Security Engineer, Application Security - Trail of Bits

Who We Are

Founded in 2012 by 3 expert hackers with no investment capital, Trail of Bits is the premier place for security experts to boldly advance security and address technology’s newest and most challenging risks. It has helped secure some of the world's most targeted organizations and devices. Our combination of novel research with practical solutions reduces the security risks that our clients face from emerging technologies. Our work helps drive the security industry and the public understanding of the technology underlying our world.

Cybersecurity preparedness is a moving target. Companies like ours are the tip of the spear in the fight against attackers. Our research-based and custom-engineering approach ensures that our client’s capabilities are at the forefront of what’s available. For companies and technologies that live and die by their security, a proactive, tailored approach is required to keep one step ahead of attackers.

Democratizing security information is essential. As part of our business, we provide ongoing informational support through blogs, whitepapers, newsletters, meetups, and open-source tools. The more the community understands security, the more they’ll understand why a company like ours is so unique and valuable.

Role

Trail of Bits seeks a Security Engineer, Application Security within our growing Software Assurance practice. You will conduct comprehensive security assessments of client software with a focus on low-level code analysis, examining system architecture, security boundaries, access controls, and platform security mechanisms.

On any given day, you might analyze vulnerabilities in application code, automate the detection of security misconfigurations in cloud environments, assess privilege escalation capabilities, or review security boundaries in complex systems. Working alongside other security engineers, you'll contribute to client projects while building impactful tools. In short, your work will land at the intersection of Vulnerability Research and Application Security.

In addition to working with leading technology companies in the private sector, you will have opportunities to collaborate with our Research & Engineering team to help secure funding from government agencies for advanced security research that bridges vulnerability research and application security, advancing the state of the art both within our team and industry at large.

Please note that only applications completed via our Careers page will be considered for further review.

What You’ll Achieve

• Security Assessment: Conduct comprehensive low-level code security assessments across applications, examining vulnerabilities in system services, access control implementation, inter-process communication, and platform security controls while developing mitigation strategies.
• Security Tool Development: Design and implement custom security tools for automated vulnerability detection, focusing on both application-specific and general security testing needs to bridge the gap between vulnerability research and application security.
• Architecture Review: Perform detailed architecture reviews and threat modeling of complex software systems and cloud environments, identifying potential security weaknesses in areas such as data flows, authentication mechanisms, and API security while providing remediation guidance.
• Client Engagement: Work directly with industry-leading teams to review their application infrastructure and architecture, helping secure their environments through deep technical analysis and recommendations.
• Research & Innovation: Contribute to the advancement of application security, developing new methodologies and tools while staying up to date with the latest security developments in both traditional and emerging technology ecosystems.

What You’ll Bring

• Application security assessment experience. Direct experience conducting low-level code security assessments of complex software, identifying and mitigating application and system-level vulnerabilities. You read the code, not just the scanner output.
• Manual code review depth. Hands-on experience performing manual code reviews to find vulnerabilities that automated tools miss. You can explain why a bug is exploitable, not just that a tool flagged it.
• Static and dynamic analysis fluency. Experience using static and dynamic analysis tools as part of a deeper review process, including knowledge of where these tools fall short and how to extend them.
• Binary analysis and reverse engineering. Experience performing binary analysis and reverse engineering of compiled software. Comfortable with disassemblers, decompilers, and the surrounding tooling.
• Memory corruption vulnerabilities and mitigations. Demonstrated experience identifying memory corruption vulnerabilities and reasoning about modern mitigations. You understand the exploit primitives, not just the CWE category.
• System internals and security boundaries. Deep experience reasoning about system internals, IPC, access control implementations, and platform security boundaries in complex software.
• Architecture review and threat modeling. Experience performing architecture reviews and threat modeling of software systems and cloud environments, identifying weaknesses in data flows, authentication, and API design and proposing realistic remediation.
• Security tool development. Experience designing and building custom security tools for automated vulnerability detection. You bridge vulnerability research and application security by shipping tools, not just consuming vendor outputs.
• Programming proficiency across multiple languages. Hands-on experience programming in two or more of Rust, Golang, Kotlin, Swift, Objective-C, JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Ruby, C, or C++, used for both security analysis and tool development.
• Communicating findings to technical stakeholders. Experience translating complex security findings into clear, actionable recommendations for engineering and security teams. Reports here get read by people who can push back.

Nice to Have

• Experience with Android, iOS, or macOS system internals
• Experience contributing to open source security tools, libraries, or research
• Experience publishing original vulnerability research, CVEs, or technical writeups
• Experience speaking at security conferences (DEF CON, Black Hat, BSides, OffensiveCon, RECon, etc.)
• Experience identifying security misconfigurations in cloud environments (AWS, GCP, Azure)
• Experience collaborating on government-funded security research (DARPA, IARPA, ONR, etc.)

The base salary for this full-time position ranges from $100,000 to $200,000 excluding benefits and potential bonuses. Various factors influence our salary ranges, including the specific role, level of seniority, geographic location, and the nature of the employment contract. An individual's specific work location, unique skills, experience, and relevant educational background will determine the final offer within this range. The presented salary range encompasses the starting salaries for all U.S. locations. For a precise salary estimate tailored to your preferred location, please discuss it with your recruiter during the hiring process.

Trail of Bits, Inc. participates in E-Verify, the US federal electronic employment eligibility verification program. Learn more.

Only applications completed via our Careers page will be considered for further review.

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Benefits, Perks & Wellness

Trail of Bits is our people, not a place. With over 100+ employees working from every time zone across the globe, our remote-first culture is built on autonomy and trust (and backed by smile-worthy benefits) for full-time employees:

Empowered Living:

• Competitive salary complemented by performance-based bonuses.
• Fully company-paid insurance packages, including health, dental, vision, disability, and life.
• A solid 401(k) plan with a 5% match of your base salary.
• 20 days of paid vacation with flexibility for more, adhering to jurisdictional regulations.

Nurturing New Beginnings:

• 4 months of parental leave to cherish the arrival of new family members.
• Our team is global and remote-first. However, if you are interested in moving to NYC, we offer $10,000 in relocation assistance to support your transition.

Work & Life Enrichment:

• $1,000 Working-from-Home stipend to create a comfortable and productive home office.
• Annual $750 Learning & Development stipend for continuous personal and professional growth.
• Company-sponsored all-team celebrations, including travel and accommodation, to foster community and recognize achievements.

Community Impact:

• Philanthropic contribution matching up to $2,000 annually.