Senior Application Security Engineer

Starburst

Boston, MA

Who this role is best for

Best suited to candidates with deep application security expertise working in enterprise B2B software, particularly in regulated industries.

Best fit for

Candidates with a background in enterprise B2B software and experience in regulated industries such as financial services
— “Experience in enterprise B2B software and working directly with enterprise customers on security, ideally in regulated industries such as financial services.”
Individuals who have led application security programs and scaled them across large engineering organizations
— “Own and mature the Application Security program, moving it from established practice to measurable, automated, and scaled across a large engineering organization.”
Candidates with offensive security experience and a track record of automating threat detection and red-teaming
— “Offensive security experience and a drive to automate it: red-teaming, or threat hunting against your own products.”

Things to consider

The role requires direct customer engagement and high-stakes communication with enterprise clients.
— “you'll be in the room with them, explaining how we secure what we ship — the kind of high-trust, high-stakes conversation that makes this work matter.”
The position demands a high level of technical judgment to differentiate real exploitability from false positives.
— “Deep command of application and product security fundamentals, with the judgment to distinguish real exploitability from scanner noise.”

How to stand out

Highlight your experience in embedding security into SDLC and influencing engineering teams to adopt it.
— “embedding secure-by-default patterns, guardrails, threat modeling, and automated checks into design and development.”
Showcase your ability to use AI and automation in security operations and red-teaming.
— “using AI and automation to continuously probe for weaknesses instead of relying on point-in-time testing.”
Demonstrate your track record in vulnerability management for enterprise-scale software.
— “running vulnerability management for shipped software at scale, with strong knowledge of container/image security.”
Emphasize your leadership experience in mentoring engineers and driving security program maturity.
— “Experience leading and mentoring engineers.”

Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · HighAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · TeamLevel · Senior

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

secure-by-default patterns
embedded security controls
red-teaming and threat hunting
vulnerability management
application and supply chain security tooling

Typical background

5-7 years of experience in application security, product security, software engineering with a security focus

Skills & requirements

Required

Application SecurityProduct SecurityVulnerability ManagementAutomationAIRed-teamingThreat HuntingSoftware Supply Chain Security

Preferred

SASTSCADASTContainer ScanningPenetration TestingVulnerability Disclosure

About the role

Original posting from Starburst via Greenhouse

About Starburst
Starburst delivers enterprise intelligence at scale by giving organizations secure, governed access to all their data, wherever it lives. Built for distributed data environments, Starburst helps enterprises power AI and analytics without the cost and complexity of traditional data consolidation. With open standards including Trino and Apache Iceberg, Starburst enables trusted access to complete enterprise context while helping organizations avoid vendor lock-in. Leading global enterprises trust Starburst to fuel AI, analytics, and enterprise intelligence. Learn more at starburst.ai.
About the role
As our Senior Application Security Engineer, you'll be the technical owner of application and product security at Starburst — one person with outsized impact, backed by automation and AI rather than a large team. This is deep, hands-on engineering work: you'll build secure-by-default patterns into how our engineers design and ship, embed security controls earlier in the development lifecycle, and create the automation that lets you cover a large engineering organization. You'll get to stand up autonomous red-teaming and threat hunting against our own products, run vulnerability management across both our self-managed enterprise platform and our SaaS, and advance our software supply chain security. Because our biggest customers are global banks, you'll also be in the room with them, explaining how we secure what we ship — the kind of high-trust, high-stakes conversation that makes this work matter.
If you want to make products secure by design rather than chase what's already broken, own a program end to end, and use AI to build defensive tools, this is your opportunity. You'll work closely with Engineering, Product, and the field.
As a Senior Application Security Engineer at Starburst you will:
Own and mature the Application Security program, moving it from established practice to measurable, automated, and scaled across a large engineering organization.
Shift security left into the SDLC, embedding secure-by-default patterns, guardrails, threat modeling, and automated checks into design and development (including for AI-assisted development) so issues are prevented rather than found late.
Build autonomous red-teaming and threat hunting against our own products, using AI and automation to continuously probe for weaknesses instead of relying on point-in-time testing.
Own vulnerability management for everything we ship across our self-managed enterprise platform and SaaS product — container images, third-party dependencies, and first-party code — automating detection, triage, and routing, and advancing remediation through reachability/exploitability analysis and attack-surface reduction.
Own application and supply chain security tooling (SAST, SCA, DAST, container scanning), plus third-party penetration testing and the Vulnerability Disclosure Program.
Be the security voice with customers and leadership, working directly with enterprise customers on posture and assurance, and reporting on product security in executive, customer, and audit conversations.
Some of the things we look for:
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, MIS, or equivalent practical experience.
5-7 years of experience in application security, product security, software engineering with a security focus, or a related technical role.
Deep command of application and product security fundamentals, with the judgment to distinguish real exploitability from scanner noise.
Proven experience embedding security into the SDLC and getting engineering teams to actually adopt it — plus building and scaling processes that raise a program's overall maturity.
Demonstrated experience running vulnerability management for shipped software at scale, with strong knowledge of container/image security and JVM dependency and supply chain risk.
Offensive security experience and a drive to automate it: red-teaming, or threat hunting against your own products.
Threat modeling experience on distributed systems and data platforms, and a strong bias toward automation, including using AI to scale security work.
Experience in enterprise B2B software and working directly with enterprise customers on security, ideally in regulated industries such as financial services.
Experience leading and mentoring engineers.
Starburst is dedicated to maintaining fair and equitable compensation practices. The salary range provided for this role reflects the minimum and maximum targets for candidates across all U.S. locations and could be inclusive of variable compensation, such as commission or bonus. All employees receive equity packages (ISOs) and have access to a comprehensive benefits offering. Actual compensation packages are determined based on relevant skills, experience, education and training, and specific work location. For more information, connect with the recruiting team or Hiring Manager during the process as they can provide more detailed information about the salary range.
Pay Range$175,000—$215,000 USDBuild your career at Starburst
All-Stars have the opportunity and freedom to realize their true potential. By building alongside top talent, we’re empowered to take ownership of our careers and drive meaningful change. Anchored in industry-proven technology and unprecedented success, All-Stars are taking on the challenge everyday to disrupt our industry – and the future.
Our global workforce is supported by a competitive Total Rewards program that reflects our commitment to a rewarding and supportive work environment. This includes a variety of benefits like competitive pay, attractive stock grants, flexible paid time off, and more.
We are committed to fostering an intentional, inclusive, and diverse culture that drives deep engagement, authentic belonging, and an exceptional All-Star experience. We believe that diversity of thought, perspective, background and experience will enable us to own what we do, drive our success and empower our All-Stars to show up authentically.
Starburst provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state
or local laws.

Source: Starburst careers (Greenhouse)