MongoDB's Global Security Organization (GSO) is looking for a Principal Engineer. The GSO secures MongoDB's products, infrastructure, and the trust our customers place in us — spanning product security, corporate security, and risk, and working across engineering, go-to-market, and corporate development to keep security moving at the same speed as the business.
The Principal Engineer will serve as a senior technical anchor for the team. This is a deep individual-contributor role that will stay hands-on with hard security and architecture problems, form sharp independent opinions, and know how to debate, align, and commit once GSO has made a call.
Key topic areas will include collaborating with our product teams to ensure identity and permission models meet customer needs for our new autonomous agent platform and working with integration security teams to push the envelope on automated detection, reproduction, and remediation of security vulnerabilities via AI. What we need here is depth, judgment, and the ability to build up the bench of senior technical talent around you.
This role can be based out of our NYC office or remotely in the North America region.
Responsibilities
Maintain real technical depth in security and in MongoDB's product architecture — compute, network, and storage — deep enough to evaluate actual risk rather than apply generic best practice.
Form independent, well-reasoned opinions on security and architecture decisions, and voice them even when they cut against consensus or a leader's default plan.
Push teams to move faster when process or over-engineering is introducing complexity without reducing risk — and push teams to slow down when GTM pressure is outrunning a clear-eyed view of the risk.
Debate hard, then align, then commit: help the org land on the right call, then execute on it.
Seed and grow a working community of senior ICs embedded in security operations, product security, and enterprise security — connecting people, sharing knowledge, and creating the venues (formal or informal) for that to happen.
Lead time-boxed, high-stakes, cross-functional engagements such as M&A security due diligence and partner risk assessments, often with incomplete information and a short runway.
Draw on your own expertise where it applies, and quickly figure out how to close knowledge gaps elsewhere — staying accountable for the outcome either way.
Requirements
12+ years of experience in security engineering, software engineering, or a related discipline, including senior individual-contributor or technical-lead experience.
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Security, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
Deep, credible technical expertise in security, plus working depth across compute, network, and storage architecture.
A track record of forming and defending independent technical positions, along with the judgment to know when to stop debating and commit.
Experience influencing without formal authority, including with management and cross-functional partners, in both directions — accelerating and slowing down decisions.
Comfort owning ambiguous, deadline-driven work such as M&A diligence or partner risk reviews, and being accountable for the result even without the full picture upfront.
A genuine interest in mentoring and connecting other senior engineers, without needing a management title to do it.
Don't feel that you meet all of the requirements? We encourage you to apply anyway — studies show strong candidates sometimes rule themselves out prematurely. MongoDB has a diverse, inclusive, equitable, and high-performing environment, and we want to keep improving our ability to deliver for customers.
Nice to Haves
Direct experience leading M&A security due diligence or partner/vendor risk assessments.
Background spanning multiple layers of the stack (e.g., network and storage, or application and infrastructure security).
A history of building or growing technical communities of practice.
Success in This Role Means
Leadership trusts your technical judgment on the hardest, most ambiguous calls.
Your willingness to disagree — in either direction, faster or slower — makes decisions better, not just louder.
A real community of senior security talent has formed around you in GSO.
About MongoDB
MongoDB is built for change, empowering our customers and our people to innovate at the speed of the market. We have redefined the data platform for the AI era, enabling builders to create, transform, and disrupt industries with software. MongoDB’s unified data platform, the most widely available, globally distributed data platform on the market, helps organizations modernize legacy workloads, embrace innovation, and unleash AI. Our cloud-native platform, MongoDB Atlas, is the only globally distributed, multi-cloud data platform and is available across AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure.
With offices worldwide and over 67,000 customers, including AI-native startups and approximately 75% of the Fortune 100, relying on MongoDB for their most important applications, we’re powering the next era of software.
Our compass at MongoDB is our Leadership Commitment, guiding how and why we make decisions, show up for each other, and win. It’s what makes us MongoDB.
To drive the personal growth and business impact of our employees, we’re committed to developing a supportive and enriching culture for everyone. From employee affinity groups, to fertility assistance and a generous parental leave policy, we value our employees’ wellbeing and want to support them along every step of their professional and personal journeys. Learn more about what it’s like to work at MongoDB, and help us make an impact on the world!
MongoDB is committed to providing any necessary accommodations for individuals with disabilities within our application and interview process. To request an accommodation due to a disability, please inform your recruiter.
MongoDB, Inc. provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type and makes all hiring decisions without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.
Req ID: 3273579822
MongoDB’s base salary range for this role is posted below. Compensation at the time of offer is unique to each candidate and based on a variety of factors such as skill set, experience, qualifications, and work location. Salary is one part of MongoDB’s total compensation and benefits package. Other benefits for eligible employees may include: equity, participation in the employee stock purchase program, flexible paid time off, 20 weeks fully-paid gender-neutral parental leave, fertility and adoption assistance, 401(k) plan, mental health counseling, access to transgender-inclusive health insurance coverage, and health benefits offerings. Please note, the base salary range listed below and the benefits in this paragraph are only applicable to U.S.-based candidates.
MongoDB’s base salary range for this role in the U.S. is: $203,000—$399,000 USD