Senior Director, Security Engineering

Proofpoint•Sunnyvale, CA

About The Position

Proofpoint is a global leader in human- and agent-centric cybersecurity. We protect how people, data, and AI agents connect across email, cloud, and collaboration tools. Over 80 of the Fortune 100, 10,000 large enterprises, and millions of smaller organizations trust Proofpoint to stop threats, prevent data loss, and build resilience across their people and AI workflows. Our mission is simple: safeguard the digital world and empower people to work securely and confidently. Join us in our pursuit to defend data and protect people. How We Work: At Proofpoint you’ll be part of a global team that breaks barriers to redefine cybersecurity guided by our BRAVE core values: Bold in how we dream and innovate Responsive to feedback, challenges and opportunities Accountable for results and best in class outcomes Visionary in future focused problem-solving Exceptional in execution and impact The Senior Director of Security Engineering will shape and lead Proofpoint’s enterprise security engineering vision. Reporting directly to the CISO, this role is accountable for advancing the platforms, tooling, and systems that protect our people, products, and data. You will drive the global security engineering strategy—designing and operating resilient, scalable defenses across our infrastructure, applications and data. Collaborating with world-class experts across Proofpoint, you’ll elevate protection through automation, innovation, and engineering excellence. This role leads critical domains including security architecture, the agentic workspace, cloud protection, detection engineering, and automation. You will partner with Product Engineering, IT, Threat Research, and Information Security peers to ensure our controls are effective, adaptive, and aligned with Proofpoint’s mission to protect people and defend data.

Requirements

Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Engineering, or related technical field.
Experience: 10+ years in cybersecurity, infrastructure, or software engineering, including at least 5 years in senior leadership roles.
Proven experience leading large-scale security engineering programs or cloud security operations in SaaS or enterprise environments.
Deep technical knowledge of cloud infrastructure (Azure, AWS, GCP), identity systems, detection platforms, and industry-leading automation frameworks.
Strong understanding of DevSecOps, CI/CD, infrastructure-as-code, and cutting-edge observability systems.
Track record of building resilient systems, leading through change, and influencing across executive teams.
Relevant certifications (e.g., CISSP, CISM, or cloud security certifications) preferred.

Nice To Haves

Experience in the cybersecurity or SaaS sector.
Executive presence with the ability to communicate complex concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
Strategic, data-driven decision-making balanced with a pragmatic understanding of risk and enablement.
Comfort operating in complex and ambiguous environments, providing clarity and direction while driving strategic outcomes.
Passion for building high-performing, diverse technical teams and mentoring future leaders.

Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership Define and implement the long-term vision, strategy, and roadmap for Proofpoint’s security engineering function, aligned with company objectives and emerging threats.
Establish and evolve enterprise security architecture, ensuring secure design across infrastructure, applications, and identity systems.
Drive the design and build of scalable detection, response, and automation platforms that enable continuous visibility and protection across Proofpoint’s environment.
Integrate industry-leading DevSecOps practices, security automation, and zero-trust principles into the broader technology ecosystem.
Develop and maintain best-in-class security controls frameworks that enable innovation while minimizing risk, including initiatives to secure the agentic workspace.
Team Leadership & Development Build, lead, and mentor a global team of security engineers and managers, fostering a culture of technical excellence, innovation, and accountability.
Empower teams to design, implement, and operate high-reliability security solutions at scale.
Drive professional growth, diversity, and inclusion across the security engineering organization.
Cross-Functional Collaboration Partner with product engineering and operations business units to embed security into system design, configuration, and delivery.
Collaborate with Threat Research and Detection Response teams to ensure alignment between detection engineering and incident response capabilities.
Work closely with Compliance and Legal to ensure Proofpoint meets regulatory and industry standards (FedRAMP, SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI, etc.).
Operational Excellence & Risk Management Oversee continuous monitoring, vulnerability management, and security automation to identify and mitigate risks rapidly.
Ensure effective logging, telemetry, and observability of security controls across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.
Define and track performance metrics and KPIs to assess control effectiveness, maturity, and engineering velocity.
Innovation & Emerging Threats Stay current on evolving attack vectors, infrastructure trends, and detection technologies; translate insights into actionable security engineering improvements.
Drive the evaluation and adoption of advanced tools, architectures, and methodologies to continuously enhance Proofpoint’s defensive capabilities.
Evangelism & Leadership Presence Serve as an executive voice of security engineering both internally and externally, representing Proofpoint’s technical leadership to customers, partners, and industry peers.
Promote security awareness and best practices across the company, building alignment on secure-by-design principles.