Senior Detection Engineer Jobs in Texas (NOW HIRING)

Braze is a modern, cloud-first SaaS company running entirely on cloud-native infrastructure - large-scale, distributed systems spanning AWS, GCP, and self-managed Kubernetes, backed by self-managed data stores such as MongoDB. We're looking for a Senior Cloud Security Engineer II to join our Security Engineering function as a senior individual contributor and technical leader for cloud security.

This is a step up from our Senior Cloud Security Engineer role. Where a Senior engineer executes and improves our cloud security controls, a Senior Cloud Security Engineer II sets the technical direction: you define the standards and reference patterns other engineers build on, lead cross-team security initiatives end to end, take on the ambiguous problems that don't yet have a playbook (and write the playbook), and raise the bar for the whole team through mentorship and review. You'll go especially deep across three areas - secure architecture and threat modeling, detection engineering and incident response, and Kubernetes and platform security - and you'll shape how Braze does cloud security across Engineering. This is a pure IC role; you lead through technical depth and influence rather than direct people management.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

Set the technical direction (leadership & standards):

• Define the cloud security standards, guardrails, and reference architectures that Infrastructure, SRE, and Product Engineering build on - turning point-in-time fixes into durable, org-wide patterns
• Set your own objectives and roadmap for high-impact cloud security work, in partnership with Security Engineering leadership, and drive it to measurable outcomes
• Lead cross-functional security initiatives end to end - scope, timeline, stakeholders, and delivery - guiding technical debates to a decision and owning the result
• Mentor and uplevel other security and platform engineers through pairing, design review, and feedback; act as a force multiplier and the go-to technical resource for cloud security
• Represent cloud security in architecture and design forums, translating complex attack paths and risk into clear, actionable guidance engineers will actually adopt

Secure architecture & threat modeling:

• Own threat modeling as a discipline for new cloud technologies, services, and patterns adopted across Engineering - making it a repeatable, scalable practice rather than a one-off exercise
• Partner with Infrastructure, SRE, and Product Engineering to design secure-by-default cloud architectures and build practical, scalable controls across AWS, GCP, and self-managed systems
• Drive control-plane and IAM security strategy across AWS and GCP, including relationships with external identity providers, RBAC models, and least privilege at scale
• Continually assess posture, surface systemic and emerging risk, and set the priorities that reduce it

Detection engineering, incident response & automation:

• Advance our detection strategy: design high-signal detections and SIEM rules (with our SIEM Management function) and own detection coverage for cloud threats end to end
• Serve as a senior incident responder and cloud-forensics lead for cloud and run-time security investigations across AWS and GCP - and codify what you learn into standard IR playbooks and preventative controls
• Own and optimize security tooling such as CrowdStrike (EDR/CSPM/IR), Tenable, and native cloud security services, and lead our vulnerability management workflow - scanning, triage, prioritization, and remediation - for cloud assets

Kubernetes & platform security:

• Own the security of our self-managed Kubernetes environments - control plane, nodes, workload isolation, admission control, run-time security, and the CI/CD supply chain feeding them
• Set the standards for Infrastructure-as-Code and pipeline security (Terraform preferred): design and harden IaC and CI/CD automation so security is built into how we ship
• Establish best practices for patch management, base-image hardening, and version management across containerized and VM-based environments
• Lead the security of large-scale, distributed systems and self-managed data stores (e.g., MongoDB), accounting for their real-world operational and security implications

WHO YOU ARE

You are a senior individual contributor who leads through technical depth and influence rather than authority. You can take an ambiguous, open-ended cloud security problem, define the objective yourself, and deliver a solution that becomes the way Braze does it going forward. You translate complex cloud attack paths, IAM misconfigurations, and multi-step threat scenarios into guidance engineers adopt, and you balance strong controls with operational reality. You raise the people around you - through mentorship, review, and the standards you set - and you stay current with the cloud security landscape, tools, and threats. Above all, you can walk someone through the messy middle - what you tried, what broke, and what you'd do differently.

THE FEW HARD PREREQUISITES:

These are the genuinely pass/fail requirements:

• Several years owning cloud security in production - on-call for it, not adjacent to it
• Hands-on, not theoretical: AWS as primary cloud, working GCP, self-managed Kubernetes
• You read and write code (Python, TF)

For candidates based in the United States, the pay range for this position at the start of employment is expected to be between $149,000 and $235,000/year with an expected On Target Earnings (OTE) between $166,000 and $261,000/year (including bonus or commission). Your exact offer may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. In addition to cash compensation, this role qualifies for a comprehensive Total Rewards package that includes equity grants of restricted stock (RSUs) so that you will own a piece of our company.