Senior Security Engineer (Detection & Response)

Justworks; New York (NY); On-site; USD 167,500 - 235,000; Full time

Job summary

Justworks is seeking a Senior Detection Engineer for their New York City headquarters. In this role, you will design, build, and maintain detection logic, conduct threat hunting, and lead incident response efforts. With at least 5 years of experience in detection engineering and a strong understanding of AWS security services, you will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to identify attacker behaviors and improve defenses. The position offers a base wage range of $167,500 - $235,000 annually and is an equal-opportunity employer.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of hands-on experience in detection engineering and incident response.
• Strong understanding of attacker behaviors and modern threat landscapes.
• Experience designing and conducting attack & defend exercises.

Responsibilities

• Build, tune, and deploy high-quality detections across the platform.
• Conduct proactive threat hunting to uncover detection gaps.
• Lead incident handling including triage, investigation, and containment.

Skills

Detection engineering

Threat hunting

Security event analysis

Incident response

AWS security services

Automation skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

EDR platforms

AWS (CloudTrail, GuardDuty, IAM, VPC Flow Logs, Lambda)

Job description

Who You Are

Justworks is looking for an experienced security engineer skilled in detection and response, who can help enhance and mature Justworks’ Security. As a Senior Detection Engineer, you’ll design, build, and maintain the detection logic that powers our platform, conduct proactive threat hunting, and drive continuous improvements across our detection and incident handling workflows. You’ll collaborate closely with IT, Engineering, Platform, and other members of the Security team to identify attacker behaviors, build high‑fidelity detections, and strengthen our defenses.

Responsibilities

• Build, tune, and deploy high‑quality detections across our platform
• Develop and refine detections using telemetry from EDR, threat intel, endpoint and cloud posture platforms, and native AWS cloud services
• Conduct proactive threat hunting to uncover threat actor behaviors and detection gaps
• Lead security event & incident handling, including triage, investigation, containment guidance, and post‑incident improvements
• Build automation and tooling to reduce manual effort and improve detection accuracy
• Drive process improvements across detection engineering, incident response, and telemetry workflows
• Collaborate with Engineering to ensure high‑quality logging and visibility across AWS environments
• Explore and prototype AI‑assisted detection and response capabilities
• Contribute to internal playbooks, documentation, and detection engineering best practices
• Design and conduct table‑top exercises to validate readiness and strengthen response processes

Note: This position will require participation in an on‑call rotation.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of hands‑on experience in detection engineering, threat hunting, security event analysis, and incident response
• Strong understanding of attacker behaviors, malware techniques, and modern threat landscapes
• Hands‑on experience with EDR platforms (event analysis, detections, hunting)
• Proficiency with AWS security and logging services (CloudTrail, GuardDuty, IAM, VPC Flow Logs, Lambda, etc.)
• Experience designing and conducting attack & defend (table‑top) exercises
• Demonstrated ability to improve processes, reduce friction, and automate repetitive tasks
• Interest in how AI/ML can enhance detection, hunting, and response workflows
• Strong communication skills and comfort working cross‑functionally in a fast‑paced environment

This role is based in our New York City headquarters. The base wage range for this position will be \$167,500 - \$235,000 annually.

We’re proud to be an equal‑opportunity employer open to all qualified applicants regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital or familial status, disability, pregnancy, gender identity or expression, veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status. Justworks is fully dedicated to providing necessary support to candidates with disabilities who may require reasonable accommodations, and we also provide reasonable accommodations to employees based on their sincerely held religious beliefs, as well as for other covered reasons consistent with applicable federal, state, and local laws. If you’re in need of a reasonable accommodation, please reach out to us at [e-mail].