Specialist, Application Security

Prudential Financial; Newark (NJ); On-site; USD 99,700 - 148,500; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision, life insurance

401(k) plan with company match

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Job summary

A leading financial services company in Newark, NJ seeks an Application Security Specialist to enhance their application security program. The role involves securing modern applications, ensuring compliance with industry standards, and collaborating with various teams. Ideal candidates will have a background in computer science and experience in Agile methodologies, coupled with strong problem-solving and communication skills. Competitive salary range is $99,700 to $148,500, plus comprehensive benefits.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field required.
• Ability to coach others and leverage diverse ideas beneficially.
• Experience with Agile methodologies and Test‑Driven Development.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical escalation point for junior team members.
• Define the AppSec program future direction in collaboration with leadership.
• Enhance monitoring and integration of security best practices.

Skills

Agile development methodologies

Excellent problem solving

Communication skills

Collaboration skills

Education

Bachelor of Computer Science or Engineering

Tools

AppSec tools

Vulnerability management platforms

SAST

DAST

Job description

Job Classification

Technology - Information Security

Are you interested in building capabilities that enable the organization with innovation, speed, agility, scalability and efficiency? The Global Technology team takes great pride in our culture where digital transformation is built into our DNA! When you join our organization at Prudential, you’ll unlock an exciting and impactful career – all while growing your skills and advancing your profession at one of the world’s leading financial services institutions.

Your Team & Role

As an Application Security Specialist on the Attack Surface Management Team, you will partner with other security professionals across the Information Security Office, the Chief Technology Office, and other engineering groups in Prudential to advance Prudential’s application security program and drive Prudential’s risk reduction efforts across the global enterprise.

In this role, you would be responsible for efforts to secure modern applications and ensuring “secure by design” development best practices across all digital assets in alignment with industry standards. You will track and govern risk reduction, work with partner organizations to consult on implementation efforts, mature operational processes and enable automation CI/CD controls for enforcement and monitoring. You will work on significant and unique issues where analysis of situations or data requires an evaluation of intangible variables and may impact future concepts, products or technologies to ensure security of our products and customers!

The ideal candidate will have a deep understanding of modern application architecture, cloud-native security, and DevOps practices. Forward-thinking is required for this role to include focus on how to securely develop systems, enable self-service and incorporate capabilities for Security to scale and defend against evolving threats.

Here Is What You Can Expect on a Typical Day

• Serve as the escalation point for operational and project work from junior team members, providing technical support for security tools and solutions, and implementing assessment and response processes.
• Utilize AppSec tool and process expertise to resolve complex technical and organizational challenges, bridging gaps between AppSec/DevOps and IT/business teams to ensure resource availability for team goals.
• Collaborate with leadership to define the future direction of the AppSec program, while maintaining a deep understanding of daily operations to offer informed recommendations.
• Enhance vulnerability and configuration monitoring for open source, third-party, and proprietary code and applications, integrating security best practices into development and operations.
• Design, develop, and implement security policies and alerting mechanisms based on SOX and NIST standards, and assist in evaluating new software solutions.
• Conduct qualitative and quantitative analyses to improve user experience, promoting secure‑by‑design principles throughout the software development lifecycle.
• Validate mitigation controls, ensure reporting metrics convey risk posture to leadership, and adapt them as necessary.
• Revise processes, metrics, and documentation to enhance AppSec program capabilities, providing proof‑of‑concept exploits to demonstrate exploitability and validate remediation actions.
• Collaborate with technology peers and business stakeholders to ensure remediation efforts comply with corporate standards, creating technical documentation and SoPs for internal security processes.
• Work with engineering teams to address application vulnerabilities, developing remediation and mitigation strategies, and define requirements for automation tools to manage application security posture.

The Skills & Expertise You Bring

• Bachelor of Computer Science or Engineering or experience in related fields
• Ability to coach others with minimal guidance and effectively leverage diverse ideas, experiences, thoughts and perspectives to the benefit of the organization
• Experience with agile development methodologies and Test‑Driven Development (TDD)
• Knowledge of business concepts tools and processes that are needed for making sound decisions in the context of the company’s business
• Ability to learn new skills and knowledge on an on‑going basis through self‑initiative and tackling challenges
• Excellent problem solving, communication and collaboration skills

Applied Experience With Several Of The Following

• Familiarity with vulnerability and security scanning tools, as well as common vulnerability data sources and frameworks (CVE, CVSS, EPSS, CWE)
• Experience improving vulnerability management platforms, processes, and assessments
• Engineering mindset – systems thinking, creative problem solving, deductive reasoning
• Experience with industry Assessment Frameworks (OWASP WSTG, PTES, Mitre Att™ck Framework)
• SAST, SCA, DAST, ASPM tools
• Strong understanding of software composition analysis and SBOMs.
• Ability to adjust communicate style to the target audience with a proficiency in communicating technical and business risk
• Experience with common vulnerability feeds from government, vendor, and open‑source communities
• Understanding of threat actors with the ability to articulate how they operate and demonstrate how they subvert common security controls
• Understanding of the OWASP Top 10. Familiarity with vulnerabilities in 3rd party libraries and remediation

Preferred Qualifications

• Scripting background (Python, PowerShell, Bash, etc.)
• Understanding of threat actors, with the ability to articulate or demonstrate how they operate and subvert common security controls
• Knowledge of industry security standards and frameworks (CIS, NIST, PCI DSS)
• Ability to perform exploit validation and web application penetration testing
• Agentic AI for Security use cases
• Leverage diverse ideas, experiences, thoughts, and perspectives to the benefit of the organization
• GIAC Web Application Penetration Tester (GWAPT)
• CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP+)
• GIAC Cloud Security Automation (GCSA)
• IT Security certification beyond intro level certifications, (e.g., GCFA, GCIA, GNFA, GCTI, GREM, GCIH, GCFA, GPEN, OSCP, etc.).
• Cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP, etc.) Certs
• Other Security Certifications beyond intro level

What We Offer You

Prudential is required by state specific laws to include the salary range for this role when hiring a resident in applicable locations. The salary range for this role is from $99,700.00 to $148,500.00. Specific pricing for the role may vary within the above range based on many factors including geographic location, candidate experience, and skills.

• Market competitive base salaries, with a yearly bonus potential at every level.
• Medical, dental, vision, life insurance, disability insurance, Paid Time Off (PTO), and leave of absences, such as parental and military leave.
• 401(k) plan with company match (up to 4%).
• Company‑funded pension plan.
• Wellness Programs including up to $1,600 a year for reimbursement of items purchased to support personal wellbeing needs.
• Work/Life Resources to help support topics such as parenting, housing, senior care, finances, pets, legal matters, education, emotional and mental health, and career development.
• Education Benefit to help finance traditional college enrollment toward obtaining an approved degree and many accredited certificate programs.
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan: Shares can be purchased at 85% of the lower of two prices (Beginning or End of the purchase period), after one year of service.

Eligibility to participate in a discretionary annual incentive program is subject to the rules governing the program, whereby an award, if any, depends on various factors including, without limitation, individual and organizational performance. To find out more about our Total Rewards package, visit Work Life Balance | Prudential Careers. Some of the above benefits may not apply to part‑time employees scheduled to work less than 20 hours per week.

Prudential Financial, Inc. of the United States is not affiliated with Prudential plc. which is headquartered in the United Kingdom.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Prudential is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, genetics, disability, marital status, age, veteran status, domestic partner status, medical condition or any other characteristic protected by law.

Accommodation

If you need an accommodation to complete the application process, please email [e-mail].

Technical Support

If you are experiencing a technical issue with your application or an assessment, please email [e-mail] to request assistance.