS Athena, Snowflake)
• Experience designing and implementing Zero Trust Architecture
• Experience with low-level data collection frameworks (e.g., auditd, sysmon, eBPF)
• Experience proactively threat hunting

For roles based in Mountain View, CA and Seattle, WA: The salary range for this position is $212,000 - $307,000 per year.

For roles based in Pittsburgh, PA: The salary range for this position is $191,000 - $277,000 per year.

Aurora’s pay ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within the range, the successful candidate’s starting base pay will be determined based on factors including job-related skills, experience, qualifications, relevant education or training, and market conditions. These ranges may be modified in the future. The successful candidate will also be eligible for an annual bonus, equity compensation, and benefits.

Working at Aurora

At Aurora, we bring together extraordinarily talented and experienced people united by the strength of our values. We operate with integrity, set outrageous goals, and build a culture where we win together — all without any jerks.

We believe in-person work increases collaboration, empathy and our ability to lead effectively. As a result, we operate in a hybrid work environment where Aurorans are in office at least 3 days per week.

Our Careers page provides insight into what it is like to work at Aurora, and you can find all the latest updates in our Newsroom.

Our commitment to safety

At the core of everything we do is our commitment to safety. Building best-in-class self-driving technology will take time, and we believe that each employee at Aurora has a role in contributing to safety, every step of the way. Aurora expects commitment to our safety policies from every employee, and seeks candidates who take an active responsibility, can contribute to building an atmosphere of trust, and invest in the organization’s long-term success by prioritizing working safely, no matter what.

Our commitment to inclusion

Aurora considers candidates without regard to their race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy status, parent or caregiver status, ancestry, political affiliation, veteran and/or military status, physical or mental disability, or any other status protected by federal or state law. Aurora considers qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state, and local law. We are also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at [e-mail].

For California applicants, information collected and processed as part of your application and any job applications you choose to submit is subject to Aurora’s California Employment Privacy Policy.