Security Software Engineer

Job Description

We’re seeking a talented software engineer, specializing in security and privacy, to help grow our product security team. We’re looking for people who can move Tailscale forward while making it safer to use. The abilities to think on your feet, collaborate with highly technical teams, and be comfortable working asynchronously are essential.

Key Responsibilities

• Improve the security properties of Tailscale by identifying opportunities for security and privacy features, bug fixes, and defense-in-depth, and implementing them across our codebase.
• Audit Tailscale features for technical security weaknesses, identifying mitigations or solutions, and driving them towards resolution.
• Support engineering decisions with threat modeling and security analysis and expertise.
• You will spend at least 50% of your time in this role writing software vs purely operational or governance security responsibilities.

What We Are Looking For

Technical

• Proficiency developing in at least one programming language (Tailscale uses Go)
• Proficiency developing for at least one application platform (e.g. iOS, Android, web, Windows, macOS, Linux)
• Prior experience in a safety-related technical role, e.g.:
• application security or application platform security
• penetration testing
• threat modeling and prioritization
• user experience design or research
• digital forensics and incident response
• Deep understanding of web application vulnerabilities (e.g., OWASP Top 10), client-side security, and common API security flaws
• Collaborate with engineering teams to promote secure coding practices and provide targeted security guidance and training
• Knowledge of cryptographic primitives and protocols
• Knowledge of common networking protocols

Team Fit

• Ability to give and process constructive feedback
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively
• Flexibility to adjust to the dynamic nature of a startup
• Take a risk-based approach to building security controls, balancing your security expertise and broad technical skillsets with practical, usable solutions