Head of Engineering & Security
Role Summary
The Head of Engineering & Security will lead the development, reliability, and security of Sphere's technology platform as we scale our products, expand our infrastructure, and continue serving our expanding customer base and partners.
Key Responsibilities
Engineering Leadership & Strategy
- Audit Sphere’s cybersecurity protocols and develop a roadmap to ensure best-in-class security as Sphere’s suite of platforms grows.
- Define and execute Sphere's engineering roadmap aligned with company strategy and product priorities.
- Work with external consultants and internal teams to develop new products.
- Establish engineering processes, development standards, and technical best practices that enable rapid, reliable delivery.
- Monitor platform reliability, uptime, and operational metrics, continuously improving system performance.
- Serve as a trusted technical advisor to the executive team on engineering investments, technology risks, and scaling strategy.
- Manage engineering budgets, vendor relationships, and key technology partners.
- Drive architectural decisions that prioritize scalability, maintainability, and long-term platform resilience.
- Lead, mentor, and grow a high-performing engineering organization while fostering a culture of ownership, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Product Development
- Oversee the development, testing, deployment, and maintenance of Sphere’s platform and internal systems that support product delivery and ensure an effective cohesion with the design.
- Partner closely with the product, design, and operations teams to deliver delightful, customer-centric experiences with speed and quality.
- Improve developer productivity through modern tooling and automation practices.
Security, Infrastructure & Compliance
- Own Sphere's information security strategy and security roadmap.
- Build, own, and continuously improve programs for security incident management, vulnerability management, penetration testing, network security, authentication and authorization, system access control, data privacy and governance, encryption and certificate management, and threat detection.
- Promote a culture of security across the organization, ensuring all individuals understand and follow security policies and appreciate why they matter.
- Partner with legal & the rest of the team to establish a comprehensive security and compliance program, ensuring appropriate processes, regulatory requirements, documentation, and staffing are in place with no single points of failure.
- Embed secure software development practices throughout the engineering lifecycle.
Qualifications
Experience
- 10+ years of software engineering experience with a focus in back-end development, including 5+ years leading engineering teams.
- Strong preference for experience working in cybersecurity for financial services firms.
- Experience building and scaling modern SaaS or fintech platforms in cloud-native environments.
- Strong familiarity with best in class tools and platforms such as AWS, React, React Native, Storybook (or similar), Node/Python, API and event architecture, Object-Relational Mapping like Redis (or similar).
- Demonstrated experience the following:
- Multi platform apps across Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and browser-based apps.
- Claude Code and/or other AI development tools and how it has reshaped and improved your process. This includes skills, plugins, MCPs, and agents that you have created or use frequently.
- Best practices in component based app development with a strong cohesion to the brand system and consistent code component library.
- Security systems such as SOC 2, CIS Benchmarks, DDos mitigation, and other best practices.
- Successfully hiring, mentoring, and leading high-performing engineering organizations.
- Implementing security programs, cloud infrastructure, and engineering operational excellence working within regulated or security-sensitive environments.
Skills & Attributes
- Mission-aligned and excited to build technology that accelerates climate-positive investing.
- Strong technical leader capable of balancing strategic thinking with hands-on execution.
- Deep understanding of modern software architecture, cloud infrastructure, APIs, and distributed systems.
- Strong knowledge of application security, cloud security, identity management, and secure software development practices.
- Excellent cross-functional communicator who builds trust across engineering, product, design, operations, and leadership.
- Comfortable operating in a fast-moving, collaborative startup environment with a bias toward action and ownership.
Education & Licenses
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience).
- Advanced degree or relevant security certifications are a plus.
- Experience in finance or fintech is a plus.
Compensation & Benefits
Compensation is designed to reward technical leadership and long-term ownership with a salary range of $185,000-$200,000 + equity ownership in Sphere, a high-growth VC-backed company. Sphere offers a benefits package that includes healthcare, vision and dental benefits, as well as a 401(k). Additionally, Sphere offers unlimited PTO and a remote-first, inclusive work environment.
Equal Employment Opportunity
At Sphere, we are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and teammates without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, and any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Our team believes that diversity, equity and inclusion are critical to the success of any team or company.
To Apply
Please send your resume and a brief cover letter explaining why you might be a great fit for Sphere and this role to careers@oursphere.org. Applications without this information will not be considered. Please make sure the subject line states: "Head of Engineering & Security Application: [Your Name]".