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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Application Security Specialist

💰 $ - $

Information SecurityApplication SecurityDevSecOps

🎯 Role Definition

We are seeking an experienced Application Security Specialist (AppSec) to embed security into the software development lifecycle, lead application risk assessments, and enable development teams to ship secure code. The ideal candidate will combine hands-on technical expertise with stakeholder-facing communication skills to operate across SDLC stages, CI/CD pipelines, cloud-native platforms, and modern application architectures (microservices, containers, serverless). This role is central to protecting customer data, reducing exploitable vulnerabilities, and operationalizing AppSec best practices across engineering teams.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Software Engineer (Backend/Full-stack) with interest in security
  • Security Analyst or Vulnerability Management Engineer
  • DevOps / SRE with security-focused responsibilities

Advancement To:

  • Sr. Application Security Engineer / AppSec Lead
  • Application Security Manager / DevSecOps Manager
  • Security Architect / Director of Application Security

Lateral Moves:

  • Cloud Security Engineer
  • Security Architect (Application/Platform)
  • Incident Response / Threat Hunting roles

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Lead and execute thorough application security assessments for web, mobile, API, and cloud-native applications, including SAST, DAST, IAST, and manual code review, and deliver prioritized, actionable remediation plans to engineering teams.
  • Integrate security testing into CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, CircleCI) to enable continuous application scanning and automated policy enforcement with minimal developer friction.
  • Perform threat modeling workshops with product and engineering stakeholders to identify attack surfaces, prioritize mitigations, and translate threats into secure design requirements and user stories.
  • Design, implement, and maintain an effective secure SDLC program encompassing secure design principles, security gates, shift-left testing, coding standards, and approval criteria for production releases.
  • Triage, validate, and prioritize vulnerability findings from multiple sources (SCA, SAST, DAST, bug bounty, Pentest, runtime telemetry), and coordinate with product owners to track remediation and risk acceptance.
  • Conduct regular penetration testing and hands-on application security validation using tools such as Burp Suite, OWASP ZAP, and custom test harnesses; document exploitation paths and proof-of-concepts when appropriate.
  • Manage third-party and open-source component risk by operating or advising on Software Composition Analysis (SCA) tools (Snyk, Dependabot, WhiteSource), licensing checks, and supply-chain controls.
  • Collaborate with Infrastructure, Cloud and DevOps teams to secure container orchestration platforms (Kubernetes), container images, and serverless deployments, including image scanning, runtime protection, and least-privilege IAM.
  • Develop and maintain AppSec guidelines, secure coding checklists, threat catalogues (OWASP Top 10, CWE mapping), and pragmatic remediation playbooks for engineers.
  • Lead incident response activities for application-layer incidents: analyze application logs, reproduce exploit scenarios, recommend containment and corrective action, and drive post-incident lessons learned.
  • Partner with Product, Legal and Compliance teams to ensure application security controls meet regulatory and audit requirements (PCI-DSS, SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA) and contribute to evidence collection for audits.
  • Perform architectural reviews and security design reviews for new features and platform changes, providing mitigation strategies for design weaknesses and alternatives to risky approaches.
  • Provide technical leadership and mentorship to development teams, offering hands-on secure coding reviews, pair-programming sessions, and remediation support to accelerate vulnerability closure.
  • Build, maintain, and report on AppSec metrics and KPIs (MTTR, time-to-fix, vulnerability trends, coverage of SAST/DAST) to demonstrate program impact to leadership.
  • Drive automation of repetitive AppSec tasks: rule tuning, false-positive reduction, ticket creation/triage workflows, and integration with issue trackers (Jira, Azure DevOps).
  • Evaluate, pilot, and standardize application security tools and platforms; negotiate with vendors and manage licensing and onboarding for enterprise-scale tooling.
  • Create and deliver developer-facing training, workshops, and secure coding labs to raise AppSec awareness and measurably improve developer security practices and ownership.
  • Establish secure default configurations and secrets management best practices across applications, CI/CD pipelines, and cloud services; enforce secrets scanning and rotation policies.
  • Facilitate and validate secure authentication and authorization patterns (OAuth2/OIDC, JWT, role-based access control), cryptographic use, and key management across applications.
  • Collaborate with QA and SRE teams to introduce runtime security monitoring (RASP, WAF tuning, application telemetry), detect anomalous behavior, and reduce noise from false positives.
  • Define and maintain acceptance criteria and security gates for release readiness, ensuring high-risk vulnerabilities are mitigated before production deployment.
  • Support vendor and third-party application risk assessments, reviewing security posture, architecture, and contractual security clauses, and provide remediation guidance or compensating controls.
  • Stay current on the latest application security threats, exploit techniques, and defensive controls; translate threat intelligence into practical controls and developer guidance.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc security data requests, vulnerability trend analysis, and the creation of executive-ready dashboards that synthesize AppSec program performance.
  • Contribute to the organization's overall security strategy and roadmap by proposing investments in tooling, training, and process improvements based on measurable security gaps.
  • Translate business and product priorities into pragmatic security requirements and acceptance criteria that balance speed-to-market and risk reduction.
  • Participate in sprint planning, backlog grooming, and agile ceremonies to ensure security tasks are visible, prioritized, and resourced appropriately.
  • Maintain up-to-date documentation of application inventories, threat models, and security runbooks to support knowledge transfer and audit readiness.
  • Act as a subject-matter expert in incident post-mortems, providing root cause analysis for application-layer incidents and recommending systemic fixes.
  • Collaborate with Talent/HR to help recruit and interview AppSec engineers and provide input on job descriptions and technical assessments.
  • Represent application security in cross-functional forums (architecture review boards, change control meetings) to ensure consistent security decisions at scale.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Deep practical knowledge of secure software development lifecycle (SDLC) practices and experience operationalizing a shift-left AppSec program.
  • Proficient with SAST, DAST, IAST, and SCA tooling and workflows, including capability to configure, tune and interpret results to minimize false positives.
  • Hands-on experience with penetration testing tools and methodologies (Burp Suite, OWASP ZAP, manual testing techniques, exploit development fundamentals).
  • Experience integrating security into CI/CD systems and automating scans, policies, and remediation workflows (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, CircleCI).
  • Strong coding experience in at least one mainstream language (Java, C#, JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, Go) to perform meaningful code reviews and rapid proof-of-concept exploits/remediations.
  • Familiarity with cloud platform security (AWS, Azure, GCP), cloud-native application patterns, IAM best practices, and cloud security tooling.
  • Container and orchestration security skills (Docker image scanning, Kubernetes RBAC, network policies, runtime security).
  • Knowledge of authentication/authorization standards (OAuth2, OIDC, SAML), cryptography fundamentals, secure session management, and key management principles.
  • Experience with vulnerability management processes, ticketing systems (Jira), triage, tracking, and reporting remediation progress to stakeholders.
  • Practical understanding of web application threats and mitigations: OWASP Top 10, CSP, CORS, input validation, secure deserialization, and parameterized queries.
  • Exposure to RASP, WAF tuning, runtime application monitoring, and telemetry for detecting application-layer anomalies.
  • Familiarity with compliance frameworks and how AppSec controls map to PCI-DSS, SOC2, ISO 27001, GDPR data protection obligations.
  • Experience evaluating, piloting, and operationalizing commercial and open-source AppSec tools and managing vendor relationships.
  • Scripting and automation skills (Bash, Python, PowerShell) to build automation around scans, reporting, and remediation workflows.
  • Ability to analyze logs, traces, and telemetry to reconstruct attack paths and provide actionable recommendations.

Soft Skills

  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills to explain complex security concepts to engineers, product owners, and executives.
  • Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills; able to negotiate acceptable risk decisions and drive remediation across teams.
  • Empathetic coaching and training style to enable developers to adopt secure coding practices without impeding delivery velocity.
  • Analytical mindset and problem-solving ability to prioritize security efforts based on risk, impact, and business context.
  • High attention to detail and a bias for quality when reviewing designs, code, and test results.
  • Project and time management skills: able to handle multiple engagements, deadlines, and urgent incidents while maintaining program momentum.
  • Collaborative team player who can work cross-functionally and build consensus in complex organizational environments.
  • Continuous learner mindset to stay current with shifting threat landscapes, new tools, and community best practices.
  • Resilience and composure under pressure during incident response and high-severity vulnerability discovery.
  • Ability to produce clear, actionable security documentation, training materials, and executive reports.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Security, or a related technical discipline — or equivalent practical experience.

Preferred Education:

  • Master’s degree in Cybersecurity, Information Systems, or Computer Science, or equivalent advanced training.
  • Relevant professional certifications (preferred): CISSP, CSSLP, OSCP, GSSP-AppSec, CEH, or cloud security certs (AWS/Azure/GCP).

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Computer Science
  • Cybersecurity / Information Security
  • Software Engineering
  • Information Systems / Computer Engineering

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 3–7 years of hands-on application security, secure development, or security engineering experience.

Preferred:

  • 5+ years of dedicated application security experience with demonstrable success embedding AppSec into engineering organizations.
  • Prior experience performing threat modeling, application pen testing, secure code review, and integrating security into CI/CD at scale.
  • Experience working with modern application architectures: microservices, REST/GraphQL APIs, containers, and serverless technologies.
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