Senior Security Engineer (Software & Platform)

Imagine having the power to stress-test an entire power grid against a hurricane or thunderstorm before the clouds even gather. That is the reality we are creating at Neara.

We use advanced machine learning to create engineering-grade, physics enabled digital twins of electricity grids across four continents, this helps asset owners understand their biggest challenges and bring the most viable solutions to life across millions of kilometres of infrastructure.

By simulating extreme weather and structural stress at a network-wide scale, we empower the world’s largest utilities to pinpoint risks, optimise investments and build a more resilient global energy future.

Our team is a collection of brilliant minds who are fanatical about making a tangible difference in the real world, utilising AI and machine learning to accelerate everything from data classification to complex scenario analysis. We have built a special culture where innovation thrives because everyone owns the mission and we need smart, creative people to help us scale this impact to every corner of the globe.

Building practical security into our systems (and not just on paper) is of paramount importance across the company, and we’re looking for our first in-house, Senior Security Engineer to own and elevate security as a deeply practical, engineering-led discipline.

This is not a compliance checkbox role. You’ll be in the code, you’ll be shaping how we design and operate secure systems in practice, and you’ll help make security the path of least resistance for everyone at Neara.

WHAT YOU WILL DO:

Engineering & Product Security

• Ensure that our code, architecture and environments are secure, through automated mechanisms and manual processes that you set up and maintain.

• Use and tune static, dynamic, dependency, and runtime analysis tools (commercial, open-source, and AI-assisted).

• Implement verification technology in-process to identify security issues after deployment.

• Help design and improve defense-in-depth across technical and people systems and processes.

• Be involved early in product design, helping prevent issues rather than reacting to them.

Security Culture & Real-World Practices

• Ensure security practices reflect what teams actually do — not just what’s written down.

• Identify gaps between policy and reality and fix the system, not just the docs.

• Reduce friction so engineers do the right thing by default.

• Be a visible, pragmatic security champion across the company, and train others to do as you do in areas such as secure development, threat modelling, and real-world attack vectors.

Compliance (With Engineering Context)

• Ensure controls are technically sound, defensible, and aligned with real systems and workflows.

• Prepare for audits in a way that adds value — not bureaucracy.

• Collaborate with engineering, operations, and leadership to continuously improve security maturity.

WHO YOU ARE:

• Strong software engineering background, ideally backend or platform engineering.

• Proven experience reviewing and reasoning about real production code.

• Deep understanding of common vulnerabilities (e.g., auth, crypto misuse, injection, cloud misconfigurations).

• Practical experience securing modern systems (APIs, cloud, CI/CD, containers, IAM).

• Ability to threat-model systems and reason about attacker trade-offs.

• Comfortable using both automated tools and manual analysis.

• Excellent communicator — able to explain risks clearly and pragmatically to engineers and non-engineers alike.

Nice-to-Haves

• Previous first or early security hire experience at a startup or scale-up.

• Hands-on pentesting or red-team experience.

• Experience building internal security tools or automation.

• Familiarity with modern cloud platforms and infrastructure-as-code.

• Experience with AI-assisted security or code analysis tools — with the right level of skepticism.

• Experience owning or contributing to ISO 27001 and/or SOC 2 in an engineering-first way.

WHAT WE OFFER:

• Competitive salary & meaningful ESOP

• Fully flexible working arrangements with a well-stocked office in Redfern

• Regular office events

• The real benefit is working on a genuinely complex, innovative and industry-leading product, making a genuine difference in the world around us.

Neara values diversity, belonging and equal employment opportunities. We encourage individuals from all backgrounds to apply.

Please note that you will require current and unrestricted working rights to be considered for the role. Unfortunately, we are not in a position to offer visa sponsorship at this time.

No agencies or third-party service providers, please.

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