Senior Manager, Security Engineering - Purple Team

Instacart

71d • $216,000 - $289,000

About The Position

Instacart is seeking a Senior Manager, Purple Team to evolve and lead our proactive cybersecurity capabilities. In this strategic leadership role, you’ll oversee the integration of offensive (Red Team) and defensive (Detection Team) functions to continuously strengthen Instacart’s threat detection, response, and resilience. You will lead multiple teams of seasoned security professionals, drive the long-term vision for adversary emulation and detection engineering, and ensure that our cybersecurity posture scales with the company’s growth. At Instacart, safeguarding our platform and users is core to our mission. The Purple Team is at the forefront of our cybersecurity efforts, combining offensive (Red Team) and defensive (Blue Team) expertise to identify vulnerabilities, simulate real-world threats, and strengthen our detection and response capabilities. Operating in a dynamic, high-impact environment, the Purple Team collaborates across teams to proactively defend against evolving cyber threats, ensuring the safety and trust of millions of customers, shoppers, and partners every day. Joining this team means driving meaningful change and directly contributing to Instacart’s security-first culture.

Requirements

• 10+ years of progressive experience in cybersecurity with at least 3+ years in a management or leadership role
• Proven hands-on experience in Red Teaming, Detection Engineering, or Purple Teaming in a medium or large-scale organization
• Thorough understanding of attack tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), MITRE ATT&CK framework, and defensive countermeasures
• Proficiency with common security tools and platforms (e.g., SIEMs, EDR, adversary emulation frameworks, breach simulators)
• Advanced knowledge of incident detection and response processes

Nice To Haves

• A degree in Cybersecurity, Computer Science, or a related field (or equivalent experience)
• Relevant industry certifications such as CISSP, OSCP, GIAC, CEH, etc.
• Strong leadership and project management skills, with a track record of delivering measurable results
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to tailor messaging for technical and non-technical audiences

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the detection engineering strategy aligned with organizational security objectives
• Establish detection coverage goals across the MITRE ATT&CK framework and other threat models
• Present metrics, roadmaps, and program updates to senior leadership and stakeholders
• Recruit, hire, and retain top detection engineering talent
• Review and approve detection logic for accuracy, performance, and coverage
• Maintain awareness of emerging threats, attack techniques, and detection methodologies
• Collaborate with Threat Intelligence to translate threat research into actionable detections
• Partner with Incident Response to develop detections based on investigation findings
• Coordinate with IT and Engineering teams on log source onboarding and data quality
• Engage with compliance and risk teams to ensure regulatory detection requirements are met
• Design and execute comprehensive red team operations targeting Instacart's unique attack surface
• Develop annual red team roadmap aligned with business priorities and emerging threats to e-commerce platforms
• Collaborate with leadership to prioritize high-value targets and realistic threat scenarios
• Present findings and strategic recommendations to executive leadership
• Lead complex red team engagements simulating advanced persistent threats and organized cybercrime groups
• Conduct adversary emulation exercises based on threat intelligence relevant to retail, fintech, and logistics sectors
• Test security controls across cloud infrastructure, mobile applications, APIs, and internal networks
• Execute social engineering campaigns against employees, shoppers, and corporate functions
• Develop custom tooling, exploits, and tradecraft specific to Instacart's technology stack

Benefits

• Highly market-competitive compensation
• Remote work flexibility
• New hire equity grant and annual refresh grants

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000 employees