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The Principal Security Awareness & Human Risk Engineer is a strategic individual contributor role within GitLab's Security Assurance team. The role owns GitLab's global security awareness and education program and drives measurable reduction in human-related security risk — moving the program beyond completion-rate compliance toward sustained behavior change and embedded security culture.
What You’ll Do
- Own and evolve the global security awareness and education program, spanning annual, new-hire, role-based, targeted, executive, and microlearning content.
- Lead the phishing simulation program end to end — design, deployment, analysis, and targeted follow-up.
- Apply behavior change principles to reinforce secure habits and address priority risk behaviors.
- Build and sustain security culture through learning campaigns, Security Awareness Month, and ongoing engagement.
- Produce multimedia awareness and education content, including video.
- Administer the training and phishing platforms, owning program data and reporting end to end.
- Define and report performance indicators to Security Assurance leadership.
- Own vendor relationships for phishing, secure coding (OWASP) training, and video production.
- Lead market and competitor evaluations, renewal decisions, and cost negotiation, recommending in-house builds where commercial options underperform.
- Collaborate on and maintain security policies, standards, and procedures.
- Coordinate audit evidence and demonstrate control effectiveness.
- Track remediation of identified gaps to closure.
- A minimum of 10 years' experience building or scaling global awareness and human-risk programs in a large, globally distributed enterprise, with measurable outcomes; regulated-industry experience preferred.
- SANS Security Awareness Professional (SSAP) certification, or equivalent demonstrated expertise in building, maintaining, and measuring a mature awareness program.
- Demonstrated experience running enterprise-scale phishing programs and organization-wide awareness campaigns.
- Track record of evaluating, selecting, consolidating, or replacing security training vendors, including cost and value analysis.
- Instructional design capability
- Working knowledge of security policy development, audit support, and control evidence.
- Ability to influence enterprise strategy across technical and non-technical teams without formal authority.
- Ability to make complex security topics practical and engaging in an all-remote organization.
- Track record of onboarding, managing, and negotiating with third party vendors.
The Security Assurance organization helps GitLab build and maintain trust by strengthening how we approach security, compliance, and risk across the company. The Security Risk team sits within that group and owns third-party risk (TPRM), security risk assessments, and remediation of security findings. The Security Risk Team performs thorough, collaborative, and efficient risk assessments as well as drive risk reduction so that GitLab can achieve its goals while maintaining a high level of security. Security Risk counterparts are Security Compliance, Security Governance and Security Enablement functions.
The base salary range for this role’s listed level is currently for residents of the United States only. This range is intended to reflect the role's base salary rate in locations throughout the US. Grade level and salary ranges are determined through interviews and a review of education, experience, knowledge, skills, abilities of the applicant, equity with other team members, alignment with market data, and geographic location. The base salary range does not include any bonuses, equity, or benefits. See more information on our benefits and equity. Sales roles are also eligible for incentive pay targeted at up to 100% of the offered base salary.
- Benefits to support your health, finances, and well-being
- Flexible Paid Time Off
- Team Member Resource Groups
- Equity Compensation & Employee Stock Purchase Plan
- Growth and Development Fund
- Parental Leave
Please note that we welcome interest from candidates with varying levels of experience; many successful candidates do not meet every single requirement. Additionally, studies have shown that people from underrepresented groups are less likely to apply to a job unless they meet every single qualification. If you're excited about this role, please apply and allow our recruiters to assess your application.
Country Hiring Guidelines: GitLab hires new team members in countries around the world. All of our roles are remote, however some roles may carry specific location-based eligibility requirements. Our Talent Acquisition team can help answer any questions about location after starting the recruiting process.
Privacy Policy: Please review our Recruitment Privacy Policy. Your privacy is important to us.
GitLab is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. GitLab’s policies and practices relating to recruitment, employment, career development and advancement, promotion, and retirement are based solely on merit, regardless of race, color, religion, ancestry, sex (including pregnancy, lactation, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression), national origin, age, citizenship, marital status, mental or physical disability, genetic information (including family medical history), discharge status from the military, protected veteran status (which includes disabled veterans, recently separated veterans, active duty wartime or campaign badge veterans, and Armed Forces service medal veterans), or any other basis protected by law. GitLab will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics. See also GitLab’s EEO Policy and EEO is the Law. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know during the recruiting process.
