Head of Security Engineering (DevSecOps & CISO)
ABOUT SMARKETS
Smarkets is a prediction market exchange for sports and political trading, having handled over $50 billion in volume since 2010. We're upending sports betting with the fairest prices, the best technology, and a superior customer experience — powered by attracting great people and building a high-performance environment where they thrive. We're looking for an atypical candidate with strong regulated-business experience to support our growing CFTC business.
THE ROLE
This is our inaugural security hire, working alongside Infrastructure to protect the distributed, real-time systems behind our trading engine. You'll lead our information security programme across our core products and our DCM/DCO entities — a founding build, standing up security engineering from the ground up through go-live and maturing it as we scale. Reporting directly to senior leadership and the Board, you'll own security posture updates and ensure our risk management and incident response frameworks exceed regulatory and operational standards.
ABOUT YOU
Security expert with hands-on experience building security engineering/DevSecOps capabilities in a cloud-native, high-growth environment — ideally financial services or exchange infrastructure
Excellent communication skills for executive, board, and regulatory audiences
Familiarity with CFTC system safeguards expectations, including 17 C.F.R. § 38.1051 and § 39.18 or similar regulatory requirements
Strong grasp of application security principles (OWASP Top 10, NIST) and secure SDLC practices
Proficiency with CI/CD tooling (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, Azure DevOps, CircleCI) and security tools (Snyk, Aqua, Trivy, Checkov, Twistlock, Clair)
Hands-on expertise securing AWS/Azure/GCP, Kubernetes, containers, and IaC
Proficiency in Python, Bash, Go, or similar
RESPONSIBILITIES
First dedicated security engineering hire, working from within Infrastructure and Engineering teams to establish and evolve Smarkets' security capabilities
Own regulatory/industry engagement (including CFTC), reflecting external expectations in internal practice
Define a pragmatic, risk-based security strategy across cloud infrastructure, applications, trading systems, and corporate environment
Lead or support the investigation, containment and remediation of security incidents, including post-incident root cause analysis and corrective actions.
Work with Engineering teams to build security into the SDLC — SAST, DAST, SCA, container/IaC scanning in CI/CD — without becoming a delivery bottleneck
Implement controls across AWS, Kubernetes, containers, and IaC, hardening identity, secrets, and network access
Establish security monitoring and detection across applications, APIs, and infrastructure
Develop and maintain security policies, standards, and controls meeting DCM/DCO requirements
Maintain evidence and documentation to support regulatory examinations and audits
Act as a security partner to engineers, building a culture of ownership over security
DESIRABLE
Personal interest in sports, exchanges, or trading
Certifications: DSOP, CKS, CISSP, CCSP, CSSLP, or AWS/Azure/GCP Security Specialty
Track record of security automation at scale in Agile/Scrum
Direct experience with regulators/examiners on technology and system safeguards
Familiarity with event contracts, prediction markets, or similar novel futures products under CFTC
OUR VALUES
Push to win · Make others better · Give a shit · Be a pro · Bring the energy
COMPENSATION & BENEFITS
Competitive salary + stock options (4-year vesting)
Private health insurance
Pension (up to 6%)
£1,000 annual education budget
25 days annual leave + bank holidays (5 days carryover)
Hybrid working, plus 20 remote days/year globally
In-house chef, daily snacks and drinks
Cycle to work scheme
Smarkets is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to equality, inclusion, and a welcoming environment for all.
Skills Required
- Hands-on experience building security engineering/DevSecOps capabilities in a cloud-native, high-growth environment (ideally financial services or exchange infrastructure).
- Excellent communication skills for executive, board, and regulatory audiences.
- Familiarity with CFTC system safeguards expectations, including 17 C.F.R. § 38.1051 and § 39.18 or similar regulatory requirements.
- Strong grasp of application security principles (OWASP Top 10, NIST) and secure SDLC practices.
- Proficiency with CI/CD tooling (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, Azure DevOps, CircleCI) and security tools (Snyk, Aqua, Trivy, Checkov, Twistlock, Clair).
- Hands-on expertise securing AWS/Azure/GCP, Kubernetes, containers, and IaC.
- Proficiency in Python, Bash, Go, or similar scripting/programming languages.
- Ability to lead or support investigation, containment, remediation of security incidents and perform post-incident root cause analysis.
- Maintain evidence and documentation to support regulatory examinations and audits.
- Personal interest in sports, exchanges, or trading.
- Certifications: DSOP, CKS, CISSP, CCSP, CSSLP, or AWS/Azure/GCP Security Specialty.
- Track record of security automation at scale in Agile/Scrum environments.
- Direct experience engaging with regulators/examiners on technology and system safeguards.
- Familiarity with event contracts, prediction markets, or similar novel futures products under CFTC.
What We Do
Smarkets is a peer-to-peer exchange platform for sports and political trading that has handled over $32 billion in traded volume since 2010. Our goal is to upend the sports betting industry by creating a transparent platform that offers not only the fairest prices but also the best technology and customer experience.
Why Work With Us
Be part of a startup within a startup. We're a team of over 150, boasting employees of more than 40 nationalities. We recently signed a Series B investment round and are looking to grow with a focus in expanding our footprint in the US. https://smarketshq.com/an-exciting-new-chapter-cac548782380
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