Staff Software Developer, Security

About the team + role

The Detection and Response Platform team’s mission is to protect the security and privacy of Robinhood and its customers by enabling rapid detection, response, and containment of cybersecurity threats — and to use lessons learned from incidents to continuously strengthen our security capabilities.

As a Staff Software Engineer on this team, you’ll serve as a key technical leader, shaping the architecture and direction of Robinhood’s detection platform. You’ll drive complex, high-impact initiatives across security and engineering, mentor engineers, and influence the roadmap through deep technical insight and cross-functional collaboration. Your contributions will enable scalable, efficient, and resilient detection systems that keep our platform secure and operational at scale. This is an opportunity to lead from the front and make a lasting impact on Robinhood’s security posture!

The role is located in the office location(s) listed on this job description which will align with our in-office working environment. Please connect with your recruiter for more information regarding our in-office philosophy and expectations.

What you’ll do

• Lead the design and development of scalable distributed systems that enable real-time detection and response.
• Operate and evolve high-throughput data pipelines that process telemetry from applications, infrastructure, and endpoints.
• Deploy and manage runtime monitoring tools (e.g., eBPF-based sensors) to provide deep system visibility.
• Translate detection needs into platform capabilities and durable APIs in collaboration with Security Operations and Platform teams.
• Mentor engineers, influence architectural direction, and guide long-term detection platform strategy.

What you bring

• 8+ years of software engineering experience, including 5+ years designing and operating large-scale distributed systems.
• Proficiency in Go or Python, with strong debugging and performance tuning skills.
• Experience with streaming and data processing systems (Kafka, Databricks/Spark, Vector.dev) and storage engines (Falcon Logscale, Splunk).
• Hands-on experience with eBPF, Tetragon, Falco, Sysmon, auditd, or similar runtime monitoring tools.
• Familiarity with security detection and response systems and telemetry workflows.
• Understanding of cloud-native infrastructure (AWS, GCP, Azure), Kubernetes, and Infrastructure as Code (Terraform).
• Demonstrated technical leadership—mentoring engineers, shaping roadmaps, and delivering complex, high-impact projects.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills across Security, Platform, and Infrastructure teams.
• Preferred experience building security platforms (SIEM, SOAR, or custom D&R tooling).
• Preferred familiarity with regulated environments (e.g., SOX, SOC 2, FINRA).
• Contributions to open-source observability or eBPF tooling.

Our team is committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming interview experience for all candidates. If you require a specific accommodation during the application or interview process due to a physical or mental condition, please complete this Applicant Accommodation Form to notify our team. The form should only be completed if you need a specific accommodation.