Staff Application Security Engineer

Nclusion; Palo Alto (CA); Hybrid; USD 200,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401k match

Medical Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

Equity

Flexible PTO

In-office lunch

Job summary

Nclusion is seeking a Staff Application Security Engineer to lead the design and implementation of security capabilities across web, mobile, backend services, and AI‑powered systems. This highly hands‑on role requires strong software engineering skills and focuses on building security automation, integrating security into the SDLC, and enabling secure AI adoption for engineering teams.

The ideal candidate has deep expertise in application security, cloud‑native architectures, and AI security,

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in Software Engineering, Application Security, Product Security, Security Engineering, or Platform Engineering.
• Strong programming skills in Go, Python, Java, TypeScript, C++, or similar languages.
• Experience with threat modeling, API security, authentication, authorization, and secure design principles.
• Experience with Kubernetes, containers, networking, and Infrastructure‑as‑Code tools such as Terraform.
• Familiarity with IAM, MFA, logging, and audit systems is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement security controls across web, mobile, backend services, and AI‑powered systems, including coding agents and LLM workflows.
• Integrate security directly into CI/CD pipelines and developer workflows.
• Design and implement production‑quality security services, APIs, and automation platforms.
• Build automation for SAST, DAST, dependency scanning, secret detection, container scanning, and Infrastructure‑as‑Code validation.
• Build guardrails for AI‑generated code, automated pull requests, and agentic development workflows.
• Partner with engineering teams on security and architecture reviews, providing practical guidance early in the design and development process.
• Help engineers build secure software through clear standards, reusable patterns, documentation, training, and hands‑on support.
• Champion shared ownership of security and help build a culture where engineers feel confident identifying, discussing, and addressing security risks.

Skills

Go

Python

Java

TypeScript

C++

Threat modeling

API security

CI/CD security

Secure design

Kubernetes

Tools

Terraform

Docker

CI/CD tooling

Job description

About Nclusion

Nclusion is on a mission to provide traditional financial services to 1.5 billion people worldwide without access today. Without a secure way to save, invest, or transfer money, individuals are not empowered to accumulate short or long-term wealth. We’re changing that by bridging the gap between traditional banking and the communities that need it most.

About the Role

We are seeking a Staff Application Security Engineer to lead the design and implementation of application security and AI security capabilities that protect our products, developer workflows, and AI-powered engineering ecosystem. This is a highly hands‑on role requiring strong software engineering skills. The successful candidate will spend the majority of their time building security automation, integrating security into the software development lifecycle, and enabling secure adoption of AI across engineering. The ideal candidate combines deep expertise in application security, secure software engineering, cloud‑native architectures, and AI security with a pragmatic approach to balancing developer productivity and risk. This role is based in our East Palo Alto office. We work together onsite Monday through Thursday and work remotely on Fridays.

What You’ll do

• Design and implement security controls across web, mobile, backend services, and AI‑powered systems, including coding agents and LLM workflows.
• Integrate security directly into CI/CD pipelines and developer workflows.
• Design and implement production‑quality security services, APIs, and automation platforms.
• Build automation for SAST, DAST, dependency scanning, secret detection, container scanning, and Infrastructure‑as‑Code validation.
• Build guardrails for AI‑generated code, automated pull requests, and agentic development workflows.
• Partner with engineering teams on security and architecture reviews, providing practical guidance early in the design and development process.
• Help engineers build secure software through clear standards, reusable patterns, documentation, training, and hands‑on support.
• Champion shared ownership of security and help build a culture where engineers feel confident identifying, discussing, and addressing security risks.

What You Bring to the Table

• 10+ years of experience in Software Engineering, Application Security, Product Security, Security Engineering, or Platform Engineering.
• Strong programming skills in Go, Python, Java, TypeScript, C++, or similar languages.
• Experience with threat modeling, API security, authentication, authorization, and secure design principles.
• Experience with Kubernetes, containers, networking, and Infrastructure‑as‑Code tools such as Terraform.
• Familiarity with IAM, MFA, logging, and audit systems is a plus.

Benefits and Perks

• 401k with a match
• Medical Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• Competitive compensation & equity – We believe in sharing success.
• Flexible PTO – We focus on impact, not tracking vacation days. We encourage a minimum of 14 days.
• In‑office lunch, team events & culture

Compensation

The base pay range for this role is $200,000 – $260,000 per year.