Security Engineer III - Detection & Response
Primer.io · United Kingdom
An Introduction to Primer
Primer is the unified infrastructure for global payments. We give finance and payments teams the visibility and control to reduce complexity, improve performance, and capture more revenue - all from a single platform.
Backed by Sofina, Peak XV Partners, ICONIQ, Tencent, Accel, and Balderton, we're building the payments layer the world's best companies rely on.
Learn more about our culture >
Primer processes payments for some of the world's best companies, which makes us an attractive target and means getting detection and response right really matters. We're looking for a Security Engineer to join our Detection & Response function and own a meaningful slice of how we detect, investigate and respond to threats across our cloud infrastructure and SaaS estate.
You'll write and tune the detections in our SIEM, build the automation that speeds up how we react, and be a first responder when something looks wrong. You'll have real ownership of the areas you work on, and the freedom to shape how we detect and respond to threats across them.
You'll also work closely with our Application Security/Product Security engineers: what we learn from detections and incidents shapes how we build, and what they know about our products shapes what we look for.
What you'll be doing
Detection
Build, tune and maintain detections in our SIEM (Elastic), and identify opportunities to onboard new log sources (e.g. AWS, Google Workspace, Kubernetes) and build new detections on top of them.
Find what our current detections miss, and keep the rule set lean by removing what no longer adds value.
Use Python and Terraform to build and maintain the infrastructure behind your detections and tooling.
Response
Own investigation: triage, investigate, escalate and resolve security incidents, and write up findings clearly enough to stand on their own
Lead routine incidents end to end, and take a clear role in larger ones, whether that's driving the investigation or keeping stakeholders informed
Build runbooks and automations (Python, Tines or similar) to cut manual work out of triage and response
Join our on-call rotation for incident response and monitoring
Across both
Make and document risk decisions in your area, and know when to pull in others.
Keep the controls you own audit-ready and contribute evidence for audits (e.g. SOC 2, PCI DSS).
Use AI tools to work faster across detection and response, from drafting rules and queries to summarising investigations, while maintaining a healthy level of scepticism.
What we're looking for
Real experience responding to security incidents, from first alert through to write-up
Hands-on experience writing and tuning detections in a SIEM (Elastic, Splunk or similar), using frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK to reason about coverage
Experience with cloud-native detection and response in AWS or Google Cloud
Comfortable with Python or Go for scripting and automation
Clear, structured written communication, including under pressure
Nice to have
Experience with Terraform or other infrastructure-as-code
Experience with no-code security automation or SOAR-style tooling
Exposure to compliance frameworks like PCI DSS, SOC 2 or ISO27001
Background in fintech, payments or another regulated industry
Experience using AI tools or agents in security work, and a clear view of where they help and where they don't
✅ A typical interview process
An initial intro call with a Talent Partner
An interview with the Hiring Manager
Challenge Stage - Contextualised to the role
A final, values-alignment interview
What's the culture like at Primer?
We're building a culture where people can do their best work and be proud of the impact they have. You'll be working with people who are mission-driven, smart, and reflective, and who are genuinely invested in building exceptional products and delivering success for our merchants.
We work remotely, and have done since day one. We believe that building a successful, profitable company goes beyond proximity. We invest in our relationships through great remote working practices and thoughtfully designed face-to-face time, including workations, our annual company retreat, and access to co-working spaces across most major cities.
The work is challenging. Scaleups are a challenge, and building category-defining products is a challenge. But there's a meaningful difference between a challenge and a struggle. At Primer, the right challenge comes with the right support: strong onboarding, a collaborative environment, and a team that is genuinely invested in your success. It's never something you face alone.
Our benefits
🌍 We are fully remote and globally distributed; and have been since day one
💰 Competitive share options
🌴 Flexible holiday, with 25 days minimum to be taken
🗣️ Co-working space access across major cities
📅 Workations & Company Retreat
💻 The best equipment for your role
🏠 £500 towards your home office setup
🔎 Generous learning budget
🏥 Private Medical Insurance
📈 A broad set of additional perks and benefits (depending on location)
Don’t meet every single requirement?
At Primer, we're dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace. If you're excited about this role but your experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification listed, we encourage you to apply. You may be the right candidate for this or other roles.
Primer is committed to the equal treatment of all current and prospective employees and adopts a zero-tolerance approach to discrimination, regardless of age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, or any other background or belief.