Lead Security Engineer (AI-Native)
Overview:
The Lead Security Engineer drives Nerdy’s enterprise security and infrastructure strategy to ensure scalable, secure, and reliable systems in a mixed environment including AWS, Netlify and Supabase. This role combines strategic leadership and hands-on operational oversight to protect company assets, ensure compliance, and support high-growth business objectives.
About Nerdy:
At Nerdy (NYSE: NRDY) - the company behind Varsity Tutors - we’re redrawing the blueprint of learning. Our Live + AI™ platform fuses real-time human expertise with proprietary generative-AI systems, setting a new bar for measurable academic impact at global scale.
We recruit the kind of technologists and operators you’d bet on as solo founders - people who turn ambiguous problems into shipping code, iterate faster than markets move, and compound their advantage with every data point. In an era where great employees can deliver 10-times the leverage of the merely good, we back those who play to win.
Fortune favors the bold. Join us.
How we compete:
AI-Native at every levelFrom the CEO to day-one hires, everyone builds and ships with generative AI. If you’re not wielding AI, you’re not done.
Entrepreneurial velocityMove at founder speed, prototype in hours, and measure in real user outcomes. Slow teams die.
Free-market rigor Ideas rise or fall on merit and results - no committees, no politics, no cap on upside.
Full-stack ownership You design, build, and run what you ship; accountability is a feature, not a bug.
Reward for contributionPay rises with impact, not years. Outstanding results earn outsized rewards. We evaluate both what you achieve and how you achieve it: living our leadership principles and using AI effectively are formally measured and rewarded.
Relentless explorationPush the frontier of generative AI in live learning and - because only the paranoid survive - questioning every legacy assumption along the way.
Is ApoliticalYou stay focused on mission-aligned outcomes, not distractions or unrelated causes.
If you’re a technically minded builder who thrives on open competition, personal responsibility, and the chance to redefine how the world learns - while continually stretching the limits of what generative AI can do - come do the most ambitious and rewarding work of your career here. Learn more at nerdy.com.
Nerdy’s shareholder letters below explain our latest products and strategy:
Qualifications:
7+ years in Security Engineering, IT, or Infrastructure leadership
Experience leading enterprise security in AWS-first environments
Hands-on experience with AWS security (IAM, security groups, logging, monitoring)
Strong knowledge of cybersecurity frameworks, risk, and compliance
Experience leading threat detection, vulnerability management, and incident response
Demonstrated ability to influence, driving security adoption across engineering and product teams
Expertise in cloud infrastructure, IAM, endpoint and network security
Explicit mentoring of senior-level engineers regularly
Ability to align security strategy with business goals
Strong executive communication and stakeholder management skills
Experience using AI tools for security purposes with tools like Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Claude, or similar
Nice to have:
Familiarity with NIST 800-171 and/or CMMC Level 2 compliance frameworks
Bachelor’s in CS, Information Security, or related field (advanced degree/certs preferred)
Responsibilities:
Define and execute enterprise security strategy
Partner closely with leaders to cover compliance, automation, and security best practices across the organization
Lead business continuity and disaster recovery planning
Identify and address security gaps created by the rapid adoption of new tools and platforms
Oversee threat detection, incident response, and vulnerability management
Ensure regulatory, privacy, and data protection compliance
Use AI-powered tools (e.g., Cursor, Claude Code, or equivalent) to implement security guardrails, automate checks, and accelerate security workflows
Mentor other engineers and collaborate with peers to strengthen the team's collective knowledge
Design secure, scalable, and resilient architecture
Embed security controls across Engineering, Product, Legal, and People teams
Manage vendors, security tools, and IT systems
Report security posture and risk metrics to executives
The Bottom Line:
If you're driven by impact, energized by ownership, and excited to help shape what’s next, you’ll thrive here. We move fast, think big, and reward those who deliver. This isn’t a traditional corporate environment - it’s a place to do the most meaningful work of your career.
