Staff Cloud Security Engineer
About The Position
Quizlet is hiring a Staff Cloud Security Engineer to set technical direction and deliver security improvements across its cloud infrastructure and public-facing services. The role primarily focuses on Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), workload identity, infrastructure as code, and remediation. It also includes improving edge defenses and translating data-protection requirements into technical controls, automated checks, and evidence that those controls are effective. The engineer will lead security improvements for cloud and Kubernetes environments, operate cloud security tooling, help prioritize and remediate risks, and improve protections against malicious traffic. They will build maintainable security automation, review infrastructure as code, create self-service patterns for securely exposing services and connecting AI tools and Model Context Protocol (MCP) integrations to approved data, and partner with engineering teams on enforceable data-protection controls. The role also includes guiding cross-team decisions, mentoring engineers, and supporting incident response and security on-call responsibilities. This is a hybrid position based in Quizlet’s San Francisco office. Employees are asked to work onsite at least two days a week, Wednesday and Thursday.
Requirements
- Typically 8+ years working with public-cloud infrastructure, including 5+ years in cloud security engineering; equivalent experience demonstrating the required depth and Staff-level impact is welcome.
- Experience securing GCP and GKE environments.
- Deep hands-on experience securing production cloud infrastructure and Kubernetes workloads, including identity and access, networking, Linux, and containers.
- Experience using infrastructure as code, such as Terraform, and programming languages such as Python or Go to build security controls and automation.
- Ability to translate security requirements into practical controls, automated tests, and evidence of effectiveness.
- Record of leading complex technical work across teams, making and explaining sound risk tradeoffs, and communicating clearly and respectfully.
Nice To Haves
- Experience designing and tuning WAF rules, rate limits, or bot defenses, with attention to detection quality and customer impact.
- Experience with Cloudflare and HUMAN/PerimeterX or comparable edge and bot-defense platforms.
- Experience operating Wiz or similar cloud security platforms and improving workload and container-image security.
- Experience securing AI or MCP integrations, or automating controls that support data-protection commitments and assurance frameworks.
Responsibilities
- Lead cloud and Kubernetes security improvements, including workload identity, organization policies, and network protections.
- Partner with Infrastructure and identity colleagues on security design, implementation, and tested rollouts.
- Operate cloud security tooling, prioritize findings by risk, and work with engineers to remediate vulnerabilities and harden container images.
- Improve WAF rules, rate limits, bot defenses, and anomaly detection while reducing disruption for legitimate users.
- Build maintainable security automation and review infrastructure as code so secure configurations are easier to adopt and sustain.
- Create self-service patterns for securely exposing new services and connecting AI tools and MCP integrations to approved data.
- Partner with engineering to implement data-protection requirements through enforceable controls, CI checks, regression tests, and reliable evidence.
- Guide cross-team security decisions, mentor engineers, and support incident response and security on-call responsibilities.
Benefits
- 20 vacation days
- Competitive health, dental, and vision insurance, including 100% employee and 75% dependent PPO, Dental, and VSP Choice coverage
- Employer-sponsored 401(k) plan with company match
- Access to LinkedIn Learning and other professional growth resources
- Paid Family Leave
- FSA and HSA
- Commuter benefits
- Wellness benefits
- 40 hours of annual paid time off for volunteer programs
- Support for creating a healthy work-life balance with a manager and team
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
No Education Listed
