Senior Security Engineer

Category Labs (formerly known as Monad Labs) is a team of systems engineers and researchers on a mission to design and build at the frontier of decentralized technology. We strive to design and build step-function improvements over existing blockchain solutions. After recently raising $225M in series A funding, led by Paradigm, we are growing our team.

The Role

We are building the fastest EVM-compatible blockchain, and are looking for a Senior or Staff Security Engineer to lead security across endpoints, infrastructure, and applications. This is a high-impact role with ownership over security architecture, tooling, and incident response. You’ll work directly with engineers and DevOps to drive secure development and deployment practices from the ground up. Crypto/blockchain experience is a plus—not a requirement.

What You Will Do

• Define security baselines for endpoints; manage MDM/EDR and enforce compliance. Roll-out and maintain hardened configurations for Mac/Linux devices. Ensure fleet-wide visibility and policy adherence.

• Serve as the application security lead: threat modeling, design reviews, vulnerability assessments. Partner with engineers early in the lifecycle to identify risks and build secure-by-default systems.

• Build secure libraries, CI/CD security pipelines, and tooling used across engineering. Automate enforcement of security controls and provide frameworks that reduce friction for dev teams.

• Guide infrastructure hardening: firewall/IDS design, incident response playbooks, threat detection. Define secure defaults across cloud and bare metal, and develop response protocols for high-severity events.

• Set up real-time observability and alerting for security-relevant events. Leverage logs, telemetry, and anomaly detection to surface emerging threats and system misbehavior.

• Own vulnerability management, risk triage, and interface with auditors. Track issues end-to-end—from discovery to remediation—and ensure readiness for audits and assessments.

• Lead internal security reviews, drive secure SDLC practices, and champion a security-first culture. Build repeatable processes around secure code delivery and foster awareness across engineering.

Who You Are

• 10+ years experience in securing large scale distributed systems

• Experience in assessing the security posture of systems/services

• Experience with secure code review, penetration testing, and common security tools

• Strong engineering background and programming experience (Python, Golang, Rust, Bash, etc.)

• Strong communication skills and ability to work with remote teams

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in a relevant field, e.g. Computer Science, Information Systems/Technology, Cybersecurity, or equivalent practical experience

Why Work with Us

• Challenging problems. You’ll work on extremely challenging problems with massive impact.

• Huge opportunity. The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) standard is ubiquitous, but existing EVM-compatible chains are very slow. Monad’s core innovations offer developers the best of both worlds (portability and performance) and are a game-changer for mass user adoption in crypto.

• The right team. You’ll be part of a small, exceptional team (engineers and researchers make up 90% of the team).

• Culture. We’re a lean team working together to achieve very ambitious goals. We are united in our culture of collaboration, low ego, and high-quality output. As an early member of our team, you’ll help to shape our culture.

• Compensation. You’ll receive a competitive salary and equity package.

• Resources and growth. We’re well-capitalized, with backing from leading venture funds like Paradigm, Electric Capital, Greenoaks, Dragonfly, and Coinbase Ventures. We keep a lean team, and this is a rare opportunity to join. You’ll learn a lot and grow as our company scales.

Salary and benefits

Minimum full-time salary of $200,000. (**This is not a guarantee of compensation or salary; a final offer amount may vary based on factors including but not limited to experience, domain expertise, and geographic location.)

Benefits for US employees include:

• World class benefits package (medical/dental/vision)

• Unlimited paid time off

• 401(k) retirement plan + company match

• Lunch and dinner stipend (in-office NYC)

• Monthly wellness benefit

• Paid parental leave

Benefits for employees hired through an EOR (outside of the US) will be based on EOR offerings and country-specific requirements.