Staff Security Engineer, Privileged Access (PAM)

About the Role

We're hiring a Staff Security Engineer focused on Privileged Access and Access Automation to build Nscale's privileged access operating model across enterprise systems, SaaS administration, infrastructure, production environments, source control, data platforms, and emergency access paths.

This role sits inside the identity control plane and is intentionally execution-focused. You'll work across Identity, Endpoint, Security Data, Network Security, Platform Engineering, IT, and service owners to turn privileged access into a practical engineering mechanism with request, approval, justification, time-bound elevation, session or event evidence, automated revocation, break-glass, and clean audit trails.

This role is critical because standing privilege is one of the highest-risk patterns in a fast-growing infrastructure company. Your work will help make privileged access secure, fast, measurable, and recoverable so engineers can move quickly without relying on manual reviews, tribal knowledge, or permanent admin rights.

What you'll be doing

Privileged Access Workflows

• Build privileged access workflows across enterprise SaaS admin roles, production systems, cloud consoles, infrastructure management systems, source control, data platforms, endpoint admin, and emergency access paths
• Design access patterns that support request, approval, justification, time-bound elevation, and automated revocation
• Define practical controls that reduce reliance on permanent admin rights across high-risk environments
• Establish clean audit trails for privileged access activity across critical systems

JIT Access and Governance Controls

• Implement JIT access patterns with approval, justification, expiry, revocation, and evidence collection
• Create a privileged access baseline that defines who can approve access, what justification is required, how long access lasts, what evidence is captured, and how revocation works
• Own exception governance for access paths that cannot yet meet the standard
• Drive entitlement cleanup and stale privilege reduction through automation

Break-Glass and Tiering Model

• Design break-glass access standards, ownership models, monitoring, and recovery procedures
• Test emergency access workflows and validate break-glass readiness
• Develop a tiering model for privileged access covering Tier 0 and Tier 1 systems, admin paths, sensitive groups, service-owner roles, and high-risk workflows
• Identify the top 10 highest-risk standing privileges and create remediation paths

Telemetry, Detection, and Measurement

• Define privileged access telemetry requirements for detection, investigations, audit, compliance, and executive reporting
• Partner with Security Data to establish privileged access detections and source-health requirements
• Track metrics including standing privilege reduction, JIT adoption, stale admin cleanup, break-glass test success, approval SLA, and access review closure
• Build an inventory of top admin paths, owners, approvers, access methods, logging, expiry, and current risk

KPIs

• Standing privilege reduction
• JIT adoption
• Stale admin cleanup
• Break-glass test success

About You

• 7+ years in identity security, privileged access, security engineering, infrastructure security, or related engineering roles
• Hands-on experience designing or operating privileged access, JIT, break-glass, access request, approval, or access review workflows
• Strong understanding of authentication, authorization, RBAC, SSO, MFA, access governance, admin tiering, and least privilege
• Experience automating access workflows, entitlement cleanup, evidence collection, or revocation processes
• Strong scripting, workflow automation, API integration, or platform engineering skills
• Ability to translate access risk into practical controls that engineering and operations teams will adopt
• Ability to work across enterprise systems, production environments, SaaS platforms, IT, infrastructure, and compliance stakeholders
• Experience with service accounts, non-human identities, workload identities, API tokens, automation accounts, or secrets governance
• Experience securing production access, source control administration, data platforms, cloud administration, or endpoint admin workflows
• Experience designing access evidence for audit, customer assurance, or incident response

• What we can offer you
• At Nscale, you'll find a collaborative, supportive, and innovative environment where your contributions spark real impact. We're building something extraordinary, and we want you at the core.

• Highly competitive US compensation package (base + bonus + equity), with performance reviews every 12 months.
• Join one of the fastest-growing AI infrastructure companies - your chance to directly shape how global AI capacity is planned and deployed.
• Expect a dynamic progression plan tailored to your ambitions. Grow by leading critical cross-functional initiatives and shaping capital strategy - always with our full support.
• Human-First Flexibility: We treat you as humans first. Our flexible workplace trusts Nscalers to deliver, giving you the autonomy to shape your day around life's moments.

Salary Range

The range below reflects the base salary for the position. Actual compensation may vary based on job-related factors such as skill set, experience, education, and location. In addition to base salary, this role may be eligible for bonus, equity, and/or commission programs. Nscale may offer a competitive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, flexible paid time off, parental leave, and retirement plan participation.

Salary Range $175,000 - $225,000 USD

Nscale does not accept unsolicited candidate submissions from recruitment agencies.