Security Engineer 1, Application Security

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 1 for our growing Software Assurance practice. You'll contribute to security assessments of client software, partnering with senior engineers, identifying vulnerabilities across the application and system level. You'll own pieces of client engagements, drive your own vulnerability analysis, and develop tools alongside the team. This role bridges vulnerability research and applied security, where you'll find real issues in real code and help clients understand and fix them.

Your work will be hands-on and autonomous: analyzing complex code, building custom tooling, conducting threat modeling, and owning your findings through to client delivery.

What You’ll Achieve

• Security Assessment Ownership - Lead security assessments for specific components, modules, or systems within larger client engagements. Identify vulnerabilities, trace root causes, and own your analysis from discovery through client delivery.
• Vulnerability Discovery and Analysis - Find and validate real vulnerabilities in application code and systems. Explain exploitation paths, assess impact, and develop proof-of-concept code when needed. You'll do the work, not just assist.
• Custom Security Tooling - Design and build security testing tools and automation for vulnerability detection. Own tool development from concept through deployment on client projects.
• Architecture and Threat Modeling - Conduct threat modeling and architecture reviews of software systems. Identify attack surfaces, data flows, and security boundaries. Propose concrete mitigations.
• Client Communication - Translate technical findings into clear, actionable recommendations for engineering teams. Own client relationships for your component of the work.
• Research and Innovation - Contribute to security research initiatives. Build tools, document findings, and stay on the cutting edge of vulnerability research and application security.

What You’ll Bring

• Demonstrable vulnerability research capability - Proven ability to find and validate real vulnerabilities. This means: CTF wins, published CVEs, bug bounty finds, or security research that shows you can actually discover exploitable issues.
• Strong code analysis skills - You can read complex code, trace execution, identify logic flaws, and explain why something is exploitable. You understand the difference between a tool flagging something and it actually being a vulnerability.
• Hands-on coding proficiency - Fluent in at least two of: Rust, Go, C, C++, Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, or similar. You write code for security analysis and tool development, not just consume it.
• Memory safety understanding - You understand memory corruption vulnerabilities (buffer overflows, use-after-free, etc.) and modern mitigations (ASLR, DEP, CFI). You can reason about exploit primitives.
• Systems knowledge - Deep familiarity with operating systems, IPC, privilege boundaries, and how applications interact with system internals. This isn't theoretical, you've worked with this stuff.
• Autonomous problem-solving - You drive your own work. You own pieces of engagements. You ask good questions, debug issues, and reach conclusions without hand-holding.
• Clear technical communication - You can explain complex security findings to engineers. Your reports get read because they're clear and actionable. You can defend your analysis.

Nice to Have

• Active CTF participation - Current or recent CTF team participation, CTF wins, or rankings. Shows you can solve hard security problems under pressure.
• Published vulnerability research - CVEs, bug bounties, responsible disclosures, or security writeups. Shows you've found real issues and validated them.
• Open source security contributions - Tools, libraries, or research contributions to open source projects. Shows you can ship security work.
• Mobile security experience - Android, iOS, or macOS internals. Binary analysis on mobile platforms.
• Published technical writing - Blog posts, security research writeups, conference talks, or technical documentation.
• Cloud security experience - AWS, GCP, or Azure security assessment and architecture review.
• Kernel or low-level development - Experience with kernel code, drivers, or system-level programming.

About You

• You're 0–2 years into your security career, or you're coming from software engineering with a strong security foundation. You have proven ability to find vulnerabilities and understand how systems break. You're autonomous, you own your work, you drive your own analysis, and you don't need someone looking over your shoulder.
• We're looking for people who've already proven they can do this work: CTF players, people with CVE disclosures, bug bounty hunters, strong engineering grads who've built security tools. You should be capable of owning a piece of a security engagement and driving it to completion.
• Years of experience don't matter. Demonstrated ability matters. Can you find vulnerabilities? Can you understand complex code and systems? Can you own your work? If yes, let's talk.

The base salary for this full-time position ranges from $100,000 to $160,000 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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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.