Discord · 16 hours ago
Director of Engineering, Security Operations
San Francisco Bay Area
Full-time
Hybrid
Director/Executive
$400K/yr - $450K/yr
10+ years expDiscord is a platform used by over 200 million people for gaming and social interaction. They are seeking a Director of Security Operations to lead teams in Detection & Response, Enterprise Security, Identity & Access Management, and Cyber Threat Intelligence, while defining and executing the security operations strategy.
BlockchainCommunitiesGamingInternetMetaverseSoftwareWeb3
Responsibilities
Define and own the unified security operations strategy spanning Detection & Response, IT Security, Identity & Access Management, and Cyber Threat Intelligence—ensuring alignment across domains while respecting their distinct missions
Formalize and expand Discord's Cyber Threat Intelligence function: mature existing capabilities into a structured program, build the team, establish collection and production processes, and integrate intelligence into security operations and business decision-making
Own the identity and access management strategy across Discord—covering corporate systems, cloud infrastructure environments, and the policies and controls that govern access to both
Collaborate with Security, Engineering, IT, Legal, Trust & Safety, and executive leadership to align security operations priorities with company goals
Own accountability for security operations outcomes across all four domains, ensuring success criteria are effectively measured and achieved
Maintain enough technical depth across your domains to effectively evaluate proposals, challenge assumptions, and hold teams accountable for sound technical decisions
Get hands-on when needed: review detection logic, dig into incident forensics, audit IAM configurations, or prototype solutions when it accelerates the team
Drive engineering excellence across security operations—ensuring teams build reliable, automated, and scalable solutions rather than manual processes that don't scale
Build, lead, and scale a high-performing organization of security professionals across four functions with varying maturity levels, each requiring different leadership approaches
Design a healthy organization structure that balances operational excellence, innovation, and speed
Drive the full talent lifecycle: hiring, culture-building, growth, performance management, and retention
Grow and develop managers who can effectively own their domains with increasing autonomy; maintain a clear succession plan and build bench strength across the organization
Establish operational rhythms, cross-team rituals, and shared practices that create cohesion while preserving domain expertise
Partner with Security Engineering leadership to ensure detection, response, IAM, and threat intelligence capabilities are informed by and integrated with product and infrastructure security efforts
Drive alignment between IT Security, IAM, and enterprise technology decisions—ensuring security is embedded in how Discord operates, not bolted on
Ensure threat intelligence is actionable: inform detection engineering priorities, support incident investigations, and provide strategic context to Security and company leadership
Serve as a trusted advisor to leadership on security operations risks, incidents, threat landscape, and program health
Provide executive-level visibility into security operations posture, investment needs, and key risks
Translate threat intelligence into business-relevant context for leadership and cross-functional partners
Act as an escalation point and decision-maker during significant security incidents; ensure appropriate crisis communication to leadership
Represent Discord's security operations externally when appropriate, and build the organization's reputation through knowledge sharing
Qualification
Required
10+ years of experience in security, with 5+ years in leadership roles managing multiple teams or managers across different security disciplines
Technical: ability to read and write code (Python is ideal), review technical designs, and engage with engineers on implementation details
Experience maturing a security function: taking something informal or early-stage and building it into a structured, repeatable program
Ability to consistently reach the right decision and bring people along with you; act decisively in critical situations, even when making unpopular calls
Ability to communicate with clarity and conviction to any audience—from engineers to executives—and understand the weight your title carries in debates
Thrive with autonomy, operate with minimal editing from your manager, and proactively drive alignment across the organization
Experience leading through significant security incidents and understanding how to balance speed, thoroughness, and communication under pressure
Aspirations for broader leadership responsibility and see this role as a path toward greater organizational impact
Deep experience with identity and access management at scale—particularly in cloud-native environments (GCP, AWS)
Preferred
Hands on experience integrating AI systems and tools into Security workflows
Background in gaming, social platforms, or consumer technology
Familiarity with trust & safety operations and their intersection with security
Experience building organizations across multiple locations or time zones
Understanding of threat actors relevant to gaming or social platforms (financially motivated fraud, account takeover, community-targeted harassment campaigns, etc.)
Benefits
Equity
Benefits
Company
Discord
Discord is an online voice, video, and text communication platform designed for creating communities.
501-1000 employees
H1B Sponsorship
Discord has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (48)
2024 (32)
2023 (13)
2022 (18)
2021 (5)
2020 (2)
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageTotal Funding
$995.41MKey Investors
Flat CapitalDragoneer Investment GroupSony Interactive Entertainment
2024-03-01Secondary Market
2022-11-22Series I
2022-03-12Secondary Market· $10.86M
Leadership Team
Stanislav Vishnevskiy
CTO & Co-Founder
Mike Polner
VP, Global Head of Marketing
Recent News
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