Staff Software Engineer

Rapid7; United States; On-site; USD 165,000 - 223,000; Full time

Job summary

Rapid7 is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to architect, build, and optimize scalable services and automation tools for MDR and IR operations. You will collaborate with cross-functional teams to translate requirements into robust architectures and deliver high-quality software that sustains uptime and rapid incident response.

You will lead the design of AI-first workflows, modern deployment pipelines, and observability practices, while mentoring peers and maintaining engineering excellence

Qualifications

• Experience architecting distributed microservices and backend systems.
• Proficiency in Python and modern frontend stacks.
• Experience with AWS cloud services and Infrastructure as Code.

Responsibilities

• Architect, design, maintain highly available, scalable services and internal tools.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to translate requirements into technical architecture and milestones.
• Integrate shared platform services to enhance delivery efficiency across teams.
• Drive technical excellence and robust engineering standards across microservices and deployments.
• Champion automated testing, observability, and incident response strategies.
• Mentor peers on software architecture and code quality.

Skills

Python backend

Frontend React

AWS

Terraform

GitHub Actions

Jenkins

DataDog

LLM integration

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

EKS

CI/CD tooling

Job description

Rapid7 is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to empower and scale our 24x7 Managed Detection and Response (MDR) and Incident Response (IR) operations. In this role, you will act as a critical technical force multiplier, leveraging modern cloud architectures and AI-driven workflows to automate repetitive tasks and engineer high-impact solutions for front-line cybersecurity practitioners. This is an opportunity to solve high-stakes challenges at scale and shape the future of managed security operations.

About the Team

The Managed Services Engineering team designs, builds, and maintains the mission-critical applications, cloud services, and automation tooling that power Rapid7's global MDR, Vulnerability Management, and Incident Response delivery teams. We partner directly with operational security practitioners to eliminate operational friction and deliver resilient, high-velocity capabilities across our AI-driven security ecosystem.

About the Role

As a Staff Software Engineer, your primary responsibility will be to architect, build, and optimize resilient services and automation tools that accelerate MDR and IR service delivery. Specifically, your focus will be to:

• Architect, design, maintain, and monitor highly available, scalable services and internal tools utilizing an AI-first software development lifecycle.
• Partner with stakeholders and program management teams to capture operational pain points, translate requirements into technical architecture, and scope delivery milestones.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with broader product and platform engineering teams to integrate shared platform services and enhance service delivery efficiency.
• Drive technical excellence and robust engineering standards across microservices, cloud infrastructure, and modern deployment pipelines.
• Champion pragmatic automated testing, monitoring, and observability strategies to ensure uptime, system health, and rapid incident resolution across production workloads.
• Mentor and guide engineering peers on software architecture, design reviews, code quality, and sustainable operational practices.

The skills and qualities you'll bring include

• Proven experience architecting, building, and maintaining distributed microservices and backend systems in Python (Django, Django REST Framework, FastAPI, or Flask).
• Hands-on proficiency with modern frontend development practices using JavaScript (ES6+) and React to create intuitive self-service tooling for security analysts.
• Extensive expertise designing and provisioning scalable AWS cloud infrastructure (ECS, API Gateway, EC2, S3, RDS, SQS, SNS, EventBridge, IAM) using Infrastructure as Code (Terraform).
• Strong track record establishing continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines using tools such as GitHub Actions, Jenkins, and container orchestration with Docker/EKS.
• Deep commitment to quality through programmatic testing (unit, integration, linting), live observability, log monitoring, and telemetry tooling (such as DataDog).
• Practical experience or strong drive to leverage AI-first software engineering methodologies, including LLM integrations (Claude, Amazon Bedrock) to accelerate automation and developer workflows.
• Hold self and teammates accountable for driving end-to-end technical outcomes, establishing clear technical ownership, and delivering reliable software that powers operational workflows.
• Build collaborative cross-functional relationships across organizational boundaries to deliver sustainable tooling improvements that create business and customer value.
• Make transparent, timely technical decisions that resolve complex challenges, maintain engineering momentum, and incorporate diverse technical perspectives.
• Think big and act small by breaking complex architectural initiatives into iterative, time-bound milestones, assessing operational impact, and pivoting when necessary.
• Communicate complex technical concepts, system designs, and architectural rationale clearly to both technical peers and cross‑functional stakeholders.
• Embody our core values to foster a culture of excellence that drives meaningful impact and collective success.

We know that the best ideas and solutions come from multi‑dimensional teams. That’s because these teams reflect a variety of backgrounds and professional experiences. If you are excited about this role and feel your experience can make an impact.

About Rapid7

At Rapid7, our vision is to create a secure digital world for our customers, our industry, and our communities. We do this by harnessing our collective expertise and passion to challenge what’s possible and drive extraordinary impact. We’re building a dynamic and collaborative workplace where new ideas are welcome.

Protecting 11,500+ customers against bad actors and threats means we’re continuing to push the envelope just like we’ ve been doing for the past 20 years. If you ’re ready to solve some of the toughest challenges in cybersecurity, we’re ready to help you take command of your career. Join us.

Rapid7, Inc. is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. A candidate’s salary is determined by various factors including, but not limited to, relevant work experience, skills, and certifications. We evaluate compensation decisions on a case‑based basis, and it is not typical for an individual to be hired at the very top of the salary range.

The annual salary range for this role, depending on location, is:

United States: $164,600.00 - 222,600.00 USD Annual

Salary ranges may vary based on geographical location. This range does not include variable/incentive compensation, equity and benefits (where applicable/eligible).

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or any other status protected by applicable national, federal, state or local law.