
Staff Security Engineer
Seattle, WAJob$207–300K/yrSeen 3w agoSeen in employer's feed 6 days ago
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Job overview
Google’s Security team works to protect users and developers, and this role focuses on securing and hardening Kubernetes and Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE). The Staff Security Engineer will lead GKE Platform Security efforts, assess infrastructure risks, review Kubernetes security, and collaborate with engineering and security teams on threat mitigation and detection. The role requires extensive security engineering, coding, and Kubernetes experience.
Skills & qualifications
Skills
Qualifications
Benefits
Full job description
Staff Security Engineer
Share Staff Security Engineer
corporate_fare Google place Seattle, WA, USA
Advanced
Experience owning outcomes and decision making, solving ambiguous problems and influencing stakeholders; deep expertise in domain.
Share Staff Security Engineer
info_outline
XIn accordance with Washington state law, we are highlighting our comprehensive benefits package, which is available to all eligible US based employees. Benefits for this role include:
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Health, dental, vision, life, disability insurance
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Retirement Benefits: 401(k) with company match
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Paid Time Off: 20 days of vacation per year, accruing at a rate of 6.15 hours per pay period for the first five years of employment
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Sick Time: 40 hours/year (increased to 69 hours/year for Seattle) including 5 discretionary sick days per instance
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Maternity Leave (Short-Term Disability + Baby Bonding): 28-30 weeks
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Baby Bonding Leave: 18 weeks
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Holidays: 13 paid days per year
In most instances, this position requires in-person interviews as part of the hiring process.
Minimum qualifications:
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Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience.
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8 years of experience with security assessments or security design reviews or threat modeling.
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8 years of experience with security engineering, computer and network security and security protocols.
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8 years of coding experience in one or more general purpose languages.
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2 years of experience working with Kubernetes.
Preferred qualifications:
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Experience in Cloud systems.
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Contributed to open source software.
About the job
Our Security team works to create and maintain the safest operating environment for Google's users and developers. Security Engineers work with network equipment and actively monitor our systems for attacks and intrusions. In this role, you will also work with software engineers to proactively identify and fix security flaws and vulnerabilities.
Our missions it to make GKE the most secure managed Kubernetes platform and is ready to run all container workloads safely out of the box.
GKE, Google Kubernetes Engine, is a different kind of project in Cloud. Its core component—Kubernetes—which is also created and maintained by the team, is open source and has a vibrant community of external contributors. In this role, you will focus on security for components of our systems, such as client devices, networking equipment and server infrastructure, addressing threats from all sources. You will be working on securing and hardening the Kubernetes and GKE service using a risk based approach and strategically driving the team to achieve overall security.
Individual pay is determined by factors including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.
US: $207000 - $300000 (USD) + 20% bonus target + equity + benefits
Learn more aboutbenefits at Google (https://www.google.com/about/careers/applications/benefits/) .
Responsibilities
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Lead and scale the GKE Platform Security team to proactively address emerging infrastructure risks in the rapidly shifting agentic era.
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Conduct deep-dive Kubernetes security reviews, research/reproduce vulnerabilities, and build threat models for next-generation features like the "Kubernetes for Agents" substrate.
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Establish secure operational practices and deliver concrete security guidance to engineering teams to mitigate top product threats.
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Conduct rigorous, ongoing design reviews to identify security gaps and collaborate across Google Security to build a comprehensive, long-term threat detection strategy.
Information collected and processed as part of your Google Careers profile, and any job applications you choose to submit is subject to Google'sApplicant and Candidate Privacy Policy (./privacy-policy) .
Google is proud to be an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. We are committed to building a workforce that is representative of the users we serve, creating a culture of belonging, and providing an equal employment opportunity regardless of race, creed, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or related condition (including breastfeeding), expecting or parents-to-be, criminal histories consistent with legal requirements, or any other basis protected by law. See alsoGoogle's EEO Policy (https://www.google.com/about/careers/applications/eeo/) ,Know your rights: workplace discrimination is illegal (https://careers.google.com/jobs/dist/legal/EEOC\_KnowYourRights\_10\_20.pdf) ,Belonging at Google (https://about.google/belonging/) , andHow we hire (https://careers.google.com/how-we-hire/) .
If you have a need that requires accommodation, please let us know by completing ourAccommodations for Applicants form (https://goo.gl/forms/aBt6Pu71i1kzpLHe2) .
Google is a global company and, in order to facilitate efficient collaboration and communication globally, English proficiency is a requirement for all roles unless stated otherwise in the job posting.
To all recruitment agencies: Google does not accept agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to our jobs alias, Google employees, or any other organization location. Google is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.
Equity is granted exclusively and discretionarily by Alphabet Inc. on the basis of an agreement concluded between you and Alphabet Inc. Alphabet Inc. is your sole contractual partner with respect to equity grants. GSU grants are not guaranteed, are discretionary, are subject to approval by the Alphabet Inc. board of directors or its delegate, the terms of the relevant Alphabet Inc. stock plan, and your grant agreement. They have no impact on statutory payments. Current or past grants do not confer an acquired right.
Google is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. See also https://careers.google.com/eeo/ and https://careers.google.com/jobs/dist/legal/OFCCP_EEO_Post.pdf If you have a need that requires accommodation, please let us know by completing our Accommodations for Applicants form: https://goo.gl/forms/aBt6Pu71i1kzpLHe2.
How this job compares
Set against the 1,033 open Security Engineering jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 4, 2026.
- Pay
- This posting$207–300K/yr
- Washington median$175–255K/yr82 salary ranges
- US median$167–258K/yr873 salary ranges
This range's midpoint, $254K, is 21% above the Washington median midpoint ($209K) — in the top quarter of Security Engineering salary ranges in Washington.
- Openings
- Olive Jobs lists 88 open Security Engineering jobs in Washington and 1,033 across the US. 9% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
- Hiring the most in Washington
- Amazon13 open
- Microsoft Corporation13 open
- Databricks6 open
- Experience
- This posting asks for at least 8 years of experience; Security Engineering postings that state a minimum ask for 8 years at the median (851 postings).
- Education
- 182 of the 1,033 open Security Engineering jobs (18%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.
Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 4, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.
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