Director, Security Engineering & Operations

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Job Summary

The Director, Security Engineering & Operations directs, manages, and leads Payscale’s

Security Engineering and Eecurity Operations functions. This is a hands-on leadership role:

the Director sets strategy and manages the team while remaining directly engaged in

architecture, tooling, automation, and incident command. Responsibilities span the design

and hardening of security controls, threat detection and incident response, vulnerability

and exposure management, endpoint and identity protection, and security automation

across Payscale’s corporate, cloud, and hosting environments. The Director owns

Payscale’s MDR relationship and is accountable for the maturity, performance, and

roadmap of both functions.

This role reports to the CISO, VP - Cybersecurity & Enterprise Technology.

What You'll Do

Leadership & People Management

• Direct, manage, and lead the security engineering and security operations team

  members; own hiring, onboarding, performance reviews, and career development

  plans aligned to Payscale’s Information Security Career Ladder

• Set strategy and quarterly/annual objectives for both functions and translate them

  into a prioritized, measurable roadmap; hold regular 1:1s and team connects to

  maintain a high-performance, feedback-rich culture

• Mentor engineers and analysts at all career levels, providing task-based directives,

  technical coaching, and growth-oriented feedback

• Own the on-call rotation and after-hours escalation path across both functions,

  ensuring coverage for time-sensitive detection and response

• Serve as a working leader — remaining hands-on in engineering, architecture, and

  incident response rather than leading solely through delegation

  Security Engineering

• Own the design, implementation, and continuous hardening of security controls

  across corporate, cloud, and hosting environments

• Build and maintain security automation and integrations — SOAR, detection-as-

  code, and infrastructure-as-code guardrails — to scale coverage without adding

  headcount

• Engineer and operate the security tooling stack (EDR/XDR, SIEM, identity

  protection, DLP/CASB, vulnerability scanning), ensuring platforms are well-

  integrated and meet architectural standards

• Partner with Engineering and Infrastructure to embed “secure by design” into

  CI/CD, cloud architecture, and product development

• Drive adoption of a zero-trust methodology across identity, endpoint, network, and

  application layers

• Lead security engineering for enterprise AI and agentic tooling adoption, building

  controls and guardrails for safe internal use

  Security Operations & Incident Response

• Drive the threat detection and incident response capability: detection engineering,

  playbook development, tabletop exercises, and continuous improvement of

  MTTA/MTTR metrics

• Lead or oversee incident response events as the designated incident manager for

  significant or multi-team incidents, running incident command end-to-end

• Own the MDR relationship, holding the provider accountable to SLAs, coverage,

  and response outcomes

• Extend detection and response to secure enterprise AI and agentic tooling

  adoption

  Vulnerability & Exposure Management

• Own the vulnerability and exposure management function across all corporate and

  hosting environments, coordinating cross-functionally on mitigation and

  remediation with clear SLAs

• Expand security monitoring, visibility, and coverage using existing platforms and

  open-source tooling

  Program, Metrics & Stakeholder Engagement

• Own the security engineering and operations portion of the Information Security

  program roadmap, delivering operational metrics, risk-posture data, and capacity

  analysis

• Establish and report security KPIs to technology and executive leadership on a

  regular cadence

• Collaborate with the GRC team on ISO 27001 and SOC 2 evidence, control

  effectiveness, and audit readiness as it relates to security engineering and

  operations

• Lead technical evaluations of emerging security vendors and technologies; provide

  buy/build/partner recommendations to technology management

• Represent security engineering and operations in cross-functional product,

  engineering, and infrastructure initiatives, ensuring security requirements are

  incorporated by design

What We're Looking For

• 10+ years in information security, including 4+ years in a lead or management role

  across security engineering and/or security operations functions

• Proven people-management track record: direct reports, performance cycles, and

  team development in a security context

• Expert, hands-on knowledge of both security engineering (controls design,

  automation, tooling integration) and security operations (detection, incident

  response) — capable of acting as architect, engineer, incident handler, lead, and

  manager

• Experience with the CrowdStrike Falcon platform (EDR, Identity Protection, Data

  Protection, AIDR, ZTA, Exposure Management) and SIEM/SOAR orchestration

• Demonstrated experience owning or managing an MDR or MSSP vendor

  relationship

• Strong foundation in cloud security (AWS preferred), endpoint security, identity and

  access management, and zero-trust architecture

• Strong experience in vulnerability and exposure management and

  mitigation/remediation strategies

• Scripting and automation ability in PowerShell, Python, or Bash; comfortable with

  detection-as-code and infrastructure-as-code approaches

• Experience with the MITRE ATT&CK framework and the ability to map operational

  data to TTPs for structured threat analysis

• Experience building operational, engineering, and vulnerability metrics and

  management reporting, and driving improvement through a regular reporting

  cadence

• Experience with zero-trust networks and platforms such as Cloudflare, Zscaler, or

  AppGate

• Experience with Data Loss Prevention and CASB architectures and tooling such as

  Forcepoint, Netskope, or Zscaler

• Familiarity with SOAR and automation platforms such as Tines, n8n, or Ansible

Nice to Have

• Certifications such as CISSP or CISM

• Experience in a remote-first SaaS and/or PE-backed environment

Location

Payscale has an employee centric remote-first model that provides you the flexibility to do your best work in a space that supports you, while also finding time to collaborate in person for the moments that matter.

In our remote-first model, employees can work from the location that works best for them. We do not have centralized corporate offices. Employees can choose to work from home, in company-paid co-working spaces, or any combination of the two that best suits their unique needs.

If you work from home, we recommend ensuring that you can meet the following technology, equipment and workspace requirements:

• High-Speed Internet - A stable broadband or fiber connection (satellite is highly discouraged) with a minimum speed of 100 Mbps in a dedicated workspace that has a reliable Wi-Fi signal.

• Device for Multifactor Authentication (MFA/2FA) - smartphone, tablet, etc.

When it matters (usually no more than a few times a year) we take the time to gather for in-person events.

Payscale has employees across the US, Canada, UK, The Philippines and Romania however we are currently unable to hire in the Quebec Province, Northern Ireland, and Hawaii.

Benefits and Perks

All around awesome culture where together we strive to live our 5 values:

• Data informed decision making.

• Customer first. Always.

• Succeed together.

• Relentless about results. Obsessed with excellence.

• Lead the change. Shape the standard.

An open and inclusive environment where you’ll learn and grow through programs and resources like:

• Monthly company All Hands meetings

• Regular opportunities for executive leadership exposure through things like AMAs

• Access to continued learning & development opportunities

• Our commitment to a continuous feedback culture which allows us to drive performance and career growth

• A growing network of Employee Resource Groups

• Company sponsored volunteer hours

• And more!

Our more standard benefits(US)

• Flexible paid time off, giving you the opportunity to rest, relax and recharge away from work

• 14 Paid Company Holidays, includes 2 floating holidays (you choose!)

• A comprehensive benefits plan including medical, dental, life, vision, disability, and life insurance covered up to 100% by Payscale

• Unlimited infertility coverage benefits through our medical plans

• Additional supplemental health benefits offered to you and your family

• 401(k) retirement program with a fully vested immediate company match

• 16 weeks of paid parental leave for birthing and non-birthing parents

• Health Savings Account (HSA) options and company contributions each pay period

• Flexible Spending Account (FSA) options for pre-tax employee allocations

• Annual remote work stipend to be used on wellness or home office equipment
  Our more standard benefits (Canada)

• Holiday – Annual accrual for full time and part time employees

• Sick Pay – Annual paid time off available

• Company Paid and Statutory Holidays – Generous time off provided

• 16 weeks of paid parental leave (top off) for birthing and non-birthing parents

• Life Insurance - Basic life and AD&D benefit

• Long term disability & Critical Illness – Coverage for certain types of illnesses and surgeries

• Medical/Rx, Dental, Telehealth – Coverage for prescription, paramedical, medical supplies, emergency, basic and accidental dental, and virtual health care services

• Health/Wellness Spending Account – Annual amount provided to you and your family for approved expenses

• RRSP offered to employees with a 1:1 match up to 4%

• BenefitHub – Discount marketplace, full access to all your benefits and provider portals

• Annual remote work stipend to be used on wellness or home office equipment

Equal Opportunity Employer:

We embrace equal employment opportunity. Payscale is committed to a policy of equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees. It is our policy that employees will not be subjected to unlawful discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, or ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran or military status, marital status, sexual orientation, political ideology, and any other basis protected by federal, state, or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including but not limited to: recruitment, hiring, transfers, promotions, training, discipline, termination, compensation and benefits, performance appraisals, education, and social and recreational programs.

We know the confidence gap and imposter syndrome can get in the way of meeting spectacular candidates, so please don’t hesitate to apply — we’d love to hear from you.

If you have a disability or impairment and need assistance with the application process, please email [email protected] for support.

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