--- title: 'Staff/Lead Application Security Engineer at Beacon Software' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/staff-lead-application-security-engineer-beacon-software-san-francisco-jd9rfp7nzg21' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-10' --- # Staff/Lead Application Security Engineer at Beacon Software - **Company:** Beacon Software - **Location:** San Francisco, CA - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** onsite - **Posted:** 2026-08-18 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-10 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/beaconsoftware/2cd0e31a-fc69-455e-b089-98f80078e36f ## Job description ## The role You will be Beacon's first dedicated application security engineer. You will set the strategy for product security and start to build the program. Beacon's application security surface spans both Beacon's own engineering and our portfolio companies' products, each independently built with its own stack and engineering team. You will embed with the teams that own the code, whether at Beacon HQ or within a portfolio company, working inside their design reviews and planning, and own the technical roadmap for product security as Beacon grows. What Application Security owns This is the full remit of Application Security at Beacon. It is more than one person can cover at once. As the first member of the team, you will stand up the essentials, prioritize the highest-leverage work first, and build the rest into a roadmap. - Secure design and architecture: lead threat modeling and security architecture review for new product work and platform initiatives, and define standards for authentication, authorization, encryption, and tenant isolation. - Acquisition assessment: own the product security review of newly acquired codebases and cloud environments, establishing baseline posture, material risk, and the remediation path. - Code and security review: perform secure code review, targeting authorization and business logic flaws that automated tooling does not catch. Identify and manage the external partner who runs penetration testing against our products and infrastructure, and drive remediation of what they find. - AI security: assess AI features across our products, including agent architectures, model and tool access, delegated credentials, and the data reachable through them. - Vulnerability management: own the end-to-end program, including intake, severity, prioritization, remediation SLAs, and reporting, and drive fixes through engineering teams in a way they can sustain. - Tooling and automation: own the standard for SAST, DAST, SCA, and secrets scanning, and its integration into CI/CD across the portfolio. Build the automation that lets one person cover a multi-team portfolio, including routine fix PRs, dependency remediation, and findings routing. Own the security of any internal tools you build, including their access to credentials, source code, and production systems. - Enablement: write the secure coding standards and training that engineering teams consult before they build. - Incident response: serve as the product security expert during incidents, from investigation through remediation and postmortem. - Compliance partnership: work with GRC to produce the evidence audit and customer security review require, without letting compliance drive the security roadmap. ## What we are looking for - Would rather build a system that finds every instance of a bug than fix one at a time. - Already uses AI as part of how you work, with real opinions on where it helps and where it doesn't, including judgment on when to build tooling versus buy it. - Can set architecture and standards across many codebases, not just review one at a time. - Ships production code yourself. You should be able to author a fix, not only specify it. - Expert knowledge of web and API security, identity and access design (authentication, authorization, RBAC/ABAC), and applied cryptography. - Experience securing applications in cloud environments and containerized workloads. - A track record of driving security work to completion in engineering organizations outside your reporting line. ## Our Values at Beacon Software - Humility: We acknowledge that the path to getting to the right answer involves being wrong along the way. We have strong beliefs which are weakly held. We actively seek new ideas and believe we can learn from anyone at any time. - Honesty: We are truth seeking in our approach to business problems. Business is a repeat game and we believe that human relationships generate alpha. We understand that trust is earned over a lifetime and can be lost in an instant. - Hunger: We play to win. We hold ourselves to high standards and will not be outworked. We take pride in having a deep sense of responsibility to ourselves, each other, our partners, and our customers. We believe to whom much is given much is expected. - Horizon: We seek to build a generational software company. This will take decades. We manage our expectations and those of our partners to take advantage of the 8th wonder of the world - compounding growth. How We Use AI in Our Hiring Process: To ensure transparency, we want candidates to know that Beacon Software uses Artificial Intelligence and AI-enabled tools to assist with screening, reviewing, organizing and highlighting profiles and applications that match the key requirements for each role. AI does not make hiring decisions: Every application is reviewed by a member of our team, and all decisions throughout the process are made by humans. We use AI to support efficiency and consistency, not to replace human judgment. We are committed to a fair, thoughtful, and equitable experience for every candidate. ## About Beacon Software ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Beacon Software is a permanent holding company that acquires and grows mission-critical software businesses serving Main Street and the real economy, providing a centralized platform of engineering, AI, and operational expertise. - **Entity Type**: Private (Series B) - **Headquarters**: Toronto, Canada (with offices in New York City and San Francisco) - **Founded**: 2024 - **Founders**: Nilam Ganenthiran (Founder & CEO) and Divyahans Gupta (Co-Founder) ## Core Business - **Primary industry/industries**: Software Development; Vertical SaaS for essential industries (e.g., campground management, municipal government, dance competitions, event management) - **Target customers**: B2B – small-to-medium businesses and organizations that rely on mission-critical software; also enterprise-level customers through acquired companies - **Mission or purpose statement**: “Beacon is the permanent home for Main Street software and services supporting the real economy.” ## Products & Services - **Permanent Holding Model**: Beacon acquires software companies outright and holds them forever, keeping the brand, team, and customers intact. - **Integrated Operating Platform**: Provides acquired companies with shared resources including in-house engineering, AI, design, fintech expertise, back-office automation, and growth playbooks. - **AI & Technology Enablement**: Leverages an AI platform to help portfolio companies ship faster, automate administration, and expand market share (e.g., collaboration with OpenAI to bring AI certifications to 500,000 Main Street workers). ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed - **Key Metric**: Total funding raised – $250 million Series B (November 2025) led by General Catalyst, Lightspeed, and D1 Capital; previous rounds undisclosed but backed by experienced operators. - **Notable Investors/Partners**: General Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners, D1 Capital; strategic advisors include Farhan Thawar (Shopify), Euan Blair (Multiverse), Nikila Srinivasan (Meta), Dani Dudeck (Instacart), Sagar Sanghvi (AbridgeAI), Will Petrie (Ramp), and Rob Crisci (Lineage Logistics). - **Growth Signals**: - 63 employees with +9.3% monthly headcount growth - 25 active job postings across engineering, product, legal, and AI roles - Acquired E2E Soccer Limited (April 2026) - Annual revenue estimated at $7.8M [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/beaconsoftware) - High-profile hires from Instacart, Databricks, Sequoia, and Constellation Software ## Competitive Advantages - **Permanent ownership model**: Unlike private equity, Beacon does not flip companies – it holds them forever, aligning long-term incentives with founders and customers. - **Integrated platform at portfolio scale**: Acquired businesses gain immediate access to a centralized engineering bench, AI tools, design, and GTM resources that would otherwise be out of reach. - **Founder-centric deal structure**: Beacon uses its own capital to close within 60 days and tailors terms to each founder, preserving the acquired company’s name and team. - **Network effect**: Access to a broad ecosystem of seasoned operators, investors, and advisors across Silicon Valley, Wall Street, and Main Street. ## Strategic Focus - **Expand portfolio through disciplined acquisitions**: Target essential software businesses with strong product-market fit and loyal customers in verticals like local government, recreation, and professional services. - **Deepen AI integration**: Continue building AI capabilities across the platform (e.g., automation of administrative tasks, AI certifications) to drive growth and efficiency for portfolio companies. - **Scale the operating platform**: Hire top-tier engineering, product, and operational talent to build a “common layer” that compounds across every owned business. ## Why Work Here - **Culture & Values**: Beacon emphasizes a long-term mindset (“Horizon”), relentless execution (“Hunger”), truth-seeking (“Honesty”), and continuous learning (“Humility”). The team is described as ambitious, driven, and humble. - **Work Environment**: Remote-friendly with hubs in Toronto, New York City, and San Francisco. Some roles may require in-office presence (e.g., NYC). - **Impact at Scale**: Engineers and product builders work on software that affects thousands of essential businesses and their customers – every project lands across the entire portfolio. - **Career Growth**: Early-stage startup energy with strong financial backing; opportunity to shape the platform from the ground up alongside experienced operators. - **Notable Perks**: Access to a world-class network of advisors, high-autonomy culture, and the chance to work on “real industry” problems that matter. ## Sources 1. [beacon.inc](https://beacon.inc/) – Company overview, values, and operating model 2. [beaconsoftware.com/team](https://beaconsoftware.com/team) – Founder background, advisors, and leadership 3. [beacon.inc/careers](https://beacon.inc/careers) – Careers page with culture and hiring philosophy 4. [linkedin.com/company/beaconsoftware](https://www.linkedin.com/company/beaconsoftware) – Financials, headcount, employee growth, and recent announcements 5. [builtin.com/company/beacon-software](https://builtin.com/company/beacon-software) – Job postings and office locations ## Other roles at Beacon Software - [Director - Governance, Risk, Compliance & Privacy (GRC)](https://feeny.ai/job/director-governance-risk-compliance-privacy-grc-beacon-software-san-francisco-5ak3drpet3cd) — San Francisco, CA - [Product Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/product-lead-beacon-software-toronto-hm4pg5e89hjd) — Toronto, Canada - [Product Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/product-lead-beacon-software-san-francisco-h39qmxvyd65b) — San Francisco, CA - [Product Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/product-lead-beacon-software-new-york-j3f8jbdzmx8r) — New York, NY - [Director, Association Partnerships & School Growth](https://feeny.ai/job/director-association-partnerships-school-growth-beacon-software-united-states-scfpzwz2j3th) — United States - [Member of GTM Staff - San Francisco](https://feeny.ai/job/member-of-gtm-staff-san-francisco-beacon-software-san-francisco-0e9dmxt4st0r) — San Francisco, CA - [Member of GTM Staff - Toronto](https://feeny.ai/job/member-of-gtm-staff-toronto-beacon-software-toronto-csqthabvp7vf) — Toronto, Canada - [Member of GTM Staff - New York](https://feeny.ai/job/member-of-gtm-staff-new-york-beacon-software-new-york-cfnxry0cdjyc) — New York, NY - [Tech Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/tech-lead-beacon-software-toronto-58etjxs5ah5b) — Toronto, Canada - [Strategic Finance Director](https://feeny.ai/job/strategic-finance-director-beacon-software-toronto-23z9j58eff08) — Toronto, Canada