Team Lead, AppSec

Forward Financing • Boston, MA

36d • $175,000 - $200,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

As Team Lead, AppSec, you'll take the reins of Forward's application and product security program at a pivotal moment, as we scale our use of AI to build software faster than ever. You'll lead a team of senior engineers, modernize how we pentest and remediate vulnerabilities, and make sure security keeps pace with an engineering organization that increasingly builds with, and builds, AI agents.

Requirements

• Typically has 7 or more years in application security, offensive security, or product security, including team leadership.
• Hands-on pentesting and code-review depth across web applications, APIs, and cloud infrastructure (AWS).
• Experience building or scaling a security testing program — scoping, tooling, cadence, and remediation SLAs.
• Understanding of AI/LLM attack surface: prompt injection, insecure agent tool use, and vulnerabilities characteristic of AI-generated code.
• Experience with modern programming languages such as Ruby, Python, or Go, and with secure SDLC practices.
• Ability to communicate risk and priorities crisply to engineers and executives.
• Typically has a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or equivalent technical degree, or equivalent industry experience.

Nice To Haves

• Experience pentesting or red-teaming LLM applications and agentic systems.
• OSCP/OSWE or comparable offensive certifications.
• Experience running bug-bounty or external testing programs.
• Background in fintech or other regulated environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead application and product security across Forward-built, third-party, and AI-built software.
• Evolve the pentest program: aggressively security-test and remediate existing software, then continuously test net-new agents and the software agents create.
• Proactively build and integrate AI solutions within the appsec function.
• Own remediation workflows and vulnerability management with Engineering, including pre-production vs. post-production gap analysis.
• Partner with other teams to build controls to contain external exposure: network allowlists, egress proxy, and proxy-level DLP.
• Support the test-to-production review process so AI-built work is security-reviewed before promotion.
• Grow and develop a team of senior engineers; set quality and coverage standards for offensive testing.
• Build and maintain security services within the Forward application stack.

Benefits

• Flexibility is a top priority: Our employees are empowered to choose where they want to work (whether that’s from home, in the office, or a combination of both) with flexible hours.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior