Security Engineer, Detection and Response
Serval
San Francisco, CA · $200k–$325k a year · Posted October 7, 2026
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Where San Francisco, CA ranks
Where San Francisco, CA placed in our monthly rankings, month by month. Each month stays online at its own address.
November 2026
- #1Best cities for security jobs316 openings · of 20
- #1Best cities for technology jobs7,178 openings · of 100
- #1Best cities for financial services pay after cost of living$173k · of 33
- #1Best cities for entry-level jobs that want AI skills35% · of 100
- #1Best cities for entry-level jobs that want AI skills in the West Coast35% · of 54
- #1Cities with the most jobs that do not need a four-year degree in the West Coast902 jobs · of 47
Rankings about security jobs
- Best cities for security jobs #1 San Francisco (316 openings)
- Best cities for security pay after cost of living #1 San Mateo ($241k)
- Most requested AI skills in security jobs #1 AI tools in daily work (10.8%)
- Employers with the most security jobs #1 Amazon (318 roles)
Pay compared with the market
This listing pays about $262,500 a year. Across 71 open security engineer listings that state pay, the middle half runs $157,500 to $267,500 and the median is $222,500. That is inside the middle half of those listings, 18% above the median.
Listed pay is what employers advertise, not what people are paid.
How AI is used in this kind of work
Among computer occupations, all other, AI is already used for a large share of the tasks. Measured exposure for computer occupations, all other: 31% (high).
Share of this job’s tasks that AI is already used for at work, from real usage. It is not a forecast of job loss, and a low number means no use seen yet. Source: Anthropic Economic Index.
About the job
WHO WE ARE
Serval http://serval.com/ is the AI-native enterprise service management platform that automates the work legacy IT service management tools only track. Our AI agents build the automations that power employee support, then resolve requests against them instantly—helping teams across IT, HR, finance, legal, and beyond automate work within one governed platform.
Companies including Fox, Live Nation, Notion, Ramp, and Lucid Motors run on Serval. Headquartered in San Francisco, we’ve raised $277 million from investors including Sequoia Capital, Redpoint Ventures, First Round, General Catalyst, and Elad Gil, most recently a $150 million Series C at a $3 billion valuation.
We’re building a team that moves quickly, takes ownership, and wants to make a meaningful impact on how the world’s largest organizations work. Come help us build what’s next for enterprise service management.
ROLE OVERVIEW
As Detection and Response Lead, you'll build and scale the foundations of Serval's cybersecurity detection and response operations. You will set the strategy and drive execution for security monitoring, incident response, recovery, and post-incident improvement across our infrastructure and the systems our customers trust us to operate in.
You'll be a hands-on leader with deep technical credibility and strong operational instincts. You will build and mentor a team, partner closely with Engineering and Product, and ensure that detection and response capabilities are embedded by design into the systems that power Serval.
WHAT YOU'LL DO
- Design, implement, and operate detection and response operations, including continuous monitoring, triage, investigation, containment, and remediation of security events across a diverse set of networks and infrastructure.
- Build, lead, and directly mentor a team spanning observability, detection and response, and threat intelligence, hiring and scaling these functions deliberately and proportionately as Serval's platform and customer footprint grow.
- Ensure world-class operational rigor and readiness through incident playbooks, on-call and escalation paths, tabletop exercises, and continuous improvement of response quality and speed.
- Improve detection quality and coverage by partnering with engineering teams to ensure critical telemetry is available, reliable, and actionable across cloud, corporate, and production environments.
- Partner deeply across Engineering, Product, and Infrastructure to embed detection and response into Serval's systems by design rather than as an afterthought.
- Build a security program capable of withstanding sophisticated adversaries, including by using Serval's own agents to solve frontier security and security-operations problems.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED
- Have 10+ years in cybersecurity with deep expertise in detection engineering, incident response, and security operations.
- Have deep experience building and leading detection and response, instrumentation/observability, and threat intelligence teams.
- Have stellar leadership skills and a demonstrated history of driving durable, continuous improvements to programs, processes, and people.
- Have exceptional written and verbal communication skills, can remain calm under pressure, and can effectively run command of security incidents involving numerous stakeholders across a diverse gamut of teams, expertise, and seniority.
- Have deep expertise in modern observability stacks (e.g., SIEM, data lakes, EDR, cloud telemetry, logging) and detection primitives.
- Understand modern adversary tradecraft (TTPs) and have demonstrated experience translating it into practical detection strategies and response actions.
- Are mission-oriented, have unimpeachable integrity, and are passionate about detecting and responding to adversaries in a highly complex, fast-paced environment.
WHAT WE OFFER
- Impact: Be a key player in shaping the success of our product and company.
- Growth: Build a fundamentally new AI product offering with the support of our experienced team and investors. Grow rapidly with the company.
- Culture: Join a culture that values innovation, ownership, accountability, and fun.