Sr. Engineering Manager, Application Security

About Betterment

Betterment is a leading technology-driven financial services company offering comprehensive investing, savings, and retirement solutions. Headquartered in NYC, we empower people to build wealth with confidence and ease. Our mission is driven by a passion for innovation and a commitment to our customers.

About the Role

As a Senior Engineering Manager leading the Betterment Security team’s Application Security squad, you will collaborate closely with engineering teams across the company. Your squad will be instrumental in helping developers build secure software by default, shaping how Betterment threat models new systems, reviews designs, manages vulnerabilities, and equips engineers with the necessary tools, libraries, and guardrails. You will work with leadership to develop and execute a mission-aligned roadmap, partner with engineers to reduce risk, and balance proactive security investments with response and remediation, all while mentoring and growing a team of talented engineers. Security is foundational to the trust customers place in Betterment, and this role is crucial in enabling the engineering organization to deliver value securely.

A Day in the Life

• Oversee the development of paved roads, libraries, and guardrails that make it easier for our developers to commit, test, build, deploy, and operate code securely by default.
• Build and maintain the threat modeling, design review, and vulnerability management programs that protect our customers, our employees, and the business.
• Drive the adoption of AI across AppSec operations to achieve scaled security workflows, creating leverage for senior engineers.
• Lead and mentor engineers on Betterment’s senior-leaning AppSec squad.
• Establish strong lines of communication with stakeholders across engineering, product, legal, compliance, and risk to understand and deeply support the needs of teams building products across all business lines and divisions of Betterment.
• Inspire and maintain a strong, equitable engineering culture founded on transparency, inclusivity, mentorship, and collaboration.
• Continuously innovate and seek out ways to meet the near- and long-term strategic security needs of our complex organization.

What We’re Looking For

• Expertise across the application security stack: secure SDLC, threat modeling, secure design review, code review, vulnerability management, and the cloud-native ecosystem (AWS, containers, Kubernetes, CI/CD).
• Experience with hands-on managing, mentoring, and inspiring a team of talented security engineers, including senior engineers. Demonstrated success as a true player-coach is a must.
• Experience establishing or scaling a Security Champions or distributed threat modeling program, with a focus on empowering engineering squads to own security outcomes and integrating these practices into the existing software development lifecycle.
• Experience leading execution of large team initiatives and execution of smaller concurrent projects in partnership with senior engineers.
• Familiarity with AI-assisted security tools and a curiosity for exploring how AI can enhance both security workflows and the security posture of the AI-powered features our engineers are building.
• A real passion for application security and for empowering developers to do the right thing easily.
• Experience collaborating with other engineering teams, product managers, subject matter experts, and non-technical stakeholders such as legal, compliance, and risk.

Core Values

• We change lives: Transform financial outcomes for real people, aligning work with our mission.
• We set audacious goals: Pursue ambitious goals with dedication and celebrate achievements.
• We value all perspectives: Foster a supportive and inclusive community where diverse perspectives lead to better outcomes.
• We simplify financial services: Pioneer improvements and optimizations in financial services.

Our Commitment to Your Total Well-being

• Benefits: Competitive medical, dental, vision, life, AD&D, short/long-term disability, infertility support, transgender health benefits, EAP, transit benefits, FSA/HSA options.
• Ownership: Equity for all employees, including new hire and refresher grants.
• Time: Flexible paid time off, paid parental leave, and a fully paid four-week sabbatical in your sixth year.
• Growth: Company-paid professional coaching for all employees.
• Wealth: Day-one 401(k) match plus matching on qualified student loan payments.

The Hiring Process

• Applications are reviewed over several weeks; selected candidates will be contacted for next steps.
• Interviews will assess skills, experiences, capabilities, and motivators, focusing on how candidates would operate at Betterment.
• May include case study exercises or technical assessments.
• Hiring decisions typically take 3-5 weeks, depending on candidate availability.
• We aim to interview 2-3 final candidates before making a decision.
• Individual feedback is not provided due to the high volume of applications.

Equal Opportunity Employer & Accommodations

Betterment is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion. We provide accommodations for candidates upon request. We prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, ethnicity, sex, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, age, disability, citizenship, veteran status, genetic characteristics, domestic violence victim status, arrest records, or any other protected status under law. Please reach out to your recruiter for accommodation needs.