Staff Engineer, R&D Lead

Sydney, Australia

Full-Time

TLDR

As the founding member of the R&D function, you will tackle 'hard problems', providing technical proofs-of-concept that define future product offerings.

Join Secure Code Warrior to create a safer digital landscape by assisting companies to secure their software through developer-led practices! Secure Code Warrior’s mission is to establish new standards for coding that transform the ways software is created. We do this by providing the world’s leading agile learning platform that delivers the most effective secure coding solution for developers to learn, apply, and retain software security principles. More than 600 enterprises trust Secure Code Warrior to implement agile learning security programs, build safer software, and create a culture of developer-driven security. We are a venture-backed company with offices in Australia, the United States, Belgium, Iceland, and the United Kingdom. Reporting to the VP of Engineering, the R&D Lead is a new, staff-level engineering role dedicated entirely to forward-looking technical discovery, agentic workflow research, and landscape intelligence. This is a maker and researcher role, not an operational or managerial one. As the founding member of our R&D function, you will tackle the "hard problems" on our roadmap, providing the technical proof-of-concepts that will define our future product offerings. You are physically embedded in our APAC team to stay close to the AI Governance and Risk Intelligence domains—the primary consumers of your research output. In this role, you aren't just building features; you are defining the technical bedrock of a new category. Key Responsibilities

Strategic Prototyping (Thread 1)

Structured Discovery: Lead six-week R&D cycles to produce prototypes and recommendations for known hard problems.

Technical Validation: Utilize Go, Java, Node.js, TypeScript, and React to build high-fidelity prototypes that determine if a concept should be discontinued, explored further, or transferred to delivery teams.

Agent & Agentic Workflow R&D (Thread 2)

Agentic Security: Partner with our Content Team to convert security domain expertise into agent-consumable formats like MCP tools, system prompts, or agent configurations.

Governance & Observability: Research and define patterns for governing autonomous agents that write, test, and deploy code, ensuring provenance tracking in multi-agent environments.

Landscape & Workflow Intelligence (Thread 3)

Technical Scanning: Track academic research on AI safety, secure code generation, and emerging IDE paradigms to keep the product roadmap pointed at where the market is heading.

Intelligence Outputs: Publish regular reports, including a monthly Developer Workflow Pulse and a quarterly Landscape Brief covering competitive moves and technology trends.

Strategic Collaboration & External Engagement

Cross-Functional Pairing: Operate with priorities set by product and engineering senior leadership.

Thought Leadership: Represent the company at major conferences (RSA, Black Hat, AI Engineering conferences) and contribute to industry credibility by publishing benchmarks and research.

Who You Are

Staff-Level Maker: You are a seasoned engineer (Staff level) with 8+ years of experience and a track record of solving "blank page" architectural problems.

Polyglot Prototyper: You possess a strong foundation in computer science with the ability to prototype rapidly in our tech stacks.

AI/LLM Specialist: You are highly conversant in agent frameworks, the evolving MCP ecosystem, and the current state of LLM research.

Analytical Researcher: You possess the writing skills to translate complex technical findings into actionable strategic intelligence for leadership and product teams.

Pragmatic Visionary: You are a role model for the Warrior Code and Engineering Culture Code, demonstrating a "safe pair of hands" even when operating in highly experimental, cloud-native (Kubernetes/IaC) environments.

Why Join Us?

Define the Category: You will be the founding member of a function that defines the "AI Software Governance" category, creating the benchmarks the rest of the industry will follow.

Pure Innovation: This is a dedicated maker role. You are shielded from day-to-day operational delivery to focus 100% on discovery and forward-looking R&D.

Strategic Influence: Your prototypes directly inform the product roadmap and content strategy, impacting the core control plane of the company.

Let’s talk about benefits:

* Unlimited Paid-time-off;

* Remote first culture, with offices in Sydney if you wish to work more hybrid;

* Paid Parental Leave;

* Employee Share Option Plan;

* Volunteer Leave and Employee Assistance Programs; and

* Home Office Reimbursement

Secure Code Warrior is an Equal Opportunity Employer, embracing diversity in all its forms. We value every individual's unique background and perspective, as it enriches our culture and fuels innovation. We encourage people of all races, ethnicities, ages, religions, abilities, genders, and sexual orientations to join us and contribute authentically to our shared vision.

Benefits

Home Office Stipend

Home Office Reimbursement

Volunteer Leave & Employee Assistance Programs

Volunteer Leave and Employee Assistance Programs

Paid Parental Leave

Paid Time Off

Unlimited Paid-time-off

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Secure Code Warrior

Secure Code Warrior develops an agile learning platform designed to transform standard coding practices and enhance secure software development. Our solutions empower developers to adopt best practices and foster a culture of security within their teams, ultimately contributing to a safer digital environment.

Founded: Founded 2015
Employees: 51-200 employees
Industry: Internet Software & Services
Total raised: $52M raised

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Staff Engineer

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