Senior Security Engineer at CivilGrid - SOC2 & AWS

CivilGrid; Boston (MA); Hybrid; USD 137,000 - 193,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company-funded health insurance (med,1

FSA

Unlimited PTO

401(k) plan

Remote-friendly / hybrid work

Job summary

CivilGrid is seeking a Senior Security Engineer to own our security program and strengthen the AWS-based infrastructure as we scale. The role blends security and reliability across DevOps, SRE, and engineering, with autonomy from day one.

The position is hybrid with in-person work at our Boston, MA office at least three days a week. You’ll lead SOC 2 readiness, orchestration with vendors, and security reviews while shaping our Trust Center and customer engagements.

Qualifications

• 5–8 years in product security, platform security, or security engineering with hands-on AWS production infra.
• Experience running SOC 2 programs including audits and evidence collection.
• Deep knowledge of AWS services (VPC, ECS, RDS, IAM, Secrets Manager) and security best practices.
• Experience with infrastructure-as-code tools (Terraform, CDK) to manage security-relevant infrastructure.
• Proven ability to lead security initiatives across engineering, IT, and leadership.

Responsibilities

• Embed reliability and security into SDLC and infrastructure decisions.
• Run the security program: SOC 2 readiness, audits, vendor reviews, access controls, endpoint security, threat modeling.
• Define and enforce policies for identity, secrets, data handling, and production access.
• Lead incident response for security events and select reliability incidents, from detection to resolution.
• Harden and monitor GIS servers (Windows Server) and the AWS platform.
• Build and maintain the Trust Center and lead security reviews with customers.
• Contribute to the AWS environment end-to-end: VPC, ECS, RDS, IAM, secrets management, cost optimization.
• Improve reliability practices: SLOs, observability, alerting, on-call rotation, runbooks, blameless post-incident reviews.
• AWS ECS, Postgres on RDS managed with CDK.

Skills

SOC 2 ownership

AWS security

Cross-functional leadership

Infrastructure as code

Incident response

SRE practices

Tools

Datadog

Drata

GitHub

Terraform

CDK

Job description

Senior Security Engineer at CivilGrid - SOC2 & AWS — Remote

This is a high-ownership, early-stage opportunity at a Series A startup in the infrastructure tech space — a niche with strong tailwinds given the $1.2T US Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act driving demand for civil engineering software.

Compensation is competitive: The $137K–$193K base range sits at or above market median for senior security engineers in Boston (typical market range: $130K–$175K for 5–8 years experience), plus meaningful early-stage equity — a genuine upside differentiator at this funding stage.

Skills you’ll develop and sharpen:

• SOC 2 program ownership — highly valued for future CISO or Head of Security roles
• AWS cloud security at depth (ECS, IAM, VPC, Secrets Manager)
• Cross-functional security leadership (engineering, IT, customers)
• Infrastructure-as-code (CDK/Terraform) — a bridge skill between security and DevOps
• Incident response and reliability engineering (SRE adjacency)

Green flags: Real ownership from day one, blameless post-incident culture, and customer proximity signal a healthy engineering culture. The tech stack (Datadog, Drata, GitHub) is modern and resume-worthy.

Potential considerations: This is a solo security function at a small startup — you’ll be building from scratch with limited peer review, which suits autonomous senior engineers but may feel isolating for those who thrive in larger security teams. The on-call rotation also adds life-balance considerations. Overall, an excellent step toward a future Head of Security or CISO trajectory.

ABOUT CIVILGRID

CivilGrid is the trusted civil design platform powering affordable infrastructure renewal and growth. We give utilities, civil engineers, and municipalities a single, collaborative source of truth for what’s underground so teams can plan, design, and build faster, smarter, and safer.

Our platform consolidates utility records, geotechnical and environmental data, paving moratoriums, and jurisdictional requirements directly from 3,000+ utilities, agencies, and municipalities with full chain-of-custody documentation. Teams at PG&E, Mark Thomas, and dozens of leading engineering firms use CivilGrid to cut research time by up to 88%, reduce project costs, prevent dig-ins, and accelerate delivery on the projects that keep communities running.

We’re a venture-backed Series A startup tackling a $4.7T US infrastructure market that has been underserved by software for decades. Founded by industry insiders, each with 10+ years in utilities and civil engineering, we move fast, ship work that matters, and stay close to the customers and field teams we build for.

WHY THIS ROLE

We’re looking for a Security & Infrastructure Engineer to own our security posture and assist in supporting our cloud platform and reliability as we scale into large utilities and civil engineering firms. You’ll take over and grow our security program, working across engineering, IT, and leadership. The role is on the Systems team that spans DevOps, SRE, and security. Your focus is security but you will contribute across the team.

This role reports to the Head of Engineering. It is a hybrid role with expectations that you are working from our Boston, MA office at least 3 days per week if hired.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Partner with engineering to embed reliability and security into the SDLC and infrastructure decisions
• Run our security program: SOC 2 readiness and audits, vendor reviews, access controls, endpoint security, and threat modeling
• Define and enforce policies for identity, secrets, data handling, and production access across the company
• Lead incident response for both security events and some reliability events, from detection through resolution and follow-up
• Harden and monitor our GIS servers (Windows Server) alongside our AWS platform
• Build and maintain our Trust Center, and lead security reviews with customers
• Contribute to our AWS environment end to end: VPC architecture, ECS, RDS, secrets management, IAM, networking, and cost optimization
• Contribute to improving reliability practices: SLOs, observability, alerting, on-call rotation, runbooks, and blameless post-incident reviews
• AWS ECS, Postgres on RDS managed with CDK

WHAT YOU’LL BRING

• At least 5–8 years of experience across product security, platform security, or security engineering, with hands‑on experience with DevOps or SRE of production AWS infrastructure
• Experience running or supporting a SOC 2 program, including evidence collection, control design, and auditor coordination
• Deep working knowledge of AWS (VPC, ECS, RDS, IAM, Secrets Manager, CloudWatch) and infrastructure‑as‑code (Terraform, CDK, or equivalent)
• Experience running vulnerability management, from scanner findings and outside reports to fixes shipped
• Track record of improving reliability in production: defining SLOs, building observability, running on‑call, and leading post‑incident reviews
• Startup ready: autonomous, moves fast, takes initiative without being asked
• Strong verbal and written communication, able to articulate ideas clearly and collaborate effectively

BONUS POINTS

• Experience supporting B2B products sold into regulated industries (utilities, energy, public sector)

HOW WE WORK

We’re a small, but rapidly growing team that ships. Expect direct feedback, real ownership from day one, and proximity to customers — huge utilities, public agencies, and engineering firms whose work depends on what we build. We default to in-person collaboration where it matters and remote‑friendly flexibility otherwise. We hire people who care deeply about their craft and the communities our customers serve.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

The base salary range for this role is $137,318 – $192,960.

Base salary is only one part of your total compensation package at CivilGrid, which also includes meaningful early-stage equity, comprehensive benefits, and the opportunity to shape a category‑defining company. The base salary range listed above may encompass various levels and/or geographic locations; final offers are determined based on the candidate’s experience, skills, level, and work location.

In addition to base and equity, we offer:

• Company‑funded medical, dental, and vision insurance — including medical plans at no cost to the employee
• FSA (health and dependent care)
• Unlimited PTO and a culture that expects you to actually use it
• 401(k) plan
• Flexible, remote‑friendly work environment
• A high‑trust team, real ownership, and the chance to do the most meaningful work of your career

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

CivilGrid is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and applicants. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. Employment decisions at CivilGrid are based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications. If you require a reasonable accommodation to participate in the application or interview process, please contact us — we’re happy to help.