Application Security Engineer

Vestwell is seeking an Application Security Engineer to strengthen the security of its NestJS applications and identity integrations. This role spans application security across the software development lifecycle, along with identity security support when acting as both an IdP and an RP in OIDC environments.

Role Responsibilities

• Review NestJS and TypeScript applications for vulnerabilities related to authentication, authorization, input validation, injection, session handling, API security, business-logic flaws, and data protection.
• Implement and improve secure development patterns in NestJS, including guards, interceptors, middleware, decorators, validation, error handling, logging, configuration, and dependency management.
• Support security for OIDC integrations and identity platform capabilities in two operational modes:
  • Identity Provider (IdP): authorization, token, user-info, discovery, key-set, and logout endpoints.
  • Relying Party (RP): client registration, redirect handling, authorization-code flows, token exchange, session establishment, and logout.
• Assess OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect flows, including authorization code with PKCE, refresh tokens, client authentication, scopes, consent, state, nonce, redirect URI validation, and token lifetimes, with senior-team guidance for more complex scenarios.
• Help design and maintain authorization models using RBAC and, where applicable, claims-based or policy-based access control.
• Evaluate access-control boundaries across services, APIs, tenants, users, roles, permissions, and administrative functions.
• Participate in threat modeling, security design reviews, architecture reviews, and secure code reviews.
• Contribute to security requirements, reusable libraries, reference implementations, and developer guidance that reduce recurring risk.
• Support security testing and detection initiatives, including SAST, DAST, software composition analysis, secret scanning, API testing, dependency monitoring, and targeted security testing.
• Partner with engineering teams to remediate vulnerabilities, help prioritize findings based on exploitability and business impact, and verify fixes.
• Monitor application and identity security signals, support incident investigations, and help maintain playbooks for account takeover, token compromise, authorization bypass, credential abuse, and related events.
• Maintain security documentation, standards, risk exceptions, and audit evidence for audit and customer assurance needs.
• Stay current on application security, identity security, OAuth/OIDC, browser security, API security, cloud security, and emerging attack techniques.

Required Qualifications

• 2-4 years of professional experience in application security, product security, software engineering, or a closely related discipline.
• Experience securing Node.js and TypeScript applications; familiarity with NestJS is a strong plus.
• Working knowledge of OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect concepts and common implementation pitfalls.
• Experience with IdP and/or RP implementations, integrations, or security assessments.
• Strong understanding of authentication and authorization, including RBAC, least privilege, claims, scopes, permissions, sessions, and tokens.
• Ability to review code across APIs, web applications, and background jobs, with senior support for complex architectural or distributed-systems topics.
• Familiarity with web and API security risks, including OWASP Top 10 and OWASP API Security Top 10, broken access control, SSRF, injection, XSS, CSRF, insecure deserialization, and misconfiguration.
• Basic understanding of secure token handling, JWT validation, JWKS, signing algorithms, and token storage considerations.
• Some experience with CI/CD and developer workflows, or willingness to learn how to integrate security with minimal friction.
• Good communication skills, including the ability to explain security findings and risk to technical teammates.
• Pragmatic and collaborative working style, including eagerness to learn, asking strong questions, and proposing proportional controls with more senior engineers.

Technology Areas

Work involves NestJS, TypeScript, Node.js, OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect (OIDC), PKCE, JWT, JWKS, and RBAC, alongside SAST, DAST, software composition analysis, secret scanning, API testing, and dependency monitoring. Familiarity with platforms and tooling may include Auth0, Okta, Keycloak, Cognito, Azure AD/Entra ID, and security tools such as Burp Suite, Semgrep, CodeQL, Snyk, Dependabot, and OWASP ZAP.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health benefits
• Generous time off
• Employee Wellbeing Committee
• 401(k) plan

Additional Information

• Full-time employee benefits include a hybrid work model with access to collaborative offices in Midtown Manhattan, Austin, King of Prussia, and Scottsdale.
• The role includes the possibility of exposure to identity platform libraries or systems such as Auth0, Okta, Keycloak, Cognito, Azure AD/Entra ID, or comparable solutions.
• Experience with security standards such as OWASP ASVS or NIST SSDF is considered a plus.
• Interest in pursuing relevant security certifications is encouraged.

Interview Process

• Begin with 1-2 introductory conversations.
• Role-specific evaluation may include a skills or experience-based assessment such as a coding interview, portfolio review, or deeper discussion of relevant experience.
• Proceed to a virtual or in-person interview panel.
• Before an offer, complete a reference check with a current or former manager and a peer.

Location and Compensation

Austin, TX (hybrid). Salary range: USD 140,000 - 150,000 per year. Minimum experience: 2 years.