Principal Security Engineer
MongoDB is hiring a Principal Security Engineer for a remote role open to applicants in United States. It pays $162k-$439k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on Level.
Level's read on this job
- On Level's scale, this cybersecurity role is Works on AI ●●●○: the daily work is on AI products, without building the model.
- Pay on this posting starts in line with the typical cybersecurity posting on Level.
- This is listed as a remote role.
- The posting mentions Runway, security engineering and product security among its tools and skills.
- MongoDB has 400 other open roles on Level.
AI in this role
Drive security architecture and automated vulnerability remediation for autonomous agent platforms and MongoDB products.
MongoDB's Global Security Organization (GSO) is looking for a Principal Security Engineer. The GSO secures MongoDB's products, infrastructure, and the trust our customers place in us — spanning product security, corporate security, and risk, and working across engineering, go-to-market, and corporate development to keep security moving at the same speed as the business.
The Principal Security Engineer will serve as a senior technical anchor for the team. This is a deep individual-contributor role that will stay hands-on with hard security and architecture problems, form sharp independent opinions, and know how to debate, align, and commit once GSO has made a call.
Key topic areas will include collaborating with our product teams to ensure identity and permission models meet customer needs for our new autonomous agent platform and working with integration security teams to push the envelope on automated detection, reproduction, and remediation of security vulnerabilities via AI. What we need here is depth, judgment, and the ability to build up the bench of senior technical talent around you.
This role can be based out of our NYC or Seattle office or remotely in the North America region.
Responsibilities
- Maintain real technical depth in security and in MongoDB's product architecture — compute, network, and storage — deep enough to evaluate actual risk rather than apply generic best practice
- Form independent, well-reasoned opinions on security and architecture decisions, and voice them even when they cut against consensus or a leader's default plan
- Push teams to move faster when process or over-engineering is introducing complexity without reducing risk — and push teams to slow down when GTM pressure is outrunning a clear-eyed view of the risk
- Debate hard, then align, then commit: help the org land on the right call, then execute on it
- Seed and grow a working community of senior ICs embedded in security operations, product security, and enterprise security — connecting people, sharing knowledge, and creating the venues (formal or informal) for that to happen
- Lead time-boxed, high-stakes, cross-functional engagements such as M&A security due diligence and partner risk assessments, often with incomplete information and a short runway
- Draw on your own expertise where it applies, and quickly figure out how to close knowledge gaps elsewhere — staying accountable for the outcome either way
Requirements
- 12+ years of experience in security engineering, software engineering, or a related discipline, including senior individual-contributor or technical-lead experience
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Security, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
- Deep, credible technical expertise in security, plus working depth across compute, network, and storage architecture
- A track record of forming and defending independent technical positions, along with the judgment to know when to stop debating and commit
- Experience influencing without formal authority, including with management and cross-functional partners, in both directions — accelerating and slowing down decisions
- Comfort owning ambiguous, deadline-driven work such as M&A diligence or partner risk reviews, and being accountable for the result even without the full picture upfront
- A genuine interest in mentoring and connecting other senior engineers, without needing a management title to do it
Don't feel that you meet all of the requirements? We encourage you to apply anyway — studies show strong candidates sometimes rule themselves out prematurely. MongoDB has a diverse, inclusive, equitable, and high-performing environment, and we want to keep improving our ability to deliver for customers.
Nice to Haves
- Direct experience leading M&A security due diligence or partner/vendor risk assessments
- Background spanning multiple layers of the stack (e.g., network and storage, or application and infrastructure security)
- A history of building or growing technical communities of practice
Success in This Role Means
- Leadership trusts your technical judgment on the hardest, most ambiguous calls
- Your willingness to disagree — in either direction, faster or slower — makes decisions better, not just louder
- A real community of senior security talent has formed around you in GSO
About MongoDB
MongoDB is built for change, empowering our customers and our people to innovate at the speed of the market. We have redefined the data platform for the AI era, enabling builders to create, transform, and disrupt industries with software. MongoDB’s unified data platform, the most widely available, globally distributed data platform on the market, helps organizations modernize legacy workloads, embrace innovation, and unleash AI. Our cloud-native platform, MongoDB Atlas, is the only globally distributed, multi-cloud data platform and is available across AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure.
With offices worldwide and over 67,000 customers, including AI-native startups and approximately 75% of the Fortune 100, relying on MongoDB for their most important applications, we’re powering the next era of software.
Our compass at MongoDB is our Leadership Commitment, guiding how and why we make decisions, show up for each other, and win. It’s what makes us MongoDB.
To drive the personal growth and business impact of our employees, we’re committed to developing a supportive and enriching culture for everyone. From employee affinity groups, to fertility assistance and a generous parental leave policy, we value our employees’ wellbeing and want to support them along every step of their professional and personal journeys. Learn more about what it’s like to work at MongoDB, and help us make an impact on the world!
MongoDB is committed to providing any necessary accommodations for individuals with disabilities within our application and interview process. To request an accommodation due to a disability, please inform your recruiter.
MongoDB, Inc. provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type and makes all hiring decisions without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.
Req ID: 3273579822
MongoDB’s base salary range for this role is posted below. Compensation at the time of offer is unique to each candidate and based on a variety of factors such as skill set, experience, qualifications, and work location. Salary is one part of MongoDB’s total compensation and benefits package. Other benefits for eligible employees may include: equity, participation in the employee stock purchase program, flexible paid time off, 20 weeks fully-paid gender-neutral parental leave, fertility and adoption assistance, 401(k) plan, mental health counseling, access to transgender-inclusive health insurance coverage, and health benefits offerings. Please note, the base salary range listed below and the benefits in this paragraph are only applicable to U.S.-based candidates.
MongoDB’s base salary range for this role in the U.S. is:$162,000—$439,000 USDHow we rate this
Principal Security Engineer at MongoDB rates 60 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Works on AI (AI Level 3 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.
Works on AI. The daily work is on AI products, without building the model.
- ●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
- ●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
- ●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
- ●○○○ Little AI0 to 39
Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Open the description and count.
Prepare for this job
Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.
Skills and AI tools this role asks for
Also common in cybersecurity jobs at this level
Pay
- This job starts at
- $162k
- Typical cybersecurity job
- $159k
This posting starts close to the typical cybersecurity job. See cybersecurity jobs
Questions you could be asked
- Tell me about a project where security engineering was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where product security was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where architecture was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where vulnerability remediation was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where autonomous agents was part of your work. What did you do?
Adapt your resume
- List these exact terms on your resume: Security Engineering, Product Security, Architecture, Vulnerability Remediation, and Autonomous Agents. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
- Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.
- Show where AI is part of your daily process, not a one-off project. This role expects it to be a running habit.
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