Staff Security Advocate

About Semgrep

Semgrep, the leader in code security for builders, empowers invention without friction. Teams catch, flag, and fix real issues before they ship, powered by security that learns as they build. Semgrep secures code as it’s written and provides guardrails that pave the road for developers to move fast and stay secure. Built for builders and trusted by security, Semgrep lives where developers work, delivering fixes without breaking flow, and giving security teams visibility, control, and confidence. Semgrep gets smarter as you build, with AI that learns your context to cut false positives and prioritize reachable vulnerabilities, validated by 95% of security reviewers across 6M+ findings. Semgrep makes zero false positives a reality with AppSec teams triaging 80% fewer false positives across Code and Supply Chain, dramatically shrinking the backlog.

Founded in San Francisco and backed by Menlo Ventures, Felicis Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, and Sequoia Capital, Semgrep is recognized by Gartner in Application Security Testing and is trusted by leading organizations, including Snowflake, Dropbox, and Figma. Learn more at semgrep.dev.

About the role

The Semgrep Security Advocacy team drives awareness and preference for Semgrep within both application security and software development communities. A Security Advocate will educate teams on secure coding, activate them through delightful product onboarding experiences, and encourage community champions to become force-multipliers that amplify our messages. We work extremely hard but also bring the fun to cross-functional.

Location expectations:

• This role is remote friendly, with some travel expected. 

Prior experience in a fast-paced, tech environment is helpful, but we are more interested in your curiosity and passion for learning and technical skills than your pedigree. So if this opportunity excites you but you don’t meet the exact requirements, apply anyway!

What you’ll do

Security Research & Thought Leadership

• Partner with security researchers to investigate emerging security trends and patterns, transforming complex findings into easily understandable and actionable insights that resonate with security and developer audiences.

• Build and maintain credibility as a trusted security voice by publishing original research, proof-of-concepts, and detailed analysis.

Content Creation

• Amplify discoveries and messages through compelling story narratives and real-world demonstrations.

• Address critical security education gaps within developer and security ecosystems.

• Produce high-impact technical content including conference presentations, in-depth blog posts, video tutorials, and short-form community engagement on social channels and forums.

Community Building & Evangelism

• Establish Semgrep as the go-to solution for secure coding by engaging authentically with security practitioners and software development teams wherever they are.

• Lead technical workshops and hands-on training sessions that demonstrate practical security risks and remediation using Semgrep tools.

• Cultivate relationships with other influencers within DevSecOps and AppSec communities to expand your reach and gather intelligence.

• Support internal teammates to be the best version of themselves by sharing your knowledge and best practices across functions.

Product Feedback Loop

• Serve as the voice of the community within Semgrep, translating user pain points and opportunities into product enhancement opportunities.

• Support engineering and product teams to beta test and provide comprehensive user experience feedback.

You are ideal for this role if you have

Technical Security Expertise

• 8+ years of hands-on keyboard experience identifying, analyzing, and remediating security vulnerabilities across web applications, cloud infrastructure, and APIs.

• Proven track record of security research contributions such as CVE discoveries, security advisories, or published research.

• Deep understanding of OWASP Top 10, secure coding practices, and common vulnerability classes as well as application security testing methodologies (SAST, DAST, IAST) with familiarity of strengths and limitations.

Software Development & Tools

• Strong programming skills in multiple languages commonly used in enterprise development (Python, JavaScript, Java, Go, etc.).

• Experience with modern development workflows and methodologies including CI/CD pipelines, containerization, infrastructure as code, cloud deployment, and generative AI.

Communication & Advocacy Skills

• Ability to translate complex technical concepts into business value or user-friendly explanations.

• Exceptional written and verbal communication abilities with a portfolio of technical content delivered to technical audiences.

• Proven public speaking experience at industry conferences, meetups, or similar events.

• Experience building and nurturing technical communities through contributions, organization, and online engagement.

• Be able to speak with compassion and empathy to everybody from the CTO/CISO to Software Developer/Intern/Security Engineer.

• Previous developer relations role such as a developer advocate, technical evangelist, or similar public-facing community position.

Compensation

The estimated starting annual salary range for this position is $147,500 to $199,500 USD. The actual base salary will be determined based on a number of factors, which may include job-related skills, relevant experience, qualifications, location, internal equity, and market data. In addition to base salary, total compensation may include equity, variable compensation, and benefits. We view equity as a meaningful part of our compensation philosophy and a way for employees to share in the long-term value they help create.
Compensation ranges are reviewed regularly and may be adjusted as the role, individual performance, or market conditions evolve.

What we offer (full time employees only)

Our goal is to competitively and fairly compensate every Semgrep employee with a system that equally rewards those who are vocal and those who are less comfortable making demands during the final steps of the hiring process. To that end, we generate internal compensation bands that are used when discussing and negotiating salaries. We update these based on market data to make sure they’re above the average for comparable roles.

We also invest in our employees’ well-being and long term success with comprehensive health plans, generous vacation time, 401k, learning stipends, and more. Our benefits are for everyone, so that you’re taken care of, and we work with individuals to make sure you have what you need, whether that’s quiet work space, adjusted hours, or something else.

Who we are

We have people from France and the Philippines, physics and philosophy, formal methods research and full fledged corporations. We’re new parents and new grads, aspiring authors and aspiring Americans, dog lovers and dogfooders. We get together often to bike, bake, and meet up in parks. In our interactions, we believe respect and honesty go hand in hand, and prioritize both.

Semgrep is an equal-opportunity employer seeking a diverse range of backgrounds. We value who you are — including your cultural heritage, your socioeconomic status, your age, your race, your gender, your sexual orientation, your disabilities. We value what’s vitally important to you — your family, your religion, your politics. We value what you love in this world — your music, your weekend pursuits. We believe in welcoming varied professional backgrounds, educations, and interests. If you’re exceptional in your role, believe in Semgrep’s mission, and treat Semgrep’s values as your own, you belong here.

Please Note: For US-based roles open to remote work, we are currently able to hire employees in the following states only: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.