If you join Plangrid as a Security Engineer, your day-to-day work will directly impact the security posture of our entire product ecosystem. You will work closely with product engineering, site reliability engineering (SRE), and product management to build secure software.

Your primary responsibilities will include:

• Building Security Tooling – Designing, developing, and maintaining internal security tools and automated guardrails that help developers find and fix vulnerabilities early in the software development lifecycle.
• Securing Cloud Infrastructure – Monitoring, auditing, and hardening our cloud environments, ensuring that our networks, databases, and compute resources are configured securely.
• Collaborative Threat Modeling – Partnering with product teams during the design phase of new features to identify security risks and guide them on secure implementation patterns.
• Incident Response Support – Participating in the security incident response rotation, investigating potential security alerts, and engineering long-term technical solutions to prevent recurrence.
• Advocating for Security Culture – Educating developers on secure coding practices and serving as a trusted advisor across the engineering organization.

We look for engineers who possess a strong technical foundation in security coupled with a software engineering mindset. The ideal candidate wants to build systems, not just point out problems.

Technical Skills

• Must-have skills – Strong scripting skills in Python, Go, or Bash; deep knowledge of cloud security concepts (specifically AWS); experience securing CI/CD pipelines; familiarity with container security (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Nice-to-have skills – Experience with infrastructure as code security tools (e.g., Checkov, tfsec); familiarity with web application security standards (OWASP Top 10); experience securing mobile applications (iOS/Android).

Experience & Soft Skills

• Prior Experience – Typically 3+ years of experience in security engineering, DevSecOps, or software engineering with a strong focus on security.
• Communication – Ability to translate complex security vulnerabilities into actionable development tickets that product engineers can easily understand.
• Pragmatism – A focus on risk-based security rather than dogmatic compliance. You understand that security must support, not block, business objectives.

Q: How difficult are the technical interviews at Plangrid? A: Candidates generally rate the difficulty as average to difficult. The questions are highly practical and focused on actual engineering challenges rather than theoretical trivia. If you have solid hands-on experience with cloud environments and write code regularly, you will be well-prepared.

Q: What coding language should I use for the scripting test? A: You can generally use any modern scripting language you are comfortable with, but Python and Go are highly recommended since they are the primary languages used within our engineering teams.

Q: How is the work-life balance and team culture? A: The engineering culture is highly collaborative, informal, and supportive. Teams value autonomy and continuous learning, and security is viewed as an enabling partner rather than a roadblock.

Q: Does Plangrid support remote work for this position? A: We support hybrid and remote working models depending on the location and specific team alignment. Be sure to discuss your location preferences with your recruiter during the initial call.

To maximize your chances of success during the Plangrid interview process, keep these actionable tips in mind:

• Think like an automation engineer: Whenever you are asked how to solve a security problem, your default answer should involve automation. Avoid solutions that rely on manual checks, spreadsheets, or human memory. Explain how you would write a script, build a pipeline check, or deploy an auto-remediation policy.
• Focus on developer enablement: Our interviewers want to see that you can partner effectively with development teams. Emphasize how you make security easy for developers—for example, by providing secure-by-default libraries, writing clear documentation, or building tooling that gives feedback directly in pull requests.

• Brush up on infrastructure as code: Be prepared to discuss how to secure cloud environments using code. Understand the fundamentals of managing cloud resources programmatically and how to detect drift or misconfigurations before deployment.
• Be ready to talk about your past impact: When discussing past achievements, do not just explain what you did—explain why you did it and what the business outcome was. Use concrete metrics wherever possible (e.g., "reduced vulnerability remediation time by 40%" or "automated 95% of our compliance checks").

The Security Engineer position at Plangrid is an exceptional opportunity for a security professional who wants to work at the intersection of cloud infrastructure, software engineering, and automation. In this role, your work will directly protect the data of millions of users and influence the security posture of a rapidly growing, cloud-native platform.

As you prepare for your interviews, remember to focus on the core pillars of our evaluation: practical cloud security concepts, hands-on scripting, and collaborative threat modeling. Approach your conversations with our engineering teams as peer-to-peer technical discussions—ask questions, share your reasoning, and highlight your passion for building secure systems.

The compensation data shown above highlights the competitive salary ranges and total compensation packages offered for this position. When interpreting these numbers, keep in mind that final offers are determined based on your technical performance during the interviews, your depth of experience, and your target location.

For more detailed interview insights, community feedback, and preparation resources, you can explore additional guides on Dataford to help you feel fully prepared for your upcoming conversations. Good luck—we look forward to seeing how you can help us build a more secure future at Plangrid!