Back to jobs
New

Staff Application Security Engineer

Washington, DC

The Nuclear Company is the fastest growing startup in the nuclear and energy space creating a never before seen fleet-scale approach to building nuclear reactors. Through its design-once, build-many approach and coalition building across communities, regulators, and financial stakeholders, The Nuclear Company is committed to delivering safe and reliable electricity at the lowest cost, while catalyzing the nuclear industry toward rapid development in America and globally.

About the role

The Nuclear Company is searching for an Application Security Engineer to help secure the software, data systems, and developer workflows that power our Nuclear Operating System, internal platforms, and mission-critical applications. This is a high-ownership role for a builder who is equally comfortable reviewing application architecture, threat modeling an API, improving GitHub security controls, and partnering directly with engineers to ship secure software quickly. 

You will work across product engineering, platform engineering, data science, infrastructure, and operations to embed security into the way we design, build, test, and deploy software. You will help define secure development standards, review high-impact product designs, harden CI/CD workflows, and guide teams through vulnerability remediation in a practical, risk-based way. 

This role reports to the Senior Manager for Application and Product Security.

Responsibilities

Application & Product Security 

  • Perform security reviews and threat models for NOS modules, internal tools, APIs, data workflows, AI-enabled features, and cloud-connected applications.  
  • Partner with engineering teams to identify and remediate risks across authentication, authorization, tenant isolation, input validation, secrets handling, encryption, logging, and data access.  
  • Review application designs and code changes for security issues before they become production risk.  
  • Define reusable security patterns for web applications, APIs, mobile workflows, internal platforms, and data-heavy systems.  
  • Help establish secure-by-default approaches for applications that support regulated, high-consequence infrastructure.  

Secure SDLC & Developer Enablement 

  • Build and improve DevSecOps practices across the GitHub-based software development lifecycle, including code scanning, dependency review, secret scanning, branch protections, CI/CD hardening, and secure developer workflows. 
  • Partner with engineering teams to create paved roads: secure templates, checklists, automation, documentation, and lightweight review processes that help teams move faster with confidence.  
  • Triage and prioritize application security findings from SAST, SCA, secrets scanning, penetration tests, code reviews, and internal assessments.  
  • Develop pragmatic vulnerability management workflows, remediation guidance, and engineering-facing metrics.  
  • Support secure coding education through design reviews, office hours, documentation, and hands-on partnership with developers.  

Platform, Cloud & Data Security 

  • Collaborate with cloud and platform engineers to secure AWS workloads, infrastructure-as-code, service integrations, data pipelines, and deployment workflows.  
  • Review integrations involving Palantir Foundry, partner APIs, internal data platforms, and AI-assisted engineering workflows.  
  • Help secure sensitive data flows across application, platform, and operational environments.  
  • Partner with infrastructure and developer teams to ensure application events, audit logs, and security signals are captured in ways that support investigation and response.  
  • Navigate the security expectations of a regulated nuclear energy environment, including relevant cybersecurity frameworks and critical infrastructure considerations.  

Cross-Functional Partnership 

  • Serve as a trusted security partner to software engineers, product managers, data engineers, infrastructure teams, and business stakeholders.  
  • Communicate risk clearly and practically, balancing security, delivery speed, product usability, and operational impact.  
  • Contribute to the application and product security roadmap as the company scales from early-stage systems to fleet-scale operations.  
  • Help build a culture of ownership, velocity, and technical rigor across engineering and cybersecurity.  

Experience

  • 4+ years of experience in application security, product security, software security, or software engineering with a strong security focus.  
  • Hands-on experience reviewing, building, or securing modern software systems, including web applications, APIs, distributed systems, or cloud-native services.  
  • Strong understanding of common application security risks, including authentication, authorization, access control, injection, insecure deserialization, SSRF, secrets exposure, dependency and supply chain risk, and insecure API design.  
  • Experience with secure SDLC tooling and workflows such as GitHub Advanced Security, CodeQL, Dependabot, SAST, SCA, secret scanning, CI/CD security, or equivalent platforms.  
  • Ability to read and reason about code in at least one modern programming language such as Python, TypeScript, Go, Java, C#, or C++.  
  • Familiarity with AWS security concepts, including IAM, logging, encryption, networking, secrets management, and infrastructure-as-code.  
  • Strong communication skills and the ability to work directly with engineers to solve security problems without creating unnecessary friction. 
  • Have a strong grasp of offensive security to anticipate risks from an adversary’s perspective, not just check compliance boxes.  

Preferred Qualifications 

  • Experience securing software in regulated, industrial, energy, national security, aerospace, medical, or other mission-critical environments.
  • Familiarity with AI-assisted development tools, LLM-enabled applications, prompt-injection risks, model/tool integrations, or AI software supply chain concerns.  
  • Experience with vulnerability management, penetration testing, experience with DAST tools, or incident response.  
  • Familiarity with frameworks or standards such as OWASP ASVS, OWASP Top 10, OWASP API Security Top 10, NIST CSF, NIST 800-53, SOC 2, IEC 62443, or NERC CIP.  
  • Security certifications such as AWS Certified Security – Specialty or OSWE 
  • Genuine interest in nuclear energy, critical infrastructure, hard-tech, and applying software security to physical systems.  

Benefits

  • Competitive compensation packages
  • 401k with company match
  • Medical, dental, vision plans
  • Generous vacation policy, plus holidays

Estimated Starting Salary Range
The estimated starting salary range for this role is $150,000 - $173,000 annually less applicable withholdings and deductions, paid on a bi-weekly basis. The actual salary offered may vary based on relevant factors as determined in the Company’s discretion, which may include experience, qualifications, tenure, skill set, availability of qualified candidates, geographic location, certifications held, and other criteria deemed pertinent to the particular role. 

EEO Statement
The Nuclear Company is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an environment of inclusion in the workplace. We provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. We prohibit discrimination in all aspects of employment, including hiring, promotion, demotion, transfer, compensation, and termination.

Export Control
Certain positions at The Nuclear Company may involve access to information and technology subject to export controls under U.S. law. Compliance with these export controls may result in The Nuclear Company limiting its consideration of certain applicants.
 
Recruiting Fraud Alert
Your safety is our priority. We want to ensure your job search stays secure. Please note that the team at The Nuclear Company only communicates through official @thenuclearcompany.com email addresses. We will never ask for payments or sensitive financial information at any stage of our recruitment process. For your peace of mind, please verify all openings and submit your applications directly through our official careers page.

Create a Job Alert

Interested in building your career at The Nuclear Company? Get future opportunities sent straight to your email.

Apply for this job

*

indicates a required field

Resume/CV*

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Cover Letter

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Education

Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...

U.S. Standard Demographic Questions

We invite applicants to share their demographic background. If you choose to complete this survey, your responses may be used to identify areas of improvement in our hiring process.
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in The Nuclear Company’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Select...
Select...
Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305
Page 1 of 1
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury
Select...

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.