Senior Software Engineer, Security

Nectar Social; Palo Alto (CA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation and early-equ

Health, vision, and dental benefits +

Job summary

Nectar Social is seeking a Senior Software Security Engineer to own security across our enterprise SaaS platform—from design of deployments to the compliance programs that earn trust from large brands. As the first security engineer, you will set security foundations and drive critical initiatives across product and engineering.

You will build threat models, lead SOC 2/ISO27001/GDPR/CCPA efforts, and partner with teams to ship secure software at scale in a fast‑growing startup environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in security engineering, application/security, or a related role at a software company.
• Strong application and cloud security fundamentals; able to reason about real production systems and AI workloads.
• Hands-on experience leading or operating a compliance program (SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR/CCPA).
• Solid programming skills to build security tooling and automation.
• Comfortable in fast-moving startup environments with high ownership and autonomy.

Responsibilities

• Own the security of deployed applications, including threat modeling and secure design reviews.
• Lead new compliance initiatives (SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, CCPA) with controls and evidence.
• Own the security side of the sales cycle: respond to security questionnaires and vendor assessments.
• Build and run vulnerability management, secrets management, IAM, and security monitoring.
• Manage third-party risk and the penetration-testing program.

Skills

Experience in security engineering

Application security

Cloud security fundamentals

Security tooling and automation

Startup environment ownership

Tools

AWS

Pulumi

Postgres

ClickHouse

Temporal

Job description

About Us

We're living through a fundamental shift in how people discover, evaluate, and purchase products. The next generation doesn't respond to traditional marketing -- they build relationships with brands through authentic social interactions, seek recommendations from communities they trust, and expect personalized experiences that feel human, not corporate.

At Nectar Social, we're building the AI-native social operating system that enables this new era of commerce. We believe every social interaction should deepen the relationship between brands and their communities while creating genuine value for both sides.

Founded by ex-Meta product and engineering leaders, we've raised over $30M in total capital from investors including GV and True Ventures. We work with brands like Oura Health, Caraway, e.l.f. Cosmetics, Kosas, OLIPOP, and many more. We're building the future of social commerce -- where community, conversation, and commerce converge.

The Role

We're looking for a Senior Software Security Engineer to own security across our enterprise SaaS platform -- from the design of our deployed applications to the compliance programs that earn the trust of large brands. We handle sensitive social and customer data at scale, and our customers expect enterprise-grade security and rigorous proof of it.
As the first Security engineer, you'll have outsized ownership. You'll secure the products we ship, lead the compliance initiatives that unlock enterprise deals, and build the security foundations the rest of the engineering team relies on as we grow.

What You'll Be Doing

• Own the security of our deployed applications, including threat modeling, secure design reviews, and finding and fixing vulnerabilities across our services and AI infrastructure

• Lead new compliance initiatives (SOC 2, and frameworks like ISO 27001, GDPR, and CCPA as we scale), establishing the controls, policies, and evidence to back them

• Own the security side of the sales cycle: complete customer security questionnaires, support enterprise security reviews, and act as our expert in vendor assessments

• Build and run our vulnerability management, secrets management, identity and access, and security monitoring practices

• Manage third-party risk and our penetration-testing program

What We're Looking For

• 5+ years in security engineering, application/product security, or a related role at a software company

• Strong application and cloud security fundamentals; able to reason about the security of real production systems and AI workloads, not just policy

• Hands‑on experience leading or operating a compliance program (SOC 2, ISO 27001, or similar) end to end

• Solid programming skills to build security tooling and automation, and to work credibly alongside engineers

• Comfortable operating in fast-moving startup environments with high ownership and autonomy

Bonus Points

• Experience establishing a security and compliance function at an early-stage or rapidly scaling SaaS company

• Familiarity with AWS, Pulumi, Postgres, ClickHouse, Turbopuffer, or Temporal

What We Offer

• Competitive compensation and early equity

• Health, vision, and dental benefits + 401(k) match

• Hybrid work schedule (4 days in office) with 3 flex remote days per quarter (available after 3 months)

• Comprehensive stipends: $1,000/month housing stipend for living near the office, $50/month mobile stipend, $50/month internet stipend for remote employees, and commuter benefits (train stipend or Palo Alto parking permit reimbursement)

• Free lunch in the heart of University Ave. in Palo Alto