Staff Security Engineer, Level 6

Snap; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Snap Inc. is seeking a Staff Security Engineer to join the InfoSec organization in Los Angeles, CA.

You will lead the security architecture across applications, infrastructure, and identity platforms, working with engineering, product, and operations to embed security into core systems and workflows. You will define secure design patterns, perform threat modeling, and set engineering standards to reduce systemic risks while mentoring senior engineers and influencing large-scale architecture

Qualifications

• Deep expertise in secure design and threat modeling across domains.
• Strong security engineering background and risk reduction.
• Experience shaping security strategy at scale.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and evolution of security architecture across platforms and workloads.
• Drive cross-functional security initiatives with engineering, product, and operations.
• Define secure patterns, threat models, and engineering standards.
• Influence architecture decisions to bake security in by default.
• Mentor engineers and raise security bar through reviews and guidance.

Skills

Secure design

Threat modeling

Cloud-native security

Production-grade code

Architectural influence

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS or related

Tools

AWS

GCP

Kubernetes

Job description

Snap Inc is a technology company. We believe the camera presents the greatest opportunity to improve the way people live and communicate. Snap contributes to human progress by empowering people to express themselves, live in the moment, learn about the world, and have fun together.

The Company operates Snapchat, a visual messaging app that enhances your relationships with friends, family, and the world, and Specs Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary dedicated to making computing more human, in addition to Bitmoji, Saturn, and other digital services.

Snap Security teams protect the trust and safety of our global community by securing the systems and data that power Snapchat. We safeguard hundreds of millions of Snapchatters every day, ensuring that every product and service is built on a foundation of security and resilience. Our values guide everything we do - from how we anticipate and mitigate threats to how we collaborate across Snap. We move fast, with precision, and always execute with privacy at the forefront.

We're looking for a Staff Security Engineer to join the InfoSec org!

What you'll do:

• Lead the design and evolution of security architecture across applications, infrastructure, enterprise systems, identity platforms, and/or detection & response capabilities.
• Drive complex, cross-functional security initiatives that reduce risk at scale, partnering with engineering, product, and operations to embed security into core systems and workflows.
• Establish technical strategy and long-term roadmaps in one or more security domains (e.g., application security, IAM, infrastructure security, abuse prevention, detection & response).
• Define and champion secure design patterns, threat models, and engineering standards to proactively address systemic risks.
• Influence platform and product architecture decisions to ensure security, resilience, and scalability are built in by default.
• Mentor senior engineers and raise the security bar through design reviews, knowledge sharing, and principled decision‑making.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Deep expertise in secure system design, threat modeling, and risk reduction across applications, infrastructure, identity, or detection & response domains.
• Strong understanding of cloud-native and distributed systems security
• Experience identifying and mitigating systemic vulnerabilities
• Strong engineering fundamentals, including the ability to write production‑quality code and build automation to improve security at scale.
• Demonstrated ability to influence architecture and technical direction across teams without direct authority.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in a related technical field such as computer science, engineering or equivalent years of experience
• 9+ years of post- bachelor's industry experience; or a Master's degree in a technical field + 8+ years of post-grad security experience; or a PhD in a related technical field + 5 years of post-grad security experience
• 1+ year(s) of experience with technical leadership or acting as the domain‑expert to a technical organization

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience setting security strategy or technical direction for a large-scale product, platform, or enterprise environment.
• Strong strategic thinking, with a demonstrated ability to define technical roadmaps and lead multi-team initiatives.
• Experience collaborating with executive leadership to align technical solutions with business priorities and risk management strategies.
• A track record of mentoring senior engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence and innovation.

Default Together Policy at Snap:

At Snap Inc. we believe that being together in person helps us build our culture faster, reinforce our values, and serve our community, customers and partners better through dynamic collaboration. To reflect this, we practice a "default together" approach and expect our team members to work in an office 4+ days per week.

At Snap, we believe that having a team of diverse backgrounds and voices working together will enable us to create innovative products that improve the way people live and communicate. Snap is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and committed to providing employment opportunities regardless of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding, age, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or any other protected classification, in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws. EOE, including disability/vets.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable law (by example, the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance and the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring, where applicable).