Staff Engineer, Cloud Security

The job

LIVE Employer public job feed (private-sector employer) Source: the employer's public careers feed · Data: listed 2026-10-20

Job description

Toast creates technology to help restaurants and local businesses succeed in a digital world, helping business owners operate, increase sales, engage customers, and keep employees happy.

The Product & Platform Security team at Toast protects the cloud infrastructure and services that restaurants depend on every day. We are looking for a Staff Engineer, Cloud Security to expand the scope and coverage of our cloud security capabilities. You will join an existing cloud security team and take a role in setting direction for how Toast secures its cloud environments. This is a hands-on role with technical leadership responsibilities: you will build and operate security tooling and controls yourself, while also shaping strategy, mentoring teammates, and influencing the roadmaps of engineering teams across R&D.

Our footprint is primarily AWS. You will work closely with Platform and Infrastructure teams in R&D, and with Defense & Response and other Security Engineering teams within Trust & Security.

A day in the life (Responsibilities)

• Own and operate our Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP), including tuning, coverage, integrations, and turning findings into prioritized, actionable work for engineering teams.
• Lead cloud security posture management (CSPM) across our AWS organization and accounts, defining standards and measuring adherence over time.
• Drive identity and access management improvements, including least privilege, role and permission design, and reducing standing access.
• Secure our container environments, from image and workload security to cluster configuration and runtime protection.
• Build guardrails and secure defaults into infrastructure as code and deployment pipelines, so that teams get secure configurations by default rather than through review.
• Perform secure architecture reviews and threat modeling for new and existing cloud services and platform capabilities.
• Partner with our SOC on cloud detection coverage, logging, and investigation readiness.
• Run and improve cloud vulnerability and misconfiguration remediation programs, working with engineering owners to drive risk down.
• Participate in security incident response, including on-call coverage, and lead the cloud side of investigations and follow-up work.
• Set the multi-year direction for cloud security at Toast, and mentor and uplevel other engineers on the team.
• Build trusted relationships with Platform, Infrastructure, and product engineering leaders, and influence their priorities through data and clear risk communication.

What you'll need to thrive (Requirements)

• 8+ years of experience in security engineering, infrastructure, or software engineering, with significant time focused on cloud security.
• Deep, hands-on experience securing AWS environments at scale, including IAM, Organizations, networking, logging, and core security services.
• Experience deploying and operating cloud security tooling, such as CNAPP or CSPM platforms (for example Orca, Wiz, or Upwind).
• Experience with container and Kubernetes security (for example EKS).
• Experience performing threat modeling and security architecture reviews for cloud services and platform capabilities.
• Experience responding to security incidents in cloud environments.
• Proficiency with infrastructure as code (for example Terraform) and in at least one programming language used for automation (for example Python or Go).
• A track record of leading cross-team technical initiatives and influencing engineering teams without direct authority.
• History of setting technical direction for a security domain, including a multi-year roadmap and the decisions behind it
• Clear written and verbal communication, including explaining risk and tradeoffs to engineers and leaders.

What will help you stand out (Nonessentials/Nice to Haves)

• Experience with GCP, Azure, or other cloud platforms.
• Experience with cloud detection engineering or incident response in cloud environments.
• Familiarity with compliance frameworks relevant to payments and SaaS, such as PCI DSS or SOC 2.
• Relevant certifications, such as AWS Certified Security Specialty or CCSP.
• Experience mentoring engineers or growing a security function.

AI at Toast

At Toast, one of our company values is that we're hungry to build and learn. We believe learning new AI tools empowers us to build for our customers faster, more independently, and with higher quality. We provide these tools across all disciplines, from Engineering and Product to Sales and Support, and are inspired by how our Toasters are already driving real value with them. The people who thrive here are those who embrace changes that let us build more for our customers; it’s a core part of our culture.

Our Total Rewards Philosophy 
We strive to provide competitive compensation and benefits programs that help to attract, retain, and motivate the best and brightest people in our industry. Our total rewards package goes beyond great earnings potential and provides the means to a healthy lifestyle with the flexibility to meet Toasters’ changing needs. Learn more about our benefits at https://careers.toasttab.com/toast-benefits.

The base salary range for this role is listed below. The starting salary will be determined based on skills, experience, and geographic location. In addition to base salary, our total rewards components include cash compensation (overtime, bonus/commissions if eligible), equity, and benefits. You can learn more about how we align pay with local labor markets in our Geographic Pay Zone Philosophy.

How Toast Uses AI in its Hiring Process

Throughout the hiring process, our goal is to get to know you. We use AI tools to support our recruiters and interviewers with tasks like note-taking, summarization, and documentation of interviews to ensure they can be fully focused on your conversation. All hiring decisions are made by people. We ask that you complete interviews and assessments on your own, without real-time AI tools, recording, or transcription bots, unless we tell you otherwise in advance. To learn more: https://careers.toasttab.com/ai-in-hiring

Our Approach to Hybrid Working

We embrace a hybrid work model that fosters in-person collaboration while valuing individual needs. Our goal is to build a strong culture of connection as we work together to empower the hospitality community, regardless of location. Please visit the Locations page on our career site to learn more about our in-office expectations by region: https://careers.toasttab.com/locations-toast

People Are the Secret Ingredient in Our Recipe for Success

At Toast, our employees are our secret ingredient—when they thrive, we thrive. The restaurant industry brings together people with a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, and we value that same breadth at Toast. We strive to build a culture grounded in authenticity, respect, and humility, where every Toaster has a real opportunity to grow, contribute, and do their best work—raising the bar in delivering exceptional experiences for our customers and each other.

Apply today!

Toast is committed to creating an accessible and inclusive hiring process. As part of this commitment, we strive to provide reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities to enable them to access the hiring process. If you need an accommodation to access the job application or interview process, please contact candidateaccommodations@toasttab.com.

------

For roles in the United States, it is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Explore around this job

Field: Technology Sub-niche: Cloud, IT and infrastructure All jobs at Toast

View this job and apply on the employer's page →

You apply on the employer's page; AtiveSite does not receive or process applications and is not affiliated with the employer. The description above is shown as the source published it.

About the role

This is a — role in the Technology field (Cloud, IT and infrastructure) at Toast.

We could not match this job title to one occupation in the official wage statistics, so no pay estimate is shown. Pay is not in the source listing; ask the employer for the range and compare in the 240 job niches.

How to prepare and behave

This is editorial guidance, not information from the employer.

• Read the whole description and match your examples to its requirements; use the same words the posting uses where they are true for you.
• Research the employer before the interview: what it does, who its customers are and recent news; prepare two or three questions about the work.
• Arrive early (or log in early for a video call), dress one step above the daily dress code, and test your camera and audio beforehand.
• Answer with short stories: the situation, what you did and the result. Give numbers when you have them and never invent them.
• Be honest about gaps; say what you did to learn and how fast you can close them.
• Ask about the team, the first 90 days, how success is measured and the schedule; do not open with salary and time off.
• When pay comes up, know the market range for the occupation and your lowest acceptable offer before you answer; ask for the full package in writing.
• Send a short thank-you message within a day, mentioning one thing you discussed.
• The listing mentions a remote or flexible location. Confirm with the employer whether remote work applies to your state: taxes, licensing and benefits can depend on where you live.
• Have code, data work or projects you can show, and be ready to think aloud: many technical interviews test how you reason, not only the answer.

Know your rights as a candidate and an employee:

• U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: prohibited employment practices
• U.S. Department of Labor: Wage and Hour Division
• CareerOneStop (U.S. Department of Labor): job search help, interview tips and resumes
• USA.gov: avoiding job scams

The city

The listing is remote or has no US state we could identify. Read the country guide for pay, taxes, law and cost of living by state.

Where to live

The job city has no coordinates we can place on the map, so no housing comparison is shown. Use the 250 largest cities table to compare rent and income.

Career paths

We could not match this title to one occupation, so here are the other sub-niches in Technology, where your skills may carry over:

Cybersecurity (512) Data, analytics and AI (2461) Software engineering (2678) Product management (570)

Distances

This job has no single city we can place on the map (remote, flexible or unmatched location), so no distance table is shown. Browse all Technology jobs with distances from any of the 20 largest cities.

The employer

Toast is the employer in this listing. See all its open jobs here →

We do not hold headcount or revenue for this employer. Check its careers site and, if it is listed on a stock exchange, its public filings (SEC EDGAR search).

What it is like to work at a company (culture, schedules, benefits) is not in the source data, so we do not describe it. Read the description and ask the questions under "How to prepare".

Other open jobs at Toast

Similar jobs

Same sub-niche: Cloud, IT and infrastructure

All Cloud, IT and infrastructure jobs → · All Technology sub-niches →

FAQ

What is the Staff Engineer, Cloud Security job at Toast?

A private-sector role in technology (cloud, it and infrastructure) listed 20 days ago. The full description is on this page and on the employer's page.

Where is this job?

Remote / flexible (United States). A remote or flexible location is listed; confirm with the employer which states are accepted.

How do I apply?

Use the "View this job and apply on the employer's page" button. AtiveSite does not receive applications.

How much does it pay?

The listing does not publish pay, and we could not match the title to one official occupation.

What is the cost of living there?

See the state or country guide for rent, income and taxes.

How old is this listing?

It was posted on 2026-10-20 (20 days ago). Jobs older than 90 days are not shown.

Are there similar jobs?

Yes: browse cloud, it and infrastructure jobs in the United States.

Sources and terms

• Job data: Toast careers page public feed (listing dated 2026-10-20). The job disappears from this site when it disappears from the source.
• Wages and projections: BLS OEWS (May 2025) and Employment Projections 2025–35.
• City and county figures: Census Bureau ACS 2020–2024, BEA, BLS QCEW and LAUS, NASA POWER climatology; distances from Census Gazetteer coordinates.

AtiveSite is not affiliated with or endorsed by the employer or any government agency, and does not process applications. Verify every detail with the employer before acting.

Sources

• BLS OEWS (wages and employment by occupation, May 2025)
• BLS Employment Projections 2025–35
• BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics
• BLS JOLTS
• BLS State and Metro Area Employment
• Census Bureau American Community Survey (via Census Reporter)
• BEA GDP by state and Regional Price Parities
• IRS 2026 tax adjustments
• U.S. Department of Labor, minimum wage by state
• Tax Foundation state income tax rates 2026
• USAJOBS
• USCIS
• U.S. Department of State, visas
• NASA POWER climatology
• GeoNames / Census Gazetteer (coordinates)