Senior Security Engineer, Security Champion – Runtimes

Kong Inc.

. Run security-focused code audits, threat modeling, and secure design reviews across AI Gateway and API Gateway capabilities .

Posted 10/14/2026full-timeMilan • ItalySenior💰 €77,180 - €95,340 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates expertise in security-focused code audits, vulnerability management, and secure design reviews, with a strong foundation in object-oriented programming and threat modeling. Capable of coaching teams on secure coding practices while addressing emerging AI security challenges.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Vulnerability ManagementThreat ModelingObject-Oriented ProgrammingCybersecurity KnowledgeAI Security Challenges

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

RustJavaPythonGoThreat ModelingVulnerability ResearchPentestingSecure Coding PracticesL7 SecurityAI Attack Vectors

Soft Skills

CoachingCollaboration

Tools & Technologies

NginxOpenRestyEnvoyHAProxyKong

Industry Keywords

AppSecVulnerability ManagementAPI GatewaySecurity AuditsModel Abuse

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

Cyber SecurityHAProxyJavaLuaNGINXPythonRustGo

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Run security-focused code audits, threat modeling, and secure design reviews across AI Gateway and API Gateway capabilities
Own vulnerability management end-to-end: triage, reproduction, remediation, and verification
Partner with AI Gateway engineering on emerging AI/LLM threat patterns, including prompt injection, data leakage, and model abuse
Coach engineers on secure coding practices and turn security findings into lasting team habits
Contribute hands-on to Gateway feature work with security built in from day one
Secure AI traffic and help address emerging security challenges such as prompt injection, agentic authorization, and MCP

Requirements

What you’ll need

3+ years building production software, with 2+ years in a dedicated security role (AppSec, vulnerability research, or pentesting)
Solid coding skills in an object-oriented language (Rust, Java, Python, Go, or similar)
Practical threat-modeling experience
Working knowledge of cybersecurity, especially L7 security and authentication
Basic knowledge of AI attack vectors
Familiarity with L7 proxies/API gateway architecture (Nginx, OpenResty, Envoy, HAProxy or Kong) (nice-to-have)
Experience with Lua (nice-to-have)
Open-source contributions (nice-to-have)
Willingness to learn Rust (nice-to-have)
Legal authorization to work in the country where the position will be worked

Benefits

Comp & perks

A permanent contract under the CCNL Commercio (Quadro)
Bonus and welfare system
Equity
Health, dental, and vision insurance
Paid holidays and PTO
Professional development opportunities and tools
Hybrid work from the Milan Hub at Talent Garden Isola