Principal Security Engineer

Description Location:Remote - US or EU Remote| Full-time Compensation: $160K - $240K Our client operates a core banking platform designed specifically for digital assets, enabling fintechs and systemically important financial institutions to build, operate, and scale onchain infrastructure. The platform secures over €100B in assets and powers critical operations—including key management, transaction processing, treasury, and compliance—for over 400 global institutions. Our client is seeking a Principal Security Engineer to lead product security across the entire ecosystem. In this role, security is built directly into the system's architecture rather than applied as a secondary control. The ideal candidate will take ownership of hardening key management, signing workflows, authentication systems, policy enforcement, and multi-chain integrations. Beyond core product security and vulnerability management, this position plays a pivotal role in shaping the long-term architectural vision of a platform trusted by tier-one financial institutions. As an organization committed to technical excellence, our client also encourages contribution to the broader security community through research, publications, and industry events. Key Responsibilities Architectural Leadership: Lead product security architecture, ensuring security principles are embedded into core platform design and development cycles. Core Infrastructure Security: Analyze and secure key management systems, transaction pipelines, and signing workflows across modern distributed networks. Threat Modeling & Review: Perform system-level threat modeling for new product features, protocols, and multi-chain integrations. Cryptographic & Auth Security: Design and evaluate security-sensitive components, including authentication protocols, authorization frameworks, and applied cryptographic workflows. Defense-in-Depth: Define, implement, and maintain multi-layered security controls across the application, infrastructure, and protocol layers. Supply Chain & Environment Security: Own and expand end-to-end software supply-chain security, spanning dependency scanning in CI pipelines to local developer environments. Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Enforce security configurations into version-controlled repositories to prevent configuration drift and enhance auditability. Risk Research & Mitigation: Investigate emerging security risks related to blockchain protocols, institutional custody models, and novel cryptographic techniques. Compliance & Audits: Support ongoing SOC 2, ISO 27001, and ISO 22301 compliance frameworks alongside expanding control surfaces. Technical Enablement & Incident Response: Provide day-to-day guidance to engineering teams to make secure patterns accessible, while supporting incident response and root-cause analysis when necessary. External Representation: Participate in security architecture reviews with tier-one banking partners, external auditors, and enterprise clients. Industry Thought Leadership: Contribute to technical research, whitepapers, and conference presentations to advance the digital asset security field. Requirements Experience: 10+ years in security engineering, product security, or security architecture roles. Domain Expertise: Demonstrated track record of securing financial infrastructure, institutional blockchain platforms, or both. Cryptographic Systems: Deep understanding of cryptographic protocols, wallet architectures, and key management frameworks. Direct experience with Multi-Party Computation (MPC), threshold signatures, or HSM-backed solutions is strongly preferred. Threat Modeling: Extensive experience performing comprehensive system-level threat models and architecture reviews. Infrastructure & Networks: Solid foundational knowledge of distributed systems, networking protocols, and cloud computing platforms (primarily AWS). Supply Chain & IaC: Hands-on experience implementing software supply-chain defenses and managing security configurations via code to prevent drift. Compliance & Frameworks: Familiarity with maintaining live audit cycles for frameworks such as SOC 2, ISO 27001, ISO 22301, and the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. Development Skills: Professional familiarity with modern backend languages such as Rust or TypeScript. Communication: Exceptional ability to communicate complex security concepts effectively to both internal engineering teams and external enterprise stakeholders. Benefits Competitive executive-level compensation package. Flexible, remote-first work environment. Comprehensive health, wellness, and benefits coverage tailored to regional standards. Generous paid time off (PTO) and personal Leave policy. Professional development budget for security research, certifications, and industry conferences. Exposure to cutting-edge cryptographic engineering alongside leading global financial institutions.  Interview Process The selection process for this position consists of the following structured phases: Initial Screening Call (30 mins): Introductory discussion with the Co-CEO to align on background, expectations, and role scope. Cognitive & Skills Assessment (45 mins): A series of brief, timed assessments via TestGorilla evaluating: Critical Thinking Verbal Reasoning Attention to Detail (Textual) Numerical Reasoning Problem Solving (Note: Practice questions are provided prior to each timed 10-minute section). Take-Home Technical Exercise: A practical assignment designed to assess technical problem-solving and architectural design capabilities. Group Technical Interview (120 mins): A multi-part panel review covering: Threat modeling exercise Infrastructure security review Cultural alignment assessment Final Leadership Interview: A concluding conversation prior to the formal offer stage. Due to the high volume of applications we anticipate, we regret that we are unable to provide individual feedback to all candidates. If you do not hear back from us within 4 weeks of your application, please assume that you have not been successful on this occasion. We genuinely appreciate your interest and wish you the best in your job search. Commitment to Equality and Accessibility: At MLabs, we are committed to offer equal opportunities to all candidates. We ensure no discrimination, accessible job adverts, and providing information in accessible formats. Our goal is to foster a diverse, inclusive workplace with equal opportunities for all. 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