Principal Application Security Engineer

About Upstart

Upstart is the leading AI lending marketplace partnering with banks and credit unions to expand access to affordable credit. By leveraging Upstart's AI marketplace, Upstart-powered banks and credit unions can have higher approval rates and lower loss rates across races, ages, and genders, while simultaneously delivering the exceptional digital-first lending experience their customers demand. More than 80% of borrowers are approved instantly, with zero documentation to upload.

Upstart is a digital-first company, which means that most Upstarters live and work anywhere in the United States. However, we also have offices in San Mateo, California;
Columbus, Ohio;
Austin, Texas; and New York City, NY (opening Summer 2026).

Most Upstarters join us because they connect with our mission of enabling access to effortless credit based on true risk. If you are energized by the impact you can make at Upstart, we’d love to hear from you!

We’re looking for a Senior Application Security Engineer to join our growing Information Security team. Your primary function will be to work with Upstart’s engineering and product management teams to ensure that our product platform is secure, safe and reliable.

You’ll have the latitude to touch every aspect of our security strategies, with the opportunity to specialize as the team grows. As one of the key resources on the Security team, you will have significant influence over the design of Upstart's Security program.

This role is available in the following locations:
San Mateo, Columbus, Austin, Remote (#LI-REMOTE)

This team operates on the East/West Coast time zones.

This team has regular on-site collaboration sessions. These occur 5 days per Quarter at one of our office locations or some other off‑site location determined by your team/manager. If you need to travel to make these meetups, Upstart will cover all travel related expenses.

• Work closely with our engineering and data science teams to securely design and implement new products and features, including the development and maintenance of threat models for high-risk functionality.
• Set up a regular vulnerability scanning tools and manage remediation of identified issues.
• Support teams with vulnerability remediation efforts, including the design of remediation strategies.
• Assess the threat model for cloud native infrastructures and applications.
• Identify and design company-wide security controls and solutions.
• Operate as an integral member of the engineering team and advocate for security best practices across the organization.
• Help identify Upstart’s internal and external attack surface in a dynamic environment.

• 3+ years of experience in an application security or security engineering-focused role.
• An IT/CS degree or equivalent knowledge.
• Experience in Java, Python, or Ruby development.
• Knowledge of industry standard authentication and authorization protocols (TLS, SAML, etc.).
• Previous usage or knowledge of SAST/DAST and vulnerability scanners.
• Understanding of Full Stack Development, SDLC, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Understanding of network stack and common protocols.
• A self-starter who is comfortable getting hands‑on and engaging in all areas of product security, from ideation to deployment.
• Ability to collaborate cross-functionally and communicate effectively with highly technical teams.

• 7+ years of experience in a high-security environment.
• MS degree or equivalent knowledge.
• Certification in IT or cybersecurity (e.g. OSCP, OSCE, OSWE).
• Experience conducting product/application level security audits, penetration tests, and security focused code reviews.
• AWS, K8s and CI/CD pipeline experience.
• Contributions to the security industry (e.g. white paper, security advisories, OSS projects, patents).

• Competitive Compensation (base + bonus & equity).
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with Health Savings Account contributions from Upstart.
• Generous 401(k) plan with Upstart matching $2 for every $1 contributed, up to $15,000 per year.
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP).
• Life…