{"id":1168042,"url":"https://alion.io/job/the-trail-of-bits-senior-security-engineer-cryptography","title":"Senior Security Engineer Cryptography","company":{"id":20818,"name":"The Trail of Bits","domain":"trailofbits.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/the-trail-of-bits-blog","size_band":"51-200","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Workable","truth_index":null},"role":"Security","role_family":"Security","seniority":"senior","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"remote","remote_scope":"stated_countries","remote_scope_basis":"posting_text","remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"explicit","locations":[],"countries":[],"hiring_countries":["US"],"hiring_countries_total":1,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":124000,"max_usd":220000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":362},"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":true,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"C++","optional":false},{"name":"Git","optional":false},{"name":"Rust","optional":false},{"name":"Threat Modeling","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-23T00:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-23","last_verified_at":"2026-10-23T21:49:03Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":31,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":31},"description":"United States | Remote | Full time\nAbout Trail of Bits\nFounded in 2012 by 3 expert hackers with no investment capital, Trail of Bits is the premier place for security experts to boldly advance security and address technology's newest and most challenging risks. It has helped secure some of the world's most targeted organizations and devices. Our combination of novel research with practical solutions reduces the security risks that our clients face from emerging technologies. Our work helps drive the security industry and the public understanding of the technology underlying our world.\nCybersecurity preparedness is a moving target. Companies like ours are the tip of the spear in the fight against attackers. Our research-based and custom-engineering approach ensures that our client's capabilities are at the forefront of what's available. For companies and technologies that live and die by their security, a proactive, tailored approach is required to keep one step ahead of attackers.\nDemocratizing security information is essential. As part of our business, we provide ongoing informational support through blogs, whitepapers, newsletters, meetups, and open-source tools. The more the community understands security, the more they'll understand why a company like ours is so unique and valuable.\nThe Role\nWe're hiring a Senior Security Engineer for the Cryptography team to review and strengthen high-assurance software and cryptographic systems used across technology, finance, defense, and blockchain. You will evaluate whether cryptographic designs and implementations deliver the security properties they claim, find subtle failures where theory meets code, and help clients make sound decisions about risk and remediation.\nOn a typical engagement, you might review a new protocol, analyze an implementation of a standard primitive, test assumptions in a post-quantum construction, or build tooling that makes future assessments faster and more rigorous. The work spans code review, cryptanalysis, threat modeling, technical writing, and direct collaboration with client engineers.\nThis is a senior individual-contributor role. You will independently lead substantial parts of engagements, exercise judgment when the problem is ambiguous, communicate clearly with clients and peers, and help raise the technical bar for the cryptography team. You will also have room to contribute to open-source tools, public research, and new service offerings.\nWhat You'll Do\nLead cryptographic assessments. Review protocols, libraries, and application code; identify design and implementation weaknesses; validate exploitability; and recommend practical fixes.\nAnalyze advanced constructions. Work across standardized symmetric and asymmetric cryptography, post-quantum schemes, zero-knowledge proof systems, and multi-party computation protocols, learning unfamiliar designs when an engagement demands it.\nBuild useful tooling. Create or extend tools, test harnesses, and proofs of concept that improve cryptanalysis, implementation review, and repeatability across engagements.\nOwn clear client delivery. Plan your work, surface risk early, lead technical discussions, and produce precise reports that explain both the finding and the engineering path forward.\nShape the practice. Contribute to scoping and methodology, mentor other engineers, identify promising research or tooling opportunities, and help turn repeated client needs into stronger services.\nShare what you learn. Contribute to open-source projects and, when appropriate, publish technical work or present it to the security and cryptography communities.\nHow This Role Fits the Team\nYou will work within the Cryptography practice in our Assurance team, alongside engineers who review complex, high-assurance systems. Engagement teams are intentionally collaborative, but senior engineers are expected to own their technical lane, know when to pull in specialized expertise, and help clients move from a finding to a defensible engineering decision.\nWhat Success Looks Like\nYou independently lead technically complex assessment work from initial threat model through client readout.\nYour findings are precise, reproducible, prioritized by impact, and useful to the engineers responsible for remediation.\nThe tools, methods, and written guidance you create make future assessments stronger and more efficient.\nTeammates and clients seek your judgment because you explain tradeoffs clearly and challenge assumptions constructively.\nRequirements\nWhat You'll Bring\nApplied cryptography depth. Substantial experience evaluating cryptographic primitives, protocols, and implementations, with the judgment to distinguish theoretical concerns from practical security failures.\nMathematical fluency. A foundation strong enough to read relevant academic papers, reason about security assumptions, and translate research into implementation-level questions.\nCode review and development skill. Proficiency in at least one systems or security-oriented language such as Rust, Go, C, or C++, plus experience using Git-based development workflows.\nAssessment judgment. The ability to form and test hypotheses, recognize where specifications and implementations diverge, document evidence, and prioritize findings by real-world impact.\nSenior-level ownership. A record of independently driving complex technical work, managing ambiguity, making defensible decisions, and helping teammates improve their approach.\nClient communication. Clear writing and confident technical communication with engineers, researchers, and other stakeholders who will question assumptions and expect precise answers.\nCollaborative curiosity. A willingness to learn unfamiliar systems, share incomplete ideas early, and work closely with colleagues, clients, and the broader technical community.\nCandidates must reside and be authorized to work in the United States without employer sponsorship.\nNice to Have\nThese are not day-one requirements, but they can help you contribute more quickly or broaden the role over time.\nExperience assessing post-quantum, zero-knowledge, threshold, multiparty-computation, or privacy-preserving systems.\nPublished cryptography or security research, open-source contributions, public audit reports, conference talks, or technical writing.\nExperience designing cryptographic APIs, reviewing protocol specifications, or moving research implementations toward production use.\nExperience scoping security engagements, mentoring engineers, or developing repeatable assessment methodologies.\nCompensation\nThe base salary range for this full-time position is $165,000 to $220,000, plus potential bonus. Compensation is informed by geographic location, relevant experience, and internal equity. These figures represent starting compensation for U.S.-based candidates. For specifics, please discuss with your recruiter during the hiring process.\nTrail of Bits offers a comprehensive benefits package including health insurance, retirement contributions, professional development stipends, and generous PTO.\nTrail of Bits, Inc. participates in E-Verify, the US federal electronic employment eligibility verification program. Learn More Here.\nTrail of Bits is an equal-opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law, and we provide reasonable accommodations throughout the hiring process on request.\nBenefits\nBenefits Perks and Wellness\nTrail of Bits is our people, not a place. With over 100+ employees working from every time zone across the globe, our remote-first culture is built on autonomy and trust (and backed by smile-worthy benefits) for full-time employees:\nEmpowered Living\nCompetitive salary complemented by performance-based bonuses.\nFully company-paid insurance packages, including health, dental, vision, disability, and life.\nA solid 401(k) plan with a 5% match of your base salary.\n20 days of paid vacation with flexibility for more, adhering to jurisdictional regulations.\nNurturing New Beginnings\n4 months of parental leave to cherish the arrival of new family members.\nOur team is global and remote-first. However, if you are interested in moving to NYC, we offer $10,000 in relocation assistance to support your transition.\nWork and Life Enrichment\n$1,000 Working-from-Home stipend to create a comfortable and productive home office.\nAnnual $750 Learning & Development stipend for continuous personal and professional growth.\nCompany-sponsored all-team celebrations, including travel and accommodation, to foster community and recognize achievements.\nCommunity Impact\nPhilanthropic contribution matching up to $2,000 annually.","description_format":"text","description_chars":8794,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity","Health insurance","Home office","Parental leave","Professional development","Relocation assistance"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":true,"industries":["Blockchain & Crypto","Cybersecurity"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-24T05:01:42Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"H-1B filings in 12 months: 1","filings_12m":1,"filings_prev_12m":1,"green_card_filings_12m":0,"median_offered_wage_usd":152500,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-15T11:24:14+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)"],"filings_for_role_12m":1}],"liveness":{"score":61,"band":"ok","label":"Likely open","p_open":1,"p_active":0.808,"p_room":0.75,"age_days":31,"expected_fill_days":35,"reasons":["conf:8","win:late"],"computed_at":"2026-10-24T06:02:35Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/the-trail-of-bits-senior-security-engineer-cryptography","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/the-trail-of-bits-senior-security-engineer-cryptography.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-24T19:47:00Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":28904,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-25T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":20818},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=20818"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fthe-trail-of-bits-senior-security-engineer-cryptography"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fthe-trail-of-bits-senior-security-engineer-cryptography"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fthe-trail-of-bits-senior-security-engineer-cryptography"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/the-trail-of-bits-senior-security-engineer-cryptography\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fthe-trail-of-bits-senior-security-engineer-cryptography"}]}