Head of Security Engineering

Company Description

Digital Harbor is an innovation-driven company committed to reshaping the future of enterprise applications. By creating cutting-edge cloud solutions, we empower business users to work collaboratively, enhance productivity, and optimize time management. Our innovative technologies are trusted by governments worldwide to drive growth and efficiency in the enterprise sector.

At Digital Harbor, we provide a platform for individuals who embrace innovation, move quickly, and help modernize how organizations build and operate enterprise software.

Position Summary

Digital Harbor is seeking a highly hands-on Head of Security Engineering to lead and evolve the company's security engineering function across our SaaS platform, cloud infrastructure, and internal operations.

This role serves as the senior-most dedicated security leader within the organization and is responsible for executing the company's security strategy while partnering closely with Engineering, Product, DevOps, Legal, and Operations.

We are not seeking a traditional governance-heavy Head of Security Engineering. We're looking for a builder, someone who enjoys solving technical problems, partnering with engineers, and implementing practical security solutions that enable product delivery rather than slow it down.

The ideal candidate combines deep technical expertise with strong leadership, operational ownership, and the ability to influence engineering teams in fast-moving cloud-native environments.

Success in this role requires someone who enjoys working shoulder-to-shoulder with software engineering teams, building practical security solutions that improve both security posture and developer productivity.

Location: Remote (United States)

About the Role

As a Head of Security Engineering, you will:

• Lead and mature Digital Harbor's security engineering program across product, cloud, and operational security
• Serve as the primary security partner for Engineering, Product, Infrastructure, and executive leadership
• Drive adoption of security-by-design practices throughout the SDLC
• Build practical, developer-friendly security standards and engineering guardrails
• Lead hands-on security initiatives while establishing longer-term security priorities
• Improve detection, response, and operational security capabilities
• Foster a collaborative security culture focused on enablement rather than bureaucracy
• Help shape the future security organization as the company continues to scale

This role is ideal for someone who wants broad ownership, meaningful technical influence, and the opportunity to build security alongside a growing engineering organization.

Experience

The ideal candidate will have:

• Experience working within a software product company where security was embedded directly into software engineering and product development processes strongly preferred.
• 6–9+ years of progressive experience in Security Engineering, Product Security, DevSecOps, Cloud Security, Application Security, or Security Architecture
• Experience securing modern SaaS products and cloud-native applications
• Experience working within a software product company (strongly preferred)
• Experience operating within AWS and/or GCP cloud environments
• Proven ability to partner closely with software engineering, platform engineering, and DevOps teams
• Demonstrated success leading cross-functional technical initiatives
• Experience balancing strong security outcomes with engineering velocity
• Demonstrated history of ownership and measurable impact through meaningful tenure within previous organizations. Candidates who have successfully built and matured security capabilities over multiple years are strongly preferred.

Core Areas of Responsibility

Product & Platform Security

• Drive security-by-design practices throughout the software development lifecycle
• Partner directly with engineering teams to improve application, API, and platform security
• Embed practical security controls into CI/CD pipelines and developer workflows
• Lead threat modeling and architecture security reviews
• Champion DevSecOps practices focused on automation and developer enablement
• Establish secure engineering standards and best practices across the organization

Cloud & Infrastructure Security

• Lead cloud security initiatives across AWS and/or GCP
• Define and implement scalable security controls for:
• Infrastructure as Code
• Kubernetes and containerized environments
• Cloud-native architectures
• Improve cloud security posture through automation, monitoring, and infrastructure hardening
• Partner with Infrastructure and DevOps teams to reduce operational risk without introducing unnecessary friction
• Ensure security controls scale alongside the platform

Security Operations & Incident Response

• Lead security incident response efforts with hands-on technical involvement
• Improve detection, monitoring, investigation, and response capabilities
• Drive automation that reduces manual operational effort
• Build repeatable operational security processes
• Continuously improve security controls against evolving threats

Security Leadership & Organizational Influence

• Act as the primary leader for security engineering initiatives
• Help define and execute the company's security roadmap
• Build strong partnerships across Engineering, Product, Operations, Legal, and Leadership
• Promote security as a business enabler rather than a blocker
• Mentor engineers and advocate for secure engineering practices
• Identify future staffing, tooling, and process needs as the security program grows

Risk, Compliance & Governance

• Support SOC 2 and ISO 27001 initiatives by implementing practical engineering controls that satisfy compliance requirements while maintaining engineering velocity
• Assist with vendor security reviews and technical risk assessments
• Partner with Legal and Product teams on privacy and data protection initiatives
• Maintain practical, risk-based security processes that support business growth without unnecessary bureaucracy
• Contribute to documentation, standards, and policies where appropriate

Desired Skills & Attributes

Technical Experience

• Cloud Security (AWS and/or GCP)
• DevSecOps and CI/CD Security
• Infrastructure as Code (Terraform preferred)
• Security Engineering and Automation
• Detection & Response Engineering
• Application Security
• API Security
• Vulnerability Management
• Threat Modeling
• Container and Kubernetes Security

Leadership & Mindset

• Builder mentality with a strong sense of ownership
• Hands-on, execution-oriented, and highly collaborative
• Comfortable operating in fast-moving, evolving environments
• Excellent communication skills with both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Pragmatic approach to balancing security, scalability, and product delivery
• Ability to influence through collaboration rather than excessive process
• Bias toward action, continuous improvement, and measurable business impact

Additional Preferred Experience

• Experience with modern security tooling and cloud-native security platforms
• Familiarity with AI security risks and emerging threat landscapes
• Experience securing modern SaaS products
• Experience supporting distributed engineering organizations
• Experience helping build or scale a security engineering function

Nice to Have

• CISSP, CISM, or equivalent certification
• Experience in high-growth SaaS organizations
• Exposure to modern product security practices at scale

Why Join Digital Harbor

This is a unique opportunity to become the first dedicated security engineering leader at a growing SaaS company. You'll have the autonomy to shape the security program, influence engineering practices, and build scalable security capabilities that directly support product innovation and company growth.

Digital Harbor is firmly committed to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and to compliance with all federal, state, and local laws that prohibit employment discrimination. Reasonable accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.