Senior Software Engineer, Cybersecurity

About the role

Helion is a fusion power company based in Everett, WA, dedicated to building the world's first fusion power plant. The company aims to provide clean, reliable, and affordable energy for everyone through its innovative technology. Since its founding in 2013, Helion has raised significant funding from various investors, including prominent names like Sam Altman and Mithril. The company's current prototype, Polaris, has achieved remarkable plasma temperatures, and they are on track to develop the world's first fusion power plant, Orion.

Responsibilities

• Review firmware, software, and infrastructure designs to identify and mitigate security risks before implementation
• Advocate for and implement security best practices across engineering, such as encryption, key rotation, and secure authentication
• Deploy and manage application security tools (e.g., Snyk, Trivy, Docker image scanners) to audit dependencies, supply chain risks, and vulnerabilities
• Own the definition and enforcement of product-level secrets management and credential handling
• Lead initiatives in software and firmware hardening for production systems, ensuring resilience against potential adversarial attacks
• Work with firmware, software, and infrastructure engineers to embed security into CI/CD pipelines and development workflows
• Create and maintain internal guidelines for secure coding practices and data classification
• Contribute to building institutional trust by ensuring our software and firmware meet high standards of security, reliability, and compliance
• Serve as the voice of product security in design reviews, code reviews, and cross-functional engineering efforts

Requirements

• Strong Linux systems knowledge, including security hardening and permissions management
• Proficiency with Git-based workflows and secure software delivery practices
• Solid understanding of modern encryption standards (TLS, AES, RSA, ECC) and key management practices
• Hands-on experience with security engineering tools (SAST/DAST, dependency scanning, Docker/Kubernetes security, supply chain auditing)
• Experience conducting secure code reviews and identifying common vulnerabilities
• Strong programming background in at least two of: C++, Rust, Python, Typescript, or Java
• Familiarity with vulnerability assessment and mitigation strategies across firmware, software, and server environments

Qualifications

• Ability to work collaboratively with multi-disciplinary engineering teams and advocate for security without blocking progress

Skills

• Linux systems knowledge
• Git-based workflows
• Modern encryption standards
• Security engineering tools
• Secure code reviews
• Programming languages (C++, Rust, Python, Typescript, or Java)
• Vulnerability assessment and mitigation strategies

Benefits

• Medical, Dental, and Vision plans for employees and their families
• 31 Days of PTO (21 vacation days and 10 sick days)
• 10 Paid holidays, plus company-wide winter break
• Up to 5% employer 401(k) match
• Short term disability, long term disability, and life insurance
• Paid parental leave and support (up to 16 weeks)
• Annual wellness stipend

Pay

$241K - $255K

Schedule

Onsite role reporting directly to the Lead Electrical Engineer at our Everett, WA office.