Security Engineer

Biotechnology is rewriting life as we know it, from the medicines we take, to the crops we grow, the materials we wear, and the household goods that we rely on every day. But moving at the new speed of science requires better technology.
Benchling’s mission is to unlock the power of biotechnology. The world’s most innovative biotech companies use Benchling’s R&D Cloud to power the development of breakthrough products and accelerate time to milestone and market.
Come help us bring modern software to modern science.

As a Security Engineer at Benchling, you will be joining a team responsible for supporting the security program and safeguarding some of society's most sensitive data. Our team’s scope spans from building and maintaining internal security tools to managing mission critical security infrastructure which ensures the overall security of our enterprise environment for employees and customers. We're looking for experienced builders who are excited to lead complex projects, mentor teammates, and drive architectural decisions that will shape robust security solutions scaling with Benchling as we continue to grow.

• Leading the architecture and development of security tools and infrastructure to support Benchling's security mission, owning complex projects end-to-end from planning through delivery.

• Collaborate with Product Security Engineers and Software Engineers to identify, design, and implement security features and controls in our AWS cloud infrastructure.

• Lead technical partnerships with Product Security Engineers and Software Engineers to identify, design, and implement security features and controls in our AWS cloud infrastructure, serving as the primary technical point of contact for security engineering initiatives.

• Driving alignment across multiple engineering teams on internal and customer-facing security and privacy initiatives, proactively identifying trade-offs and risks to ensure security data accessibility, quality, and reliability are addressed.

• Support security detection and response efforts by contributing to detections, automation, and investigations.

• Research, evaluate, and advocate for new security tools (both in-house and third-party), estimating their potential impact and ensuring they meet Benchling's security needs.

• Researching new detection mechanisms for attack vectors and techniques relevant to our space and presenting findings to both internal and external audiences. 

• Defining and operationalizing processes for data mining, data modeling, and data production that establish standards across security engineering.

• Guide the development of processes to ensure the quality and reliability of security data.

• Mentor Security Engineers on your team, providing technical guidance, actionable code reviews, and career development support to help them grow their skills and impact.

• Proactively identify and fix long-term, impactful problems within the security program, anticipating challenges before they become critical issues.

• 6+ years of experience in Security Engineering or a related role, with exposure to various security tools and technologies.

• Deep domain expertise in security engineering sufficient to anticipate implications on adjacent fields.

• Strong software engineering skills with ability to design maintainable systems and provide architectural guidance to others.

• Deep expertise in AWS cloud infrastructure and security services, sufficient to architect complex multi-service solutions.

• Familiarity with modern infrastructure technologies such as: Docker, Terraform, CloudFormation, Kinesis.

• Demonstrated ability to own multi-quarter initiatives from planning to completion with minimal guidance.

• Proven mentorship experience, having successfully coached junior engineers to higher performance.

• Proven leadership in cross-functional initiatives, with ability to manage stakeholders and drive consensus, with the ability to work cross-functionally with other teams, including software and infrastructure engineering.

• Strong communication skills, with the ability to influence both technical and non-technical audiences.

• Understands Security trade-offs and prioritizations across the organization, identifies gaps in team priorities based on longer-term product and company goals.

• Exercises user empathy and understands how work impacts internal and external stakeholders.

NICE TO HAVE

• Experience as a technical leader on a security team, either formally or informally

• Track record of defining and operationalizing team processes, standards, or best practices

• Public presence through security conference talks, blog posts, open-source contributions, or industry publications

• Experience with RFC writing and technical design documentation for large initiatives

• Participation in hiring programs including interview process design and sourcing

Benchling takes a market-based approach to pay, and pay may vary depending on your location. The candidate's starting pay will be determined based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications, interview performance, and work location. 

ZONE 1: $208,000 to $281,000

ZONE 2: $193,000 to $262,000

ZONE 3: $187,000 to $253,000

To help you determine which zone applies to your location, please see this resource. If you have questions regarding a specific location's zone designation, please contact a recruiter for additional information.

Total Compensation includes the following:

• Competitive total rewards package

• Broad range of medical, dental, and vision plans for employees and their dependents

• Fertility healthcare and family-forming benefits

• Four months of fully paid parental leave

• 401(k) + Employer Match

• Commuter benefits for in-office employees and a generous home office set up stipend for remote employees

• Mental health benefits, including therapy and coaching, for employees and their dependents

• Monthly Wellness stipend

• Learning and development stipend

• Generous and flexible vacation

• Company-wide Winter holiday shutdown

• Sabbaticals for 5-year and 10-year anniversaries

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Benchling welcomes everyone.

We believe diversity enriches our team so we hire people with a wide range of identities, backgrounds, and experiences.
We are an equal opportunity employer. That means we don’t discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We also consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law, including but not limited to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.