AppSec Researcher

Sonar solves the trillion-dollar challenge of bad code. Sonar equips organizations to achieve and sustain a Clean Code state by empowering developers to write consistent, intentional, adaptable, and responsible code. Clean Code produces software that is maintainable, reliable, and secure, allowing development teams to spend less time fixing issues and more time innovating. With Sonar, and by employing the company’s Clean as You Code methodology, organizations minimize risk, reduce technical debt, increase productivity, and derive more value from their software in a predictable and sustainable way.

Sonar’s open-source and commercial products – SonarLint, SonarCloud, and SonarQube – support over 30 programming languages, frameworks, and infrastructure technologies. Trusted by more than 500,000 organizations and used by more than 7 million developers globally to clean more than half a trillion lines of code, Sonar is integral to delivering better software.

The impact you can have

As an AppSec Researcher, you play a central role in realizing our ambition to provide the best SAST solution on the market. Like us, you believe that application security is not the responsibility of a few experts and that developers can have the biggest impact when they get the right information at the right time. As a member of the AppSec team, you decide what security issues the product should detect and how they materialize in various language ecosystems. You work closely with static analysis developers to specify, clarify, communicate, and validate all functional aspects of the security rules. You will be a trusted adviser of developers, able to provide meaningful code samples and specifications. This is a great way to have a direct impact on the product and so on the way millions of developers produce code.

On a daily basis, you will

• Build expertise on various language ecosystems in order to identify the most common vulnerabilities that developers are facing.
• Investigate how these vulnerabilities materialize within the code.
• Define the security rules that will detect these vulnerabilities.
• Interact with our user community to clarify and turn this invaluable feedback into actions/decisions: like too noisy vulnerability detection rules or taint-analyzer reporting vulnerabilities without enough contextual information.
• Drive innovation to make our SAST engine even better.
• Study competitors and provide gap analyses.

The skills you will demonstrate

• Technical skills
• Mastering AppSec basics, including knowing the most common vulnerabilities, how to locate vulnerabilities in the code, and how to exploit basic vulnerabilities. To be successful, you should be interested or involved in the application security ecosystem.
• Having a developer mindset: experience with coding lifecycle, ability to produce secure code, to do code reviews, and to jump into an unknown codebase, language, and framework.
• Master at least one programming language along with its development environment to understand end-users' context and expectations.




Soft skills

• Strong communication skills, i.e. both listening and expressing constructive ideas.
• High level of autonomy and still accepting help and feedback from team members.
• Ability to work and communicate with non-security experts.




Nice to have

• Understanding of static analysis mechanisms.
• Ability to challenge rule implementation.
• Capability to bring a new field of expertise and convert it to additional value to the product.

Words from the team

We are a team of 8 AppSec Researchers with the mission to imagine, define, and maintain security rules used by developers worldwide. We study how developers introduce weaknesses in their applications. We ensure that our security rules are tailor-made for the most widely used environments. We also examine the issues that our products encounter on open-source projects where we chase false positives. We are a team of passionate people who enjoy learning from each other. Every day, we work to provide developers with the best rules and help them own the security of their code.

Why you will love it here

• We value a safe work culture - founded in respect, kindness, and the right to fail.

• We hire great people - we value communication skills as much as technical prowess and we strive to create a work environment that allows for everyone to succeed and feel empowered to do their best work. Our 500+ SonarSourcers from 35 different nationalities can relate!

• Work-life balance - a healthy work-life balance is very important at Sonar.

• Flexible hours - we schedule our days in order to be effective at work, while also being able to enjoy life’s important moments.

• We promote continuous learning - in an ever-changing industry, learning new skills is the key to growth and success! We're happy to support all employees in this journey if desired. 

What we do

As Home of Clean Code, Sonar is the ultimate solution to achieving Clean Code for developers and organizations alike. 

The company was formed to develop the open-source tool SonarQube, which has since become the go-to standard in code quality management. We strive every day to pave the way for developers, tackling the toughest issues head-on and pushing the limits of what’s possible. 

Who we are

At Sonar we believe in people, dedication, and innovation. We’re a team of problem solvers who are passionate and relentless in their respective missions. We want to work with people who are ready and willing to fasten their seat belts and be part of an incredible ride! 

Our Core Values are: Smarter Together, Excellence, Innovation, and Delivery. They reflect our unique culture and we expect them to help shape and positively strengthen our organization. 

If you want to learn more about our culture, check out our blog post.

Join us; we’ll be smarter and stronger together!

Sonar is an equal-opportunity employer and is committed to treating every employee with equal respect and fairness. We maintain a zero-tolerance policy toward any form of discrimination. All candidates will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, age, veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.