Engineering Director, Security

About the role

Monzo is seeking an Engineering Director, Security to spearhead a transformative shift in how security is designed and delivered across our global platform. You will own the end-to-end security strategy and execution for our core infrastructure, ensuring that security is not bolted on but is an inherent property of every primitive we build. You will lead a high-performing organization of engineers to eliminate systemic risk and embed security thinking into the DNA of our engineering culture. This role requires a rare blend of deep technical architecture and hands-on leadership, guiding teams to build systems that are secure by default and invisible to the user. You will partner directly with the CISO and senior leaders to protect our customers' data and money, which are prime targets for sophisticated adversaries. Your success will be measured by the robustness of the platform, the reduction in systemic vulnerabilities, and the enablement of the entire engineering organization to ship securely at speed.

Key facts

What you'll do

Drive the secure-by-design mandate, leading the transition from reactive security to proactive architectural invariants, ensuring our core platform primitives - compute, storage, networking, and identity - are built with inherent security properties that cannot be bypassed.

Eliminate systemic risk by identifying fundamental cross-cutting security problems and driving major software engineering improvements to solve them at the root, rather than patching symptoms.

Partner with product and software engineering teams to embed a healthy security culture into Monzo's product development process, making security an integral part of how we design, build, and release software.

Cultivate an engineering-first culture, fostering a world where security engineers are first and foremost software engineers, delivering high-leverage tools and frameworks that enable data and software engineering disciplines to move at the speed-of-thought without compromising security.

Manage a high-performing group of software engineering leaders and senior individual contributors, nurturing their growth, removing obstacles, and ensuring they have the autonomy and support to deliver exceptional outcomes.

Define and own the technical strategy for Monzo's security infrastructure, platforms, and tooling, ensuring they are scalable, reliable, and provide a foundation for secure and rapid innovation.

Champion architectural invariants that make secure behavior the default, simplifying compliance and reducing the burden on engineers while strengthening our overall security posture.

Collaborate closely with the CISO and other senior engineering leaders to align security initiatives with business objectives, regulatory requirements, and the overarching mission of connecting the world through trusted technology.

Lead the design and evolution of critical security systems, balancing pragmatism with long-term architectural rigor to protect our customers' money and data from sophisticated adversaries and state-level actors.

Be the thought leader and executor for security engineering, driving best practices, code reviews, and technical excellence across the security function and beyond.

Requirements

You are a deeply experienced software engineering leader with a proven track record of building and leading high-performing infrastructure, platform, or distributed systems engineering organizations.

You have a strong background in software architecture and system design, with the ability to think critically about trade-offs and long-term platform strategy.

You possess exceptional technical judgment and a passion for building secure, scalable, and maintainable systems that enable fast product development.

You have experience partnering with product teams and influencing engineering culture to embed security and quality as core responsibilities of every engineer.

You are comfortable operating at a high level of ambiguity and navigating complex technical and organizational challenges in a fast-growth environment.

You have a history of delivering significant technical programs and platforms that have materially improved the security, reliability, or scalability of large-scale systems.

You communicate with clarity and precision, able to translate complex technical concepts into actionable strategies for both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

You are a hands-on leader who codes, designs, and reviews architecture, while also empowering your teams through mentorship and strategic direction.

Nice to have

Preferred experience in fintech, financial services, or environments with strict regulatory requirements.

Background in security engineering or platform security is a plus but not required; exceptional engineering leadership is the primary criterion.

Practical notes

This is a full-time role based in Cardiff, London, or Remote (UK).

The compensation package includes a base salary range of £170,000 to £200,000, plus equity and benefits as outlined on our careers site.