Senior Director, Engineering – Proactive Offense

Horizon3.ai

. Lead and scale the Proactive Offense engineering organization across offensive capabilities, exploit development, and attack automation teams within NodeZero .

Posted 10/27/2026full-timeRemote • United StatesSenior💰 $315,000 - $370,000 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates expertise in leading and scaling software engineering organizations focused on SaaS and cybersecurity products, with a strong emphasis on offensive security techniques, software architecture, and cross-functional collaboration. Proven ability to translate technical strategy into actionable plans while ensuring product quality and operational excellence.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Leadership In Software Engineering OrganizationsOffensive Security ExpertiseSaaS Product DevelopmentCross-Functional Partnership SkillsTechnical Strategy Development

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Exploit DevelopmentVulnerability ResearchAttack AutomationSoftware ArchitectureDistributed SystemsCloud SoftwareCI/CDContainerizationProgramming In PythonDatabase Design With PostgreSQL

Soft Skills

Analytical SkillsWritten CommunicationVerbal CommunicationStorytelling SkillsInitiative

Tools & Technologies

AWSAzureGCPSaaS PlatformsInfrastructure As CodeObservability ToolsNetwork ProtocolsWindowsLinuxEnterprise Technologies

Certifications & Qualifications

OSCPOSEPOSEDGPEN

Industry Keywords

Cybersecurity StandardsRed Team OperationsB2B SaaSProduct GrowthOrganizational Change

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

AWSAzureCloudCyber SecurityDistributed SystemsGoogle Cloud PlatformLinuxNeo4jPostgresPythonC++Go

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Lead and scale the Proactive Offense engineering organization across offensive capabilities, exploit development, and attack automation teams within NodeZero
Translate the organization’s charter into technical strategy, operating model, and sequenced roadmap
Build leadership structure and hire, coach, and develop managers, technical leaders, and senior individual contributors
Establish goals and operating mechanisms that make progress, quality, capacity, dependencies, and risks visible
Partner with technical leaders on architecture and design and evaluate tradeoffs
Prioritize work across offensive research, vulnerability exploitation, attack content, and automation with Product, Precision Defense, Platform, and customer-facing teams
Shape portfolio roadmaps and translate ambiguous opportunities into focused plans with measurable outcomes
Drive capabilities from proof of concept to reliable, scalable, supportable production features
Balance customer outcomes, technical quality, speed to market, operational needs, and responsible product behavior
Improve planning, decision-making, and delivery practices across multiple teams
Hold the organization accountable for product quality, reliability, and maintainability
Identify risks, align mitigation owners, and communicate material changes to stakeholders
Use customer feedback, product performance, and engineering signals to evaluate results and improve delivery
Guide consequential technical decisions and complex architectural or delivery challenges
Mentor technical leaders in building modular, resilient systems that translate offensive tradecraft into scalable NodeZero capabilities
Collaborate across Engineering, Product, and go-to-market teams
Foster collaboration, creativity, learning, and engineering excellence

Requirements

What you’ll need

Significant experience leading and scaling software engineering organizations delivering SaaS or cybersecurity products
Experience leading through managers and senior technical leaders
Track record of setting engineering strategy and delivering across multiple teams or product areas in a fast-moving environment
Strong technical judgment in software architecture and offensive security domains such as exploit development, vulnerability research, attack automation, or red teaming
Success taking complex technical capabilities from concept through production launch and continued operation at scale
Experience with distributed systems, cloud software, automation, and large-scale SaaS platforms
Product-oriented judgment balancing technical excellence, customer impact, speed to market, and operational considerations
Experience hiring, coaching, and developing high-performing teams and leaders
Strong cross-functional partnership skills with Product, Engineering, and go-to-market teams
Excellent analytical, written, verbal, and storytelling skills
High degree of initiative, ownership, and accountability
Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
Deep familiarity with offensive security techniques, including vulnerability research, exploit development, attack automation, or red-team operations
Proficiency in at least one modern programming language such as Python, Go, C++, or C#
Strong understanding of platform design, system architecture, automation pipelines, CI/CD, containerization, infrastructure as code, and observability
Experience with AWS, Azure, or GCP and production SaaS or security platforms
Familiarity with network protocols, Windows, Linux, and common enterprise technologies
Working knowledge of PostgreSQL, Neo4j, or similar databases and data-flow design
Awareness of cybersecurity industry standards and trends
Offensive security certifications such as OSCP, OSEP, OSED, or GPEN are bonus qualifications
Experience mentoring teams on offensive tradecraft or developing proprietary offensive tooling is a bonus qualification
Experience scaling an engineering organization through significant hiring, organizational change, or product growth is a bonus qualification
Experience building B2B SaaS or security products in a startup or growth-stage company is a bonus qualification

Benefits

Comp & perks

Equity package in the form of stock options for all full-time roles
Health, vision, and dental insurance for you and your family
Flexible vacation policy
Generous parental leave
Career development opportunities
Inclusive culture
Collaborative environment encouraging creativity and out-of-the-box thinking
Remote and hybrid work models depending on role and location
Up to 10% travel may be required