Head of Linux Platform Security Engineering

Head of Linux Platform Security Engineering

Job Description

[Up to c. $450k Comp Package | Hybrid Working]

Role Overview

We’re working with a highly sophisticated, technology-led investment firm seeking a senior leader to take ownership of platform security across its global Linux estate. This is a critical hire responsible for defining and advancing how operating system and infrastructure security is engineered at scale within a complex, high-performance environment. Blending hands-on technical depth with leadership responsibility, this role sits at the centre of security, infrastructure, and engineering. You’ll drive meaningful improvements across authentication, system hardening, and workload isolation, while ensuring security controls are both robust and practical for a fast-moving engineering organisation...

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a specialist team focused on securing Linux-based systems and core infrastructure
• Define and execute the roadmap for platform security across operating systems and compute environments
• Identify systemic risks and prioritise initiatives that improve security posture at scale
• Deliver hands-on technical projects across areas such as authentication, workload isolation, and system hardening
• Partner closely with infrastructure and engineering teams to embed security controls into core platforms
• Modernise authentication and trust models (e.g. identity, certificates, service-to-service auth)
• Implement and evolve controls around privileged access, including MFA and secure workflow design
• Drive adoption of advanced isolation and sandboxing techniques for emerging workloads (including AI systems)
• Ensure security improvements are measurable, well-adopted, and aligned with broader engineering practices
• Use data and metrics to guide decision-making and demonstrate impact across the environment

What You’ll Bring…

• 10-15 years’ experience in security engineering or infrastructure security, with deep Linux expertise
• Proven leadership experience managing technical teams while remaining hands-on
• Strong understanding of Linux security internals (e.g. LSM, SELinux, AppArmor, system-level controls)
• Experience designing and implementing modern authentication systems (Kerberos, OIDC, TLS, LDAP or similar)
• Solid grounding in cryptography, certificate management, and secure communication protocols
• Experience delivering complex security initiatives end-to-end within large-scale environments
• Proficiency in scripting and automation (Shell, Python or similar)
• Strong technical judgement, with the ability to balance security, usability, and performance trade-offs
• Data-driven mindset, using metrics to inform decisions and track improvements
• Excellent communication skills, capable of influencing senior technical stakeholders
• (Preferred) Familiarity with modern isolation and security tooling (e.g. eBPF, container/runtime sandboxing, microVMs)

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