Principal Security Engineer

Zillow

Principal Security Engineer shaping application and cloud security for Zillow. Leading assessments and improving secure practices across teams while adopting emerging technologies safely.

Posted 5/8/2026full-timeRemote • California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Washington • 🇺🇸 United StatesLead💰 $168,600 - $269,400 per yearWebsite

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

AWSAzureCloudGoogle Cloud Platform

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Lead security assessments for high-impact applications and services, including threat modeling, secure design reviews, and penetration testing
Identify, validate, and prioritize complex vulnerabilities across web applications, APIs, and cloud-native services, and partner with engineers to drive secure-by-default outcomes
Strengthen the security of primarily AWS-based environments, with additional exposure to GCP and Azure
Drive AI security initiatives by establishing guardrails, review practices, and secure design patterns for AI-enabled features and systems
Assess AI-specific risks, including data exposure, misuse, model abuse, prompt-based attacks, and unintended system behavior
Develop and promote scalable application and AI security standards, best practices, and guardrails across teams
Improve application and AI security tooling through configuration, integration, and ongoing optimization in partnership with engineering and platform teams
Mentor and influence engineers across teams, raising the technical bar and helping embed security into the way Zillow builds and ships software

Requirements

What you’ll need

7+ years of security engineering experience, including strong experience in application security and ownership of complex security outcomes
Experience driving or owning AI security initiatives and assessing or mitigating risks in AI- or LLM-enabled systems
Experience leading advanced security assessments across modern applications, cloud infrastructure, and AI-enabled systems
Strong understanding of common vulnerability classes, secure software development practices, and threat modeling
Hands-on experience securing cloud-native environments, especially AWS, and designing secure system or cloud architectures
Ability to read, write, and review code in at least one modern programming language
Ability to communicate security risks clearly to both technical and non-technical partners and influence decisions without formal authority
Experience mentoring engineers and helping raise the technical bar across a team or organization

Benefits

Comp & perks

Competitive base salary
Equity awards based on experience, performance and location
Health insurance
Professional development opportunities

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

security assessmentsthreat modelingsecure design reviewspenetration testingvulnerability validationapplication securityAI security initiativessecure software development practicescloud-native securityprogramming languages

Soft Skills

mentoringinfluencing decisionscommunicationcollaboration