Staff Security Engineer, Defensive Cyber Engineering

Secure Every Identity, from AI to Human

Identity is the key to unlocking the potential of AI. Okta secures AI by building the trusted, neutral infrastructure that enables organizations to safely embrace this new era. This work requires a relentless drive to solve complex challenges with real-world stakes. We are looking for builders and owners who operate with speed and urgency and execute with excellence.

This is an opportunity to do career-defining work. We're all in on this mission. If you are too, let's talk.

Join Okta’s Defensive Cyber Engineering team as a Staff Engineer responsible for safeguarding Okta’s environments. You’ll work closely with the Security, Business Technology Engineering and Product teams to implement and manage security solutions and ensure that core infrastructure applications are protecting our workforce, endpoints, and corporate data. 

A strong desire to make tools and people work together to solve complex security problems is central to this role. This approach mandates an engineering-first approach: maximizing the utility of existing security tools before strategically building or buying new solutions to address any remaining security gaps. 

To execute this vision, you will combine your enterprise security expertise with your hands-on engineering skills, leveraging automation, policy-as-code, and cloud-native technologies to deliver scalable, resilient, and secure solutions. Your work will ultimately set standards for security best practices across the organization and influence the architecture of business-critical systems.

What you bring:

• Hands on experience with enterprise security tools such as Okta, Crowdstrike and Palo Alto suite covering EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response), CASB (Cloud Access Security Broker), DLP (Data Loss Prevention), MDM (Mobile Device Management), SASE (Secure Access Service Edge), and SSPM (SaaS Secure Posture Management) capabilities.
• Strong coding and scripting skills are required for building automation and custom tooling. Python experience is preferred, but proficiency in other languages (e.g., Bash, PowerShell, Go) is a plus.
• Proven track record automating security controls and workflows using a cloud-first approach
• Experience with Terraform and other infrastructure-as-code tools to orchestrate security infrastructure
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines for security automation and drift management
• Strong communication skills across technical staff, support teams, executive leadership, and external vendors.

What you’ll be doing

• Serve as a security subject matter expert (SME) for solution engineering, architecture reviews, security assessment, and vulnerability mitigation
• Lead technical efforts evaluating, designing, and implementing new enterprise security systems and feature enhancements
• Build, maintain, and enhance custom automation and cloud infrastructure using Terraform or similar tools to support team workflows and the enforcement of security controls
• Develop integrations with APIs, cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure), and security infrastructure to improve detection, response, and remediation
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to tackle global technology and security challenges
• Write and maintain scripts and automation to streamline security operations, with an emphasis on Python-based solutions
• Establish monitoring and alerting for security posture, misconfigurations, and threats across endpoints, SaaS, and cloud workloads
• Proactively identify and remediate security gaps; stay updated on emerging threats, solutions, and tooling across the industry

And extra credit if you have experience in any of the following!

• Working with advanced identity management technologies (MFA, SAML, OAuth, OIDC, WebAuthn)
• Deep understanding of Okta's ecosystem, including advanced configuration and integrations
• Experience with continuous compliance solutions (e.g., policy-as-code, automated evidence gathering)

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The annual base salary range for this position for candidates located in the San Francisco Bay area is between: : $180,000 USD - $247,500 USD

Below is the annual base salary range for candidates located in California (excluding San Francisco Bay Area), Colorado, Illinois, New York and Washington. Your actual base salary will depend on factors such as your skills, qualifications, experience, and work location. In addition, Okta offers equity (where applicable), bonus, and benefits, including health, dental and vision insurance, 401(k), flexible spending account, and paid leave (including PTO and parental leave) in accordance with our applicable plans and policies. To learn more about our Total Rewards program please visit: https://rewards.okta.com/us.   

The annual base salary range for this position for candidates located in California (excluding San Francisco Bay Area), Colorado, Illinois, New York, and Washington is between:: $161,000 USD - $221,100 USD

The Okta Experience

• Supporting Your Well-Being 
• Driving Social Impact 
• Developing Talent and Fostering Connection Community

We are intentional about connection. Our global community, spanning over 20 offices worldwide, is united by a drive to innovate. Your journey begins with an immersive, in-person onboarding experience designed to accelerate your impact and connect you to our mission and team from day one.

Okta is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, marital status, age, physical or mental disability, or status as a protected veteran. We also consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and convictions records, consistent with applicable laws.

If reasonable accommodation is needed to complete any part of the job application, interview process, or onboarding please use this Form to request an accommodation.

Notice for New York City Applicants & Employees: Okta may use Automated Employment Decision Tools (AEDT), as defined by New York City Local Law 144, that use artificial intelligence, machine learning, or other automated processes to assist in our recruitment and hiring process. In accordance with NYC Local Law 144, if you are an applicant or employee residing in New York City, please click here to view our full NYC AEDT Notice.

Okta is committed to complying with applicable data privacy and security laws and regulations. For more information, please see our Personnel and Job Candidate Privacy Notice at https://www.okta.com/legal/personnel-policy/.