Head of Linux Platform Security Engineering
Job Description
[Up to c. $750k Comp Package | Hybrid Working]
Role Overview
We’re working with a highly sophisticated, technology-led investment firm seeking a senior Linux security leader to take ownership of platform security across a large-scale global infrastructure estate. This is a deeply technical leadership role with an exceptionally high bar for Linux systems knowledge, security engineering judgement, and hands-on delivery.
This is not a detached management position. The role is expected to be roughly 70% hands-on technical leadership and 30% people management, overseeing a small specialist team across New York and India while remaining deeply involved in architecture, implementation, and complex platform security decisions. The successful candidate will be close to the work: designing controls, reviewing trade-offs, driving delivery, and earning credibility with highly technical engineering teams...
Key Responsibilities
- Lead a small specialist team focused on Linux platform security, infrastructure hardening, and systems-level security engineering
- Define and execute the technical roadmap for securing Linux-based operating systems, compute platforms, and core infrastructure
- Remain hands-on in complex engineering work across authentication, system hardening, workload isolation, and privileged access controls
- Identify systemic weaknesses across the Linux estate and prioritise projects that materially reduce risk at scale
- Partner closely with infrastructure and engineering teams to embed practical security controls into foundational platforms
- Modernise authentication and trust models across areas such as Kerberos, OIDC, TLS, LDAP, certificates, and service-to-service security
- Design and improve secure workflows for privileged access, MFA, admin activity, and sensitive operational processes
- Drive adoption of sandboxing, isolation, and containment approaches for emerging workloads, including AI-adjacent systems
- Ensure platform security improvements are measurable, well-adopted, and compatible with performance and usability requirements
- Use data, telemetry, and operational evidence to guide prioritisation and demonstrate security impact
What You’ll Bring…
- 10-15 years’ experience in security engineering, infrastructure security, systems engineering, or related technical roles, with exceptional Linux depth
- Proven ability to lead technical security teams while remaining deeply hands-on
- Expert-level understanding of Linux security internals, including LSM, SELinux, AppArmor, permissions, process isolation, and system-level controls
- Strong experience designing or improving authentication systems such as Kerberos, OIDC, TLS, LDAP, or comparable trust mechanisms
- Solid grounding in cryptography, certificate management, secure protocols, and identity-backed infrastructure security
- Track record delivering complex security engineering initiatives end-to-end across large-scale technical environments
- Strong scripting and automation skills using Shell, Python, or similar languages
- Ability to operate credibly with highly technical engineers and make sound architecture decisions under ambiguity
- Strong judgement around security, performance, developer experience, and operational practicality
- Data-informed approach to prioritisation, measurement, and continuous improvement
- Clear communication skills, with the ability to influence senior engineers and technical leadership without relying on hierarchy
- (Preferred) Familiarity with advanced Linux security and isolation tooling such as eBPF, sandboxing frameworks, container/runtime isolation, or microVM-based approaches
...
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