Director of Engineering - Application Security

Role Overview

The Director of Engineering for Application Security is a senior leadership position, combining advanced engineering knowledge with a commitment to team development. Working within an agile, cloud-focused environment, you will establish technical standards, guide strategic initiatives, and lead the delivery of large-scale application security solutions designed to protect our client’s organization from cyber threats. A key part of the role is mentoring engineers and analysts, helping them create secure and scalable systems that promote innovation while ensuring customer safety. This role offers the chance to significantly influence the future direction of secure engineering at scale.

Primary Responsibilities

• Craft and lead the team’s strategic direction, roadmap, and long-term vision.
• Mentor and develop both engineers and analysts to support continuous technical learning and career growth.
• Oversee workforce planning and align performance objectives with business goals.
• Manage multiple projects with strong organizational and planning skills.
• Own the roadmap and vision, defining milestones necessary to achieve the goals.
• Collaborate with various stakeholders to ensure results that impact customers positively.
• Champion Secure-SDLC methodologies such as secrets management, SAST, SCA, and DAST integration.
• Enhance automation processes, improve test coverage, speed up release cycles, and maintain system stability.
• Set and uphold technical standards through code reviews and architectural guidance.
• Engage with leadership across engineering, business, and operations to prioritize security initiatives.
• Lead data-informed decision-making processes regarding trade-offs, capacity, and risk management.
• Effectively communicate updates and challenges to peers and senior leadership.
• Keep abreast of emerging security threats, tools, and frameworks.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement via metrics, retrospectives, and education.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• At least 12 years of IT experience with a minimum of 5 years in technical and people leadership roles.
• Proven expertise delivering scalable cloud-native software solutions following Secure-SDLC practices.
• Strong knowledge of systems architecture, software development life cycle (SDLC), Agile methodologies, AWS cloud platform, and DevSecOps principles.
• Analytical, data-driven approach with experience using metrics to inform strategic decision-making.
• Exceptional communication skills with the ability to influence and collaborate with stakeholders across functions.
• Dedicated to mentoring and coaching team members at all levels.
• Experience setting strategic technical vision and successfully executing roadmaps.
• Familiarity with application security tools such as secrets scanning, static application security testing (SAST), dynamic application security testing (DAST), and software composition analysis (SCA) is advantageous.