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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Information Security Developer

💰 $90,000 - $150,000

Information SecurityCybersecuritySecure SoftwareIT

🎯 Role Definition

The Information Security Developer plays a crucial role in safeguarding our organization’s digital assets by designing, developing and implementing secure software and infrastructure solutions. This position involves collaborating with software development, operations and security teams to embed security controls into the software development lifecycle, monitor and respond to threats, mitigate vulnerabilities, and maintain regulatory compliance. You will be an advocate for secure coding practices and a hands‑on contributor to building resilient systems that meet business objectives and industry standards.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Software Developer with interest or specialization in cybersecurity
  • Security Analyst or Vulnerability Assessment Specialist
  • DevSecOps Engineer or Application Security Engineer

Advancement To:

  • Senior Information Security Developer / Lead Security Developer
  • Security Architect / Application Security Architect
  • Director of Application Security / Chief Security Engineer

Lateral Moves:

  • DevSecOps Engineer
  • Application Security Engineer
  • Threat & Vulnerability Researcher

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  1. Develop, implement and maintain secure software components and libraries, ensuring they meet enterprise security requirements and reduce vulnerabilities.
  2. Conduct threat modelling and risk assessments during the design phase of applications and infrastructure to identify potential security gaps and influence architecture decisions.
  3. Collaborate with development teams to integrate secure coding practices into the software development lifecycle, including code reviews, static and dynamic analysis, and remediation of identified issues.
  4. Build and deploy authentication, authorization and encryption mechanisms (e.g., multi‑factor authentication, OAuth2, JWT, SSL/TLS) to protect applications and data in transit and at rest.
  5. Develop and maintain security monitoring, logging and alerting capabilities for applications and infrastructure, leveraging SIEM, EDR, and other security tools to detect and respond to incidents.
  6. Perform regular vulnerability scans, penetration tests and security assessments of applications, services and infrastructure, analyse results and coordinate remediation with stakeholders.
  7. Lead incident response and forensic investigations for software/security breaches, identifying root causes, mitigating impact, and proposing improvements to prevent recurrence.
  8. Work with DevOps and infrastructure teams to integrate security into CI/CD pipelines, build automation of security controls, scan for dependencies, secrets, containers, and enforce gating.
  9. Develop and maintain secure APIs, microservices and web applications, incorporating authentication, input validation, secure error handling and compliance with secure architecture principles.
  10. Automate security‑related workflows including patching, configuration management, secrets management, code scanning, and compliance reporting in alignment with DevSecOps best practices.
  11. Maintain and evolve enterprise‑wide security policies, standards and guidelines for application development, architecture and operations; ensure alignment with frameworks such as NIST, ISO 27001, OWASP.
  12. Monitor for emerging threats, zero‑day vulnerabilities and exploit trends, and proactively recommend enhancements or preventive measures to protect the organization’s software and infrastructure.
  13. Provide training and awareness to developers, QA engineers, system administrators and other stakeholders on secure development practices, security tools and threat landscape.
  14. Document security design decisions, audit trails, testing outcomes, remediation actions and maintain appropriate metrics to measure security posture improvements.
  15. Assist in regulatory compliance efforts (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, PCI‑DSS, SOX), providing evidence of controls, participating in audits, and ensuring software and infrastructure adhere to applicable requirements.
  16. Design and maintain secure system architecture including network segmentation, firewalls, intrusion prevention/detection systems, endpoint protection and identity management to support application security objectives.
  17. Validate third‑party and open‑source component usage in applications, perform supply‑chain risk assessments, and contribute to policy decisions related to vendor risk and software dependencies.
  18. Mentor and support junior security developers, junior engineers and application teams, fostering a culture of security‑first thinking and continuous improvement within development and operations teams.
  19. Manage security change control, coordinate release schedules with minimal disruption, ensure rollback plans, and perform pre‑ and post‑deployment security verifications.
  20. Evaluate, select, implement and maintain security tools and platforms (for example, SAST, DAST, Container Scanning, Secrets Management, IAM tools) and measure their effectiveness in improving security efficiency and coverage.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad‑hoc security programming or scripting assignments (e.g., writing custom scanners, automation scripts, integrations) as required by the security or development teams.
  • Contribute to the organization’s security strategy and roadmap, offering insights into software security trends, architecture improvements and tooling recommendations.
  • Collaborate with business units and application owners to translate security requirements into technical deliverables and development tasks.
  • Participate in agile ceremonies: sprint planning, backlog refinement and retrospective sessions to make security an integral part of iterative delivery.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Proficiency in secure software development practices and languages such as Java, C#, Python, JavaScript, or similar.
  • Hands‑on experience with threat modelling, threat analysis, secure architecture design and risk assessment methodologies.
  • Expertise in implementing authentication/authorization and encryption solutions (e.g., OAuth2, JWT, SSL/TLS, PKI).
  • Familiarity with vulnerability assessment tools, static application security testing (SAST), dynamic application security testing (DAST), and security automation in CI/CD pipelines.
  • Strong knowledge of web technologies, APIs, microservices, containerization (Docker/Kubernetes) and securing cloud native applications (AWS, Azure, GCP).
  • Experience in remediation of vulnerabilities, incident response, digital forensics and integration of incident workflows into development operations.
  • Working knowledge of security frameworks, industry standards and compliance (NIST 800‑53/800‑171, ISO 27001, OWASP, PCI‑DSS).
  • Practical experience with security monitoring, logging, SIEM, intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS), and endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools.
  • Ability to evaluate and manage third‑party software risk, open source components, supply chain security and vendor compliance.
  • Skilled in scripting/automation (e.g., PowerShell, Bash, Python) and integrating security tooling into build and deploy processes.

Soft Skills

  • Excellent analytical, problem‑solving and critical‑thinking skills with a proactive mindset on identifying risks and proposing solutions.
  • Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, able to articulate complex security concepts to both technical and non‑technical audiences.
  • Detail‑oriented and quality‑driven, maintaining high assurance standards in development, deployment and change management.
  • Effective multitasker with strong organisational capabilities, able to work on multiple initiatives and meet deadlines in a dynamic environment.
  • Collaborative and mentoring attitude, capable of guiding colleagues, sharing security knowledge and fostering a culture of secure software development.
  • Curious and continuously learning, staying up to date with evolving threats, tools, frameworks and industry best practices.
  • Business‑oriented, able to align security activities with business objectives, risk appetite and regulatory demands.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Security, or related field.
Preferred Education:
Master’s degree or relevant certifications in cybersecurity (e.g., CISSP, CEH, CISM, CSSLP).
Relevant Fields of Study:

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

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:
3‑5 years of experience in information security, secure software development or application security roles.
Preferred:
5+ years of experience in developing secure software or infrastructure, leading security projects, delivering application security solutions in enterprise environments and mentoring security teams.

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