Sr. Software Engineer, Threat Intelligence

About Us:

Proofpoint is a global leader in human- and agent-centric cybersecurity. We protect how people, data, and AI agents connect across email, cloud, and collaboration tools. Over 80 of the Fortune 100, 10,000 large enterprises, and millions of smaller organizations trust Proofpoint to stop threats, prevent data loss, and build resilience across their people and AI workflows. Our mission is simple: safeguard the digital world and empower people to work securely and confidently. Join us in our pursuit to defend data and protect people.

How We Work:

At Proofpoint you’ll be part of a global team that breaks barriers to redefine cybersecurity guided by our BRAVE core values: 

Bold in how we dream and innovate

Responsive to feedback, challenges and opportunities

Accountable for results and best in class outcomes

Visionary in future focused problem-solving

Exceptional in execution and impact

The Role  

This is a hands-on, high-autonomy role spanning the full development lifecycle. The primary focus is software development, with additional responsibility for database management and infrastructure as needed to support the team's systems.
 

Your day-to-day

• Build and maintain full-stack applications and backend services using Python, TypeScript, React, and Go. 
• Own and manage large SQL databases backing applications and services used by the Threat Intelligence team, including schema design, query optimization, migrations, and operational health. 
• Proactively identify problems before they become incidents:  Seek out reliability, performance, and correctness issues. Improve runbooks, dashboards, alert quality, and automation. 
• Collaborate closely with other engineering teams and threat intelligence stakeholders to deliver outcomes that strengthen the team's ability to produce actionable intelligence. 
• Help manage and maintain AWS infrastructure supporting the team's services:  VPC configuration, ECS, Aurora/RDS, EC2, Networking, SNS/SQS, CDK 
• Adhere to best practices when it comes to CI/CD, observability, and monitoring: GitHub Actions, CloudWatch/Grafana, Docker 

What you bring to the team

• Substantive Python experience in production or enterprise environments — we're looking for engineers who have designed, built, and maintained Python systems with real operational accountability, not solely scripting or automation. 
• PostgreSQL experience is required. Candidates without direct PostgreSQL experience will be considered where they can demonstrate equivalent depth with a comparable relational database system. 
• Hands-on AWS infrastructure management experience, including provisioning and operating resources such as EC2 instances, RDS databases, VPCs, and related services. 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Experience with FastAPI. 
• Experience with ClickHouse or other columnar/analytical datastores. 
• Experience working in a security vendor environment, with exposure to large volumes of raw telemetry. 
• Understanding of knowledge graphs and graph databases. 
• Comfort using AI-assisted tooling thoughtfully — for example, to accelerate implementation backed by sound planning and detailed design — paired with strong engineering judgment about when and how to apply it. 

Nice to Have 

• Experience managing, maintaining, and tuning PostgreSQL databases at scale. 
• Familiarity with building modern CLI/TUI tooling. 
• Familiarity working with Agentic/MCP technologies. 

Why Proofpoint?

At Proofpoint, we believe that an exceptional career experience includes a comprehensive compensation and benefits package. Here are just a few reasons you’ll love working with us:

• Competitive compensation

• Comprehensive benefits

• Career success on your terms

• Flexible work environment

• Annual wellness and community outreach days

• Always on recognition for your contributions

• Global collaboration and networking opportunities

Our Culture:

Our culture is rooted in values that inspire belonging, empower purpose and drive success-every day, for everyone.

We encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. If you need accommodation during the application or interview process, please reach out to [email protected].

How to Apply

Interested? Submit your application along with any supporting information- we can’t wait to hear from you!

Consistent with Proofpoint values and applicable law, we provide the following information to promote pay transparency and equity. Our compensation reflects the cost of labor across several U.S. geographic markets, and we pay differently based on those defined markets as set out below. Pay within these ranges varies and depends on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The actual offer will be based on the individual candidate. The range provided may represent a candidate range and may not reflect the full range for an individual tenured employee. This role may be eligible for variable compensation and/or equity. We offer a competitive benefits package, including flexible time off, a comprehensive well-being program with two paid Wellbeing Days and two paid Volunteer Days per year, plus a three-week Work from Anywhere option.

Base Pay Ranges:

SF Bay Area, New York City Metro Area:

California (excludes SF Bay Area), Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Washington DC Metro, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Texas, Washington, Virginia, and Alaska:

All other cities and states excluding those listed above: