Staff Engineer (contract)

About the role

Airbnb’s Threat Detection and Response Team (TDR) automates security detection, responds to security incidents, and collaborates with partner teams to build capabilities that support the security incident response lifecycle. This front-line team detects, investigates, and responds to security threats and malicious activity against Airbnb’s data, systems, and infrastructure.

The Security Engineer, Insider Threat Detection will help build a mature, world-class insider threat program. In this key role, you will implement and execute our vision for insider threat detection capabilities while working closely with other team members. As a security engineer, you will have direct impact building capabilities for a new program through influence and technical contributions.

Responsibilities

• Identify gaps in our infrastructure and work with business partners to gain visibility through logging and detection.
• Participate in the on-call rotation to provide 24/7 coverage for threat detection and incident response.
• Use coding, data analytics, and investigation skills to hunt, detect, and respond to insider threats.
• Write detection logic to identify data abuse and data exfiltration at scale.
• Build automation and detection models to support identification of anomalous activity and response activities to mitigate insider threats at scale.
• Proactively hunt for insider threats in corporate and production environments.
• Collaborate with engineering teams to build advanced detection solutions that keep systems and information safe.
• Partner closely with Human Resources and Legal teams to carry out complex investigations.
• Identify and consult on the design of countermeasures to mitigate insider threats.
• Contribute to Security Awareness messaging and training.
• Participate in incident response activities and provide expertise during insider threat incidents.

Requirements

• 5+ years of hands-on, in-depth technical experience in security operations, including detection engineering, threat hunting, incident response, digital forensics, and/or threat intelligence.
• Bachelor’s degree in a related technical field or equivalent practical experience.
• Exposure to data science and analytics solutions applicable to insider threat detection.
• Experience with insider threat technologies (e.g., Data Loss Prevention solutions, UEBA).
• Foundational understanding of the relationship between insider threat and incident response, including effective coordination of responses to insider threat incidents.
• Mid-level knowledge of insider threats within B2C companies, with a focus on security challenges specific to this industry.
• Knowledge of the Cyber Kill Chain Framework and MITRE ATT&CK Framework and their application to the insider threat landscape.
• Experience automating security detection and response.
• Experience with AWS services (EC2, S3, Lambda, RDS) preferred.
• Proficiency with tools such as Python, AWS, and SQL.
• Self-motivated and creative problem-solver able to work independently with minimal guidance.
• Ability to work calmly and collaboratively in high-stress, time-sensitive situations.
• Outstanding organizational, prioritization, and multitasking skills.

Pay

Hourly pay range: $130–148/hr (dependent on location, experience, and expectations).

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• 401K (provided minimum eligibility hours are met).