Lead Security Engineer - Vulnerability Response

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, which manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Lead Security Engineer – Vulnerability Response (Imunify360) based in Canada.
We are seeking a security engineering leader to build and own an AI-assisted vulnerability response pipeline that protects websites against critical threats before attackers can widely exploit them. In this role, you will combine deep web application security expertise with automation, threat analysis, and practical product thinking to accelerate vulnerability detection, validation, and protection. You will extend existing WordPress security automation to ModSecurity and Coraza Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules, ensuring new defenses are accurate, tested, and production-ready. You will also lead a small team of security analysts and collaborate with automation, QA, and marketing to streamline the journey from vulnerability disclosure to protection and public advisory. Success will be measured by faster time-to-protection, broader coverage of critical vulnerabilities, and consistently low false-positive rates. This is an opportunity to shape an AI-driven security capability in a remote-first environment where technical ownership, rapid response, and customer protection are paramount.
Accountabilities
Own the vulnerability response pipeline:
Design, build, and operate an end-to-end workflow covering vulnerability intake, triage, analysis, AI-assisted rule generation, testing, release, and public disclosure.
Expand automated WAF protection:
Extend the existing AI-assisted vulnerability response pipeline from WordPress plugin protection to ModSecurity and Coraza WAF rules.
Develop and maintain security rules:
Write, review, and refine ModSecurity/SecLang rules to detect and mitigate real-world web application vulnerabilities and attack patterns.
Validate protection before release:
Build automated test harnesses that evaluate rules against known exploits, representative traffic, and legitimate requests to minimize false positives and avoid disrupting customer websites.
Integrate AI into security workflows:
Use AI and large language model (LLM) tools to accelerate vulnerability analysis and rule generation, while implementing validation processes to ensure the accuracy and reliability of generated outputs.
Lead and mentor security analysts:
Manage priorities, review technical work, support professional development, and remove blockers to help the team deliver effective protection quickly.
Measure and improve outcomes:
Define, monitor, and continuously improve key performance indicators, including time-to-protection, critical vulnerability coverage, and false-positive rates.
Automate security advisories:
Integrate public advisory generation into the vulnerability response pipeline and collaborate with marketing to establish appropriate formats, review processes, and publication workflows.
Analyze vulnerabilities and exploits:
Interpret vulnerability disclosures, advisories, and source code changes to understand exploit mechanisms and translate findings into effective defensive rules.
Balance speed and precision:
Make informed decisions under time pressure while ensuring that new security controls protect customers without blocking legitimate traffic.
Drive continuous improvement:
Identify bottlenecks across the response process, improve automation and testing, and ensure the pipeline evolves with emerging threats and customer needs.
Requirements
At least
5 years of experience in web or application security, including vulnerability research, detection engineering, WAF engineering, or a closely related field.
Deep understanding of common web application attack classes, including SQL injection (SQLi), cross-site scripting (XSS), remote code execution (RCE), authentication bypass, path traversal, file upload vulnerabilities, and insecure deserialization.
Strong practical experience writing WAF rules using ModSecurity/SecLang, OWASP Core Rule Set (CRS), or comparable technologies.
Proficiency with regular expressions and the ability to translate observed attack patterns into accurate, effective detection rules.
Ability to read and analyze PHP source code and understand vulnerabilities through security advisories, patches, and code diffs.
Strong Python programming skills, including experience building and maintaining production-grade automation pipelines.
Experience with CI/CD workflows, automated testing, and integrating validation into software delivery processes.
Regular hands‑on use of AI and LLM tools, with sound judgment about their limitations and the ability to independently verify generated analysis and code.
Demonstrated ability to lead a technical project end to end, from defining the objective and designing the solution through implementation, deployment, and performance measurement.
A product-oriented mindset, with the ability to evaluate technical decisions in terms of customer impact, operational risk, and measurable outcomes.
Strong ownership and problem‑solving skills, including the ability to identify process bottlenecks and address underlying causes rather than isolated symptoms.
Clear communication skills, with the ability to explain technical issues, raise risks early, and collaborate effectively with cross‑functional teams.
Ability to remain calm and make sound decisions under pressure, including when responding to critical vulnerabilities and incomplete information.
English proficiency at upper‑intermediate level or higher.
Nice-to-have qualifications
Experience with WordPress ecosystem security, including plugin vulnerabilities and vulnerability intelligence sources such as Wordfence, Patchstack, or WPScan.
Experience with CVE attribution, vulnerability disclosure processes, or bug bounty programs.
Familiarity with Coraza or other Web Application Firewall engines.
Background in exploit analysis, threat intelligence, or security research.
Experience with Linux server administration or the web hosting industry.
Benefits
Fully remote work:
Work remotely from Poland or another permitted location worldwide, with flexible working hours and the freedom to organize your schedule.
Paid vacation:
24 days of paid vacation annually.
Public holidays:
10 days of national holidays.
Sick leave:
Unlimited sick leave.
Healthcare support:
Financial compensation toward private medical insurance.
Coworking reimbursement:
Support for coworking expenses.
Sports and wellness:
Reimbursement for gym memberships or other sports‑related expenses.
Professional development:
Dedicated education budget to support ongoing learning and skill development.
Innovative contributions:
Opportunity to receive a reward for an innovative idea that the company can patent.
Technical challenges:
Work on complex security problems involving AI‑assisted automation, vulnerability research, and real‑world web protection.
Leadership opportunities:
Lead and mentor security analysts while influencing the strategy and performance of a critical security response capability.
Flexible, remote‑first culture:
Join an environment that emphasizes ownership, professional growth, and effective collaboration across distributed teams.
Salary and compensation:
The salary range, bonus structure, and other financial compensation details are not specified in the provided job description and should be confirmed during the hiring process.
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