Staff Security Engineer, Security Research

Google; Town of Montana (WI); On-site; USD 207,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Google's Security Research team seeks a Staff Security Engineer to advance vulnerability research, exploit development, and secure software across platforms. Based in San Jose, CA, you will collaborate with software and network security engineers to identify and mitigate high‑impact risks.

You will own complex incidents, publish findings, and drive defenses with scalable tooling. Must have 8+ years in security design, assessments, threat modeling, and coding in general‑purpose languages.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience.
• 8 years of security assessments, design reviews or threat modeling.
• 8 years of security engineering, computer and network security.
• 8 years of coding in one or more general purpose languages.
• 3 years of leading teams in a technical capacity or technical risk analysis.

Responsibilities

• Conduct vulnerability research and exploit development, specifically in iOS, MacOS and XNU.
• Create tools and infrastructure that enables the team to scale up our research efforts.
• Engage the wider defensive community by publishing your results.
• Work with other security engineers on the analysis of, and response to vulnerabilities reported by other parties.

Skills

Security assessments

Security design reviews

Threat modeling

Security engineering

Coding experience

Team leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience

Job description

Staff Security Engineer, Security Research

Location: San Jose, CA, USA

Experience Level: Advanced

Minimum qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience.
• 8 years of experience with security assessments or security design reviews or threat modeling.
• 8 years of experience with security engineering, computer and network security and security protocols.
• 8 years of coding experience in one or more general purpose languages.
• 3 years of experience leading teams in a technical capacity or leading technical risk analysis in an enterprise environment.

Preferred qualifications:

• A track record of excellent published security research.
• The ability to demonstrate significant depth of understanding in one or more vulnerability research security fields.

About the job

Our Security team works to create and maintain the safest operating environment for Google's users and developers. Security Engineers work with network equipment and actively monitor our systems for attacks and intrusions. In this role, you will also work with software engineers to proactively identify and fix security flaws and vulnerabilities.

There's no such thing as a safe system, only safer systems. Our Security team works to create and maintain the safest operating environment for Google's users and developers.

As a Security Engineer, you help protect network boundaries, keep computer systems and network devices hardened against attacks and provide security services to protect highly sensitive data like passwords and customer information. Security Engineers work directly with network equipment and actively monitor our systems for attacks and intrusions. You also work with software engineers to proactively identify and fix security flaws and vulnerabilities. You use your industry experience to own and drive the resolution of complex security incidents, policy questions and technical security issues.

We build tooling to scale security research and create new methodologies for discovering high impact security vulnerabilities. We also use in-house exploit development to provide relevant and actionable guidance for long-term defenses and mitigations, and engage in non-technical work such as driving improvements to industry security processes and best practices.

Individual pay is determined by factors including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

US Salary Range: $207,000 - $300,000 (USD) + 20% bonus target + equity + benefits

Responsibilities

• Conduct vulnerability research and exploit development, specifically in (but not limited to) iOS, MacOS and XNU.
• Create tools and infrastructure that enables the team to scale up our research efforts.
• Engage the wider defensive community by publishing your results.
• Work with other security engineers on the analysis of, and response to vulnerabilities reported by other parties.

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Google is proud to be an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. We are committed to building a workforce that is representative of the users we serve, creating a culture of belonging, and providing an equal employment opportunity regardless of race, creed, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or related condition (including breastfeeding), expecting or parents-to-be, criminal histories consistent with legal requirements, or any other basis protected by law. See also Google's EEO Policy , Know your rights: workplace discrimination is illegal , Belonging at Google , and How we hire.

Google is a global company and, in order to facilitate efficient collaboration and communication globally, English proficiency is a requirement for all roles unless stated otherwise in the job posting.

Equity is granted exclusively and discretionarily by Alphabet Inc. on the basis of an agreement concluded between you and Alphabet Inc. Alphabet Inc. is your sole contractual partner with respect to equity grants. GSU grants are not guaranteed, are discretionary, are subject to approval by the Alphabet Inc. board of directors or its delegate, the terms of the relevant Alphabet Inc. stock plan, and your grant agreement. They have no impact on statutory payments. Current or past grants do not confer an acquired right.