Application Security Engineer

Electrum is a next-generation payment software technology company.

Since 2012, we've delivered trusted, enterprise-grade, cloud-native software to optimise financial transaction processing. Our deep expertise has established us as a respected partner in high-volume, low-value payment schemes, enabling clients to deliver services to millions of South Africans daily.

At Electrum, we are grounded in impact – designing solutions that matter, acting with urgency, and continuously learning as we scale. We believe in creating together – working side by side with our clients and teams to build meaningful, lasting solutions. We prioritise making it safe – encouraging open communication, smart risk-taking, and trust so that creativity and alignment thrive. And we back empowered strong teams – hiring brilliant people, collaborating hard, and holding each other to high standards while leading with empathy and kindness.

When you join the Electrum team, you’ll get to:

• Be part of the entire journey — from the spark of an idea to the final product launch.
• Grow your skills through world-class training and hands-on learning every day.
• Receive mentorship and guidance from industry leaders who are invested in your success.
• Work in a dynamic, innovative workplace where collaboration and creativity thrive.
• Tackle real-world customer challenges and see the impact of your work firsthand.
• Explore plenty of opportunities to grow your career and expand your expertise.

Gain valuable experience in a leading FinTech environment, contributing to meaningful, high-impact projects.

The Opportunity

At Electrum, security is embedded in everything we do. As an Application Security Engineer, you’ll “shift security left” by building tools, libraries, and automated guardrails that empower developers to move fast without compromising security. You’ll work closely with platforms like CrowdStrike, SonarQube, and AWS Security Hub to enable self-service security, making secure coding the simplest, most efficient option for our product teams. You won’t be a gatekeeper - you’ll be an enabler.

The Role

You will focus on developer enablement, allowing our developers to build fast - securely. While our other Security Engineers focus on the broader organisational perimeter and threat landscape, you will be the "boots on the ground" inside the Engineering department. You will have the autonomy to build tools and leverage industry-leading platforms to ensure our product remains the most trusted in the industry. Key responsibilities include:

• Defining the security standard for our product-team deployments and applications.
• Integrate and optimise security tools (SAST, SCA, Secret Detection) into developer workflows.
• Work with product teams to architect and build secure frameworks and patterns, reducing their future cognitive load.
• Automate remediation for common security issues across environments.
• Design and deploy AI/LLM models and tooling for security-focused change reviews.
• Drive developer engagement with security through initiatives like “Security Champions” programs, workshops, lunch-and-learns, and the "security health score" initiative to inform teams about their workload security posture.
• Collaborate with product teams on threat modelling and translate compliance requirements (ISO 27001, SOC 2) into clear technical specs.
• Harden CI/CD pipelines and ensure actionable, relevant security checks.
• Work with Security Operations Engineers to automate security incident triage, removing noise to prioritise high-signal, low-noise alerting.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related Software Engineering field, or equivalent practical experience.
• A minimum of 5 years of experience in Software Engineering or DevOps is required, with at least 3 of those years specifically focused on security.
• Strong communication skills to translate technical vulnerabilities into business and engineering impact.
• Experience with cloud security (AWS) and Infrastructure as Code (Terraform/CloudFormation).
• Proficient in architecting and developing secure applications (preferably in Java).
• Proficient in scripting (Python, Bash, Go) for automation of security tasks.
• Deep understanding of CI/CD systems and embedding security checks without slowing delivery.
• Advantageous: AppSec fundamentals (OWASP Top 10, dependency management, OAuth2/OIDC), experience with SonarQube and CrowdStrike.

Benefits

Why Join Electrum?

• We believe in a People First approach, ensuring a culture where you can thrive and make a real difference
  
  

Your Career & Culture

• Career Growth: Delivering world-class financial software is challenging, but your effort will earn you hands-on experience with products used by millions, accelerating your career.
• Strong Teams: We keep teams small, focused, and collaborative to maximize impact.
• Transparency: We openly discuss strategy, finances, and salaries. Mistakes are viewed as learning opportunities that we actively discuss.
• Autonomy: We trust you. You're expected to seek out the data needed for informed decisions and manage your own time—knowing when to focus and when to recharge.
• Shared Vision: You'll have the power to shape the vision of how we build the future of financial services.

Practical Perks

Here's how we support our culture:

• Flexible Work: Office-first environment with flexible hours.

• Generous Leave: Starting at 20 days per year.
• Office Perks (Cape Town): Fully-stocked kitchen and daily catered lunch.

• Social Life: Regular team activities like hikes, getaways, and dinners