--- title: 'Security Engineer at Cognition' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/security-engineer-cognition-san-francisco-d3rnwb00mgp5' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-07' --- # Security Engineer at Cognition - **Company:** [Cognition](https://feeny.ai/companies/cognition) - **Location:** San Francisco, CA - **Compensation:** $260k–$300k - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** onsite - **Posted:** 2026-08-06 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-07 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/cognition/71165bb4-9bc8-49df-9eca-49c4232f72ff/application **Skills:** Python, Rust, Go, Kubernetes, AWS, GCP, Azure, Web security, Threat modeling, Incident response > Own security surfaces for AI software agents and developer tools, including sandboxing, threat modeling, and incident response. Build security tooling and controls to ensure safety while enabling rapid development. ## Job description WE ARE AN APPLIED AI LAB BUILDING END-TO-END SOFTWARE AGENTS. We're the makers of Devin, the first AI software engineer. Our team is extremely talent-dense. Among our founding team, we have world-class competitive programmers, former founders, and leaders from companies at the cutting edge of AI including Scale AI, Palantir, Cursor, Waymo, Tesla, Lunchclub, Modal, Google DeepMind, and Nuro. Building Devin is just the first step—our hardest challenges still lie ahead. If you’re excited to solve some of the world’s biggest problems and build AI that can reason on real-world tasks, apply to join us. ## About the Role Security Engineers at Cognition own one of the most interesting security surfaces in the industry. Devin executes arbitrary code on behalf of users across millions of sandboxed sessions. Windsurf operates inside developer environments at scale. Both products handle highly sensitive customer code, credentials, and infrastructure access. You will help define what security looks like for AI-native developer tools and build the controls, systems, and culture that let Cognition ship fast without compromising on safety. This is a role for engineers who want to do hands-on, high-leverage security work at the edge of what is being figured out for the first time. ## What You'll Accomplish - Secure the agent execution surface: Design and harden the sandboxing, isolation, and runtime controls that let Devin safely execute untrusted code and use tools across long-horizon tasks. - Own product and infrastructure security: Lead threat modeling, secure design reviews, and vulnerability management across Devin, Windsurf, and the underlying infrastructure they run on. - Build security tooling that engineers actually use: Create internal systems for secrets management, identity and access, dependency security, and detection that integrate naturally into how the team ships. - Lead incident response and detection: Build the detection pipeline, run incident response, and turn every event into systemic improvements. - Drive customer trust: Partner with go-to-market and legal teams to support compliance and customer trust initiatives. Build the controls that customers expect from a tool deeply embedded in their engineering workflow. Exceptional Candidates Have Demonstrated - Deep security engineering: Hands-on experience across product security, infrastructure security, and detection and response. - Strong software engineering fundamentals: Security at Cognition means writing real code; proficiency in Python, Rust, Go, and comfort owning complex systems codebases. - Cloud security expertise: Practical experience securing Kubernetes, cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure), and multi-tenant compute environments. - Web security expertise: Hands-on experience hardening complex, modern web applications. - Threat modeling and adversarial thinking: You can look at a system and quickly identify how it breaks; you think like an attacker and design like a defender. - Incident response: Calm, methodical, and effective under pressure; experience leading incidents end to end and driving the fixes that follow. - Comfort with novel problem spaces: You are excited rather than intimidated by the security challenges unique to autonomous agents and AI-native developer tools. - Relevant industry experience: Prior experience at a frontier AI lab, applied AI company, or developer tools company. You know what good looks like in this category. - Degree from a top-tier university: BS, MS, or equivalent in Computer Science, Mathematics, Engineering, or a related technical discipline from a highly selective program. ## Compensation & Benefits - Base Salary: $260,000 - $300,000 + significant early-stage equity - Medical, Dental, Vision: Fully paid for you and your dependents - 401(k): Company match included Perks: Private chef, cozy slippers, endless snacks, and more ## EQUAL OPPORTUNITY Cognition is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities throughout the hiring process - please let us know if you need any. ## About Cognition ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Cognition is an applied AI lab that operates Devin, the first autonomous AI software engineer capable of planning, writing, testing, and shipping production code. - **Entity Type**: Private (Series D – latest funding round closed ~June 2026) - **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States (550 Third Street) - **Founded**: 2023 - **Founders**: Not publicly disclosed in available sources; the founding team includes multiple IOI gold medalists and builders from Google DeepMind, Scale AI, Cursor, and Waymo. ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Artificial Intelligence / Software Engineering - **Target customers**: B2B, primarily large enterprises and government institutions (“some of the largest and most complex institutions in the world”) - **Mission**: “To expand human capacity — not by replacing meaningful work but by working alongside people as an exponential collaborator, helping them think deeper and move faster.” ## Products & Services - **[Devin](https://cognition.ai/)**: An autonomous AI software engineer that plans, writes, tests, and ships production code. It integrates with existing codebases and toolchains. Available as a cloud platform and via Devin Desktop. Deployed at major enterprises and government agencies. ## Market Standing - **Valuation**: $1.596B (implied by latest Series D round, ~June 2026) [cbinsights.com](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/cognition-ai) - **Key Metric**: Total funding raised – $1.596B (Series D) [cbinsights.com](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/cognition-ai) *(Note: The company’s own website previously stated “over $400M” raised; CB Insights reports a higher total as of mid-2026.)* - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Founders Fund, Lux Capital, 8VC, Bain Capital Ventures, Avenir, Elad Gil, and 42+ others [cbinsights.com](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/cognition-ai) - **Growth Signals**: - Rapid global expansion with offices in San Francisco, New York, Austin, Washington D.C., London, Singapore, Tokyo, and more. - Launched “Cognition for Government” (Feb 2026) and an “AI Productivity Guarantee” (June 2026). - Named a Highflier in the AI 100 (2024) by CB Insights. - Active hiring across Sales, Customer Engineering, R&D, Marketing, and GTM roles in multiple regions. ## Competitive Advantages - **First-mover in autonomous AI software engineering** – Devin is widely recognized as the first AI agent that can independently complete end-to-end software tasks. - **Elite founding team** – 10 IOI gold medals; alumni from DeepMind, Scale AI, Cursor, Waymo, Nuro, etc. Of the initial 35 team members, 21 had previously founded a company. - **Massive capital backing** – Over $1.5B raised enables aggressive R&D and go-to-market expansion. - **Enterprise traction** – Deployed at “some of the largest and most complex institutions in the world,” including government agencies. ## Strategic Focus - **Deepening autonomous reasoning** – Continuously improving Devin’s ability to handle complex, multi-step engineering tasks (e.g., FrontierCode benchmark). - **Global scale** – Building out sales and deployment teams in APAC, Europe, LATAM, and the Middle East. - **Government & regulated sectors** – Dedicated federal team and FedRAMP-oriented offerings (e.g., “Cognition for Government”). - **Product ecosystem** – Expanding from cloud to desktop and offering productivity guarantees to reduce customer risk. ## Why Work Here - **Culture**: “Talent-dense,” interdisciplinary, low-ego, and urgency-driven. The team works on “the hardest problems in AI” and values shipping real impact. - **Work model**: Hybrid/office-first with major hubs in San Francisco, New York, Austin, London, Singapore, Tokyo, and others. Many roles list specific locations, suggesting in-office presence is expected. - **Benefits**: Comprehensive medical, dental, vision insurance; unlimited PTO; meals in primary offices; wellness stipend; commuter benefits; 401(k); HSA/FSA; fertility and family building support. - **Engineering culture**: Strong emphasis on applied AI, customer proximity (“we work alongside our customers”), and building infrastructure that redefines software engineering. ## Sources 1. [cognition.ai](https://cognition.ai/) – Company homepage and product overview 2. [cognition.ai/careers](https://cognition.ai/careers) – Careers page with benefits and open roles 3. [cognition.ai/about](https://cognition.ai/about) – About page with team background and principles 4. [cbinsights.com](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/cognition-ai) – Funding, valuation, and competitor data ## Other roles at Cognition - [Country Leader - South Korea](https://feeny.ai/job/country-leader-south-korea-cognition-south-korea-aswm754d5273) — South Korea - [Legal Operations](https://feeny.ai/job/legal-operations-cognition-san-francisco-wqy05tza5xf6) — San Francisco, CA - [Head of EMEA Marketing](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-emea-marketing-cognition-london-mwgg79ty56km) — London, United Kingdom - [Facility Security Officer](https://feeny.ai/job/facility-security-officer-cognition-washington-8d3ksmnmns4y) — Washington, DC - [Head of LATAM Marketing](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-latam-marketing-cognition-sao-paolo-56px7yraf2rm) — Sao Paolo, Brazil - [Event Marketer](https://feeny.ai/job/event-marketer-cognition-san-francisco-h9fse9vdqf7y) — San Francisco, CA / Austin, TX / New York, NY - [Talent Operations Coordinator, R&D](https://feeny.ai/job/talent-operations-coordinator-r-d-cognition-san-francisco-f20171kjeahn) — San Francisco, CA - [Founding GTM Recruiter - Japan](https://feeny.ai/job/founding-gtm-recruiter-japan-cognition-tokyo-pm6kdfr9c8nh) — Tokyo, Japan - [Founding Recruiting Operations Coordinator - APJ](https://feeny.ai/job/founding-recruiting-operations-coordinator-apj-cognition-singapore-5chzfr7ygn49) — Singapore - [People Operations Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/people-operations-lead-cognition-san-francisco-9pavqqb3fsh2) — San Francisco, CA