Lead / Associate Lead Security Engineer

IFS is a billion-dollar revenue company with 7000+ employees on all continents. Our leading AI technology is the backbone of our award-winning enterprise software solutions, enabling our customers to be their best when it really matters-at the Moment of Service™. Our commitment to internal AI adoption has allowed us to stay at the forefront of technological advancements, ensuring our colleagues can unlock their creativity and productivity, and our solutions are always cutting-edge.

At IFS, we’re flexible, we’re innovative, and we’re focused not only on how we can engage with our customers but on how we can make a real change and have a worldwide impact. We help solve some of society’s greatest challenges, fostering a better future through our agility, collaboration, and trust.

We celebrate diversity and understand our responsibility to reflect the diverse world we work in. We are committed to promoting an inclusive workforce that fully represents the many different cultures, backgrounds, and viewpoints of our customers, our partners, and our communities. As a truly international company serving people from around the globe, we realize that our success is tantamount to the respect we have for those different points of view.

By joining our team, you will have the opportunity to be part of a global, diverse environment; you will be joining a winning team with a commitment to sustainability; and a company where we get things done so that you can make a positive impact on the world.

We’re looking for innovative and original thinkers to work in an environment where you can #MakeYourMoment so that we can help others make theirs. With the power of our AI-driven solutions, we empower our team to change the status quo and make a real difference.

If you want to change the status quo, we’ll help you make your moment. Join Team Purple. Join IFS

We are seeking a motivated and detail-oriented Lead / Associate Lead Security Engineer to join our Cyber Security team in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

As a Lead / Associate Lead Security Engineer,

you will provide technical leadership for security engineering across the organisation. You will set technical direction, own critical security capabilities, drive cross-team security initiatives, and mentor engineers at all levels. You are accountable for the maturity and effectiveness of security engineering, balancing risk, delivery, and engineering realities.

This is a technical leadership role, not a people-management role-though it carries significant influence and mentorship responsibility.

Duties and Accountabilities

Technical Strategy & Ownership

• Define and drive the technical direction for security engineering

• Own critical security domains and capabilities end-to-end (AppSec, CloudSec, CI/CD security, vulnerability management)

• Set standards, patterns, and guardrails that scale across teams

• Make and own high-impact, risk-based security decisions

Cross-Team Leadership

• Lead security initiatives spanning multiple engineering teams

• Act as the senior security point of contact for engineering leadership

• Influence architecture and design across the organization

• Align security efforts with business and delivery priorities

Engineering & Automation

• Drive security automation and tooling strategy (SAST, SCA, DAST, IaC, container security)

• Improve signal quality, coverage, and developer experience

• Ensure security platforms are reliable, scalable, and maintainable

Risk, Incident & Compliance

• Lead response and root-cause analysis for significant security incidents

• Identify systemic risks and drive long-term remediation

• Own security engineering input into compliance efforts (ISO 27001, SOC 2, FedRAMP)

• Coordinate external engagements (e.g. penetration testing vendors)

Mentorship & Capability Building

• Mentor engineers and emerging leads (including Associate Security Leads)

• Raise the overall security capability of engineering teams

• Champion a strong, pragmatic security culture

What Success Looks Like

• Security engineering direction is clear, pragmatic, and adopted

• Critical risks are proactively identified and addressed

• Engineering teams trust and act on security guidance

• Security maturity improves measurably across the org

• Engineers grow under your mentorship

Required Skills & Experience

• Typically 5+ years in security engineering, software engineering, or platform engineering

• Proven track record owning security capabilities or programmes at scale

• Deep expertise across multiple domains (AppSec, CloudSec, CI/CD security, Architecture)

• Strong hands-on engineering and automation background

• Demonstrated technical leadership and cross-team influence

Scope & Expectations

• Technical leadership role, accountable for security engineering outcomes

• Owns strategy and direction, not just delivery

• Expected to influence without formal authority

• Expected to challenge unsafe designs and decisions

• Not a people-manager role (unless explicitly combined)

Nice to Have

• Experience leading security in an enterprise product environment

• Track record influencing engineering-wide standards

• Experience mentoring senior engineers and leads

• Relevant advanced certifications (not mandatory)

Core Required Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience in security engineering with hands-on involvement in automated security solutions.
• Working knowledge of DevSecOps principles and practices.
• Practical experience with CI/CD tools (e.g., Bitbucket, Jenkins, GitLab, GitHub Actions, or equivalent).
• Proficiency in security platforms, vulnerability management tools, and at least one scripting language (e.g., Python, Bash).
• Solid understanding of common vulnerabilities (e.g., OWASP Top Ten) and remediation approaches.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills with ability to engage cross-functional teams.
• Familiarity with containerisation tools (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes).
• Knowledge of security standards (e.g., NIST, ISO 27001, CIS).

Preferred Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in security engineering, software engineering, or platform engineering.
• Proven track record owning security capabilities or programmes at scale.
• Deep expertise across multiple security domains (AppSec, CloudSec, CI/CD security, Architecture).
• Advanced proficiency in security automation, tooling strategy, and infrastructure-as-code security.
• Demonstrated technical leadership and ability to influence cross-team decisions without formal authority.
• Experience leading security incident response and root-cause analysis.
• Track record mentoring engineers and emerging security leads.
• Experience influencing engineering-wide security standards and practices.
• Relevant advanced certifications (e.g., CISSP, CCSK, or equivalent).

We embrace flexibility and hybrid work opportunities to support diverse needs and lifestyles, while also valuing inclusive workplace experiences. By fostering a sense of community, we drive innovation, strengthen connections, and nurture belonging. Our commitment ensures you can work in a way that suits you best, while also engaging with colleagues to share ideas and build meaningful relationships.