Cybersecurity

Principal Software Engineer, macOS/Linux Agents

RemoteRemoteFull TimePrincipalPosted 1 month ago

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Required skills

macOS
Linux
endpoint technology
software engineering
production systems
managed languages
concurrency
resource management
runtime behavior
error handling

Nice to have

Apple Endpoint Security framework
process-execution authorization events
Full Disk Access
system extensions
entitlements
code signing

Role summary

Airlock Digital is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead the development of their macOS and Linux endpoint agents. This senior individual contributor role involves setting technical direction, designing architecture, and implementing features for application control and allowlisting technology. The engineer will focus on security-critical systems, debugging complex production issues, and mentoring other engineers. Responsibilities include translating product needs into engineering plans, ensuring reliability and performance, and collaborating across teams. Experience with macOS and Linux systems, endpoint security, and concurrent programming is essential. Direct experience with specific macOS and Linux security frameworks is preferred.

Location: San Francisco, Denver, Boston, Remote

Who Are We?

About Airlock Digital:

Airlock Digital is a global leader in application control and allowlisting. We seek to empower every organization to run only what they trust and operate free from malware and ransomware.

With rapid growth across Australia, North America, and EMEA. We are committed to our core values, respect, determination, and integrity. We support a diverse and expanding global customer base. At Airlock, we pride ourselves on being a team of humble, collaborative, and driven professionals who support one another and share a passion for cybersecurity.

What We are Looking For:

We are looking for a Principal Software Engineer to help shape the next generation of Airlock Digital’s macOS and Linux endpoint technology. This is a senior individual-contributor role with broad technical influence. You will set direction through architecture and design work, turn product and customer needs into practical engineering plans, and contribute directly by implementing features, reviewing code, and resolving complex defects.

The macOS/Linux Agent spans operating-system event monitoring and enforcement, privileged services, local policy and data management, secure communications, installation and update workflows, and platform-specific user experiences. You will bring strong macOS and Linux systems judgment to this work, build alignment around important technical decisions, and help other engineers solve difficult problems. You will work across engineering, product, QA, security, support, and cloud teams to improve product quality and customer outcomes.

Key Responsibilities:

Set and communicate the technical direction for Airlock Digital’s macOS and Linux Agents. Translate product and customer needs into sound designs, architectural decisions, and executable engineering plans.

Contribute directly to the shared managed-language codebase and platform-specific components by implementing features, reviewing code, and resolving high-priority defects.

Lead design, architecture, and code reviews. Build alignment around the boundaries between shared Agent capabilities and operating-system-specific integrations while maintaining security, reliability, performance, and maintainability.

Own technical outcomes for application-control enforcement and Agent lifecycle behavior across supported macOS releases and Linux distributions, including event monitoring, policy evaluation, trusted software handling, installation, updates, recovery, and secure communications.

Diagnose difficult production issues involving privileged services, concurrency, resource usage, filesystems, process execution, operating-system security controls, package formats, and processor architectures.

Raise the engineering bar through technical mentorship, knowledge sharing, automated testing, observability, and improvements to build, release, and diagnostic capabilities. Partner with product, QA, security, support, and cloud engineering to manage technical risk and coordinate delivery.

Required Skills & Qualifications:

8-12+ years of professional software engineering experience, including significant experience building production systems software in one or more managed languages, with strong knowledge of concurrency, resource management, runtime behavior, error handling, performance, reliability, and low-level debugging.

Strong systems-engineering experience across macOS and Linux, with deep expertise in at least one platform and demonstrated ability to design, debug, and deliver effectively on the other.

A record of designing, shipping, and sustaining security-critical endpoint software, privileged Agents, operating-system services, or another always-on product where correctness, stability, performance, and safe failure behavior are essential.

Strong knowledge of Unix-like operating systems, including processes and signals, permissions, filesystems, services, inter-process communication, package management, and privileged execution.

Experience integrating managed-language software with native operating-system APIs and building concurrent, event-driven software that must make reliable, time-sensitive decisions.

Sound security judgment around code and publisher trust, cryptographic hashing, TLS and certificates, authentication and authorization, sensitive local data, secure IPC, persistence, and software updates.

Proven technical leadership in a mature software product. This should include architecture and design decisions, resolving ambiguous tradeoffs, building alignment across teams, mentoring engineers, and influencing outcomes without relying on managerial authority.

A bachelor’s degree in computer science, software engineering or related field is preferred but not required; equivalent practical experience is welcomed.

Nice-to-Have Skills and Experience

Direct experience with Apple’s Endpoint Security framework, process-execution authorization events, Full Disk Access, system extensions, entitlements, code signing, or other macOS endpoint-security capabilities.

Direct experience with Linux fanotify, /proc, filesystem mounts and namespaces, process inspection, permission events, or comparable Linux enforcement and monitoring mechanisms.

Proficiency with C, Objective-C, Swift, or mixed-language applications that cross managed and native platform boundaries.

Experience with macOS application and installer packaging, Xcode projects, launchd, Developer ID signing, notarization, entitlements, and secure application updates.

Experience supporting Linux services and software delivery through systemd, SysV or Upstart, RPM and DEB packages, rpm/dpkg databases, SELinux policy, or related packaging tools.

What We Offer:

We don’t think money is everything, but we know it is an important part of your decision to apply for a role. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include responsibilities of the job, education, location, experience, knowledge, skills, abilities, and internal equity, alignment with market data, or applicable laws.

At Airlock Digital we offer a wide range of benefits to our eligible team members. Our benefit programs vary by location and can include Medical, dental, and vision insurance – 401K Plan with 4% Company Match – Life and Disability Programs – Paid Parental Leave - Paid time off and Paid Holidays – Volunteer and Birthday Time off – Home Office Allowance

Our Commitment:

We believe in supporting our team members both personally and professionally. Named one of the USA’s Greatest Places to Work in 2024 and 2025, we value flexibility, trust, and a work environment that empowers our team to do their best work.

We will be assessing applications as they come in, so we encourage you to send your resume through to us as soon as possible. All official job offers from our company are extended directly by our recruitment team and will be sent through an official BambooHR document for your review and signature. Please be aware that we do not ask for any personal information in the process of extending offers of employment, such as financial details or social security numbers. Upon acceptance of any offer, we will request such information as part of the onboarding process prior to or on your first day of employment, and only after completing a background check through an authorized third-party vendor. If you receive any communication asking for personal details outside of these processes, please contact us immediately to verify the authenticity of the request. Your security is important to us, and we are committed to a safe and transparent hiring experience. No contact from recruitment agencies, thank you

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