Staff Software Engineer, Pentest Experience

Horizon3.ai

. Own the technical direction for Assessment Experience backend systems from concept through long-term evolution .

Posted 11/4/2026full-timeRemote • United StatesLead💰 $230,000 - $270,000 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

Use this summary to align your resume positioning with the role.

Demonstrates expertise in backend system architecture, scalable service design, and technical leadership, with a strong focus on Python, Go, Rust, and SQL. Proven ability to mentor engineers, communicate complex concepts, and drive cross-team collaboration in a production environment.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Backend Service DevelopmentPython, Go, Rust, TypeScriptSQL and Relational Database ManagementAWS, GCP, or Azure ExperienceAPI Design and Asynchronous Systems

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Backend Service DevelopmentPythonGoRustTypeScriptSQLAPI DesignData ModelingObservability PracticesDebugging Production Issues

Soft Skills

Technical LeadershipMentoringCross-Team CollaborationCommunication

Tools & Technologies

AWSGCPAzureDockerDatadogPrometheusGrafana

Industry Keywords

Vulnerability ManagementSecurity SaaSPentest ProductsExposure ManagementAI-Driven Approaches

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

AWSAzureDockerETLGoogle Cloud PlatformGrafanaGraphQLNeo4jPrometheusPythonRustSQLTypeScriptGo

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Own the technical direction for Assessment Experience backend systems from concept through long-term evolution
Design and build scalable backend services, APIs, and asynchronous or event-driven workflows for configuring assessments and consuming results
Lead architectural decisions balancing velocity, reliability, data correctness, maintainability, extensibility, and operability
Translate ambiguous product and customer goals into technical strategy, architecture, and execution plans
Partner across teams owning attack content, integrations, and asset matching to define interfaces and remove systemic blockers
Write production code and establish standards for design, code quality, testing, observability, and safe feature-flagged rollouts
Identify risks, dependencies, and tradeoffs; sequence work across concurrent initiatives; evaluate emerging technologies including AI-driven approaches
Raise technical standards through design reviews, code reviews, architecture proposals, and technical writing
Mentor P3 and P4 engineers through feedback, coaching, and technical frameworks
Communicate complex technical concepts to technical and non-technical stakeholders
Support hiring by attracting, interviewing, and calibrating engineering talent
Use customer feedback and production signals to improve how customers identify risk and act on NodeZero results
Write production code and provide hands-on technical leadership for Horizon3's NodeZero autonomous penetration-testing platform

Requirements

What you’ll need

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
8+ years of professional software engineering experience, including sustained ownership of production backend systems
Experience building backend services in Python, Go, Rust, or TypeScript
Strong SQL skills and production experience with at least one relational database, including complex joins, CTEs, window functions, and deliberate schema design
Experience building backend services on AWS, GCP, or Azure
Familiarity with Docker and containerized applications
Experience designing and operating APIs, services, and asynchronous or event-driven systems
Experience with data modeling and persistence layers for product-grade backend systems
Operational maturity in observability, testing, and reliability practices
Record of debugging difficult, customer-visible production problems
Technical design documents, architectural proposals, or engineering standards adopted by other teams
Record of leading cross-team technical work and mentoring engineers
Willingness to travel up to 10%
Legally authorized to work in the United States
Preferred: GraphQL, Neo4j, ETL and streaming data pipelines, Datadog, Prometheus, Grafana, feature flags, staged rollouts, and AI-assisted or conversational product experiences
Experience in vulnerability management, exposure management, security SaaS, pentest products, or security findings workflows is advantageous

Benefits

Comp & perks

Equity package in the form of stock options for all full-time roles
Health, vision & dental insurance for you and your family
Flexible vacation policy
Generous parental leave
Career development opportunities
Inclusive and collaborative work culture
Fully remote work model
Team project kickoffs and annual company gatherings