[Hiring] Senior Manager, Application and Pipeline Security @The Nielsen Company

Role Description

Nielsen is seeking a proactive Senior Manager within the Product Security organization to drive and expand our cloud and application security initiatives. This role requires a balance of operational discipline, high-agency, and technical vision.

• Lead a group of skilled engineers and collaborate with development teams to transition our security framework toward a modern, automated, AI-driven DevSecOps model.
• Accountable for team performance, defining security policies, and ensuring compliance.
• Provide subject matter guidance to employees and colleagues operating within policy guidelines with moderate managerial oversight.

Work Style & Mindset

• Prioritize business enablement over rigid perfectionism.
• Make calculated risk trade-offs, focusing on the 20% of risks that cause 80% of the impact.
• Treat engineering teams as internal customers.
• Measure success by how easily developers can fix vulnerabilities with minimal friction.
• Possess grit and diplomatic skills to drive cultural change.
• Stay ahead of emerging tech trends, continuously evaluating AI, cloud-native patterns, and modern tooling.
• Maintain a steady, analytical composure during high-severity events or pipeline blockers.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a high-performing Application Security engineering team.
• Drive a forward-thinking Application and Pipeline Security strategy.
• Partner collaboratively with Platform Engineering to define cloud security baselines and Policy-as-Code (PaC) guardrails.
• Oversee application penetration testing initiatives.
• Establish comprehensive observability and regulatory standards across the development lifecycle.
• Implement structured prioritization protocols to resolve existing security vulnerabilities.
• Refine and calibrate scanning telemetry (SAST, DAST, SCA, IaC).
• Design automated response triggers within AWS ecosystems.
• Cultivate an environment where security is embedded into native development workflows.
• Architect and report on critical performance indicators, such as Mean Time to Remediate (MTTR) and Auto-Fix Acceptance Rates.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 5-8 years of experience in specialized roles across Application Security or Cloud Engineering.
• At least 3 years in a management or leadership capacity.
• Demonstrated proficiency in designing AWS security governance.
• Comprehensive technical mastery of CI/CD orchestration and containerization safeguards.
• Advanced automation capabilities with the ability to architect security tooling.
• Familiarity with emerging AI-enhanced security technologies.
• Bachelor’s degree in a technical field like Computer Science or Cybersecurity.
• Substantial professional history serving as a Staff or Principal Software Engineer, or DevOps Specialist.
• Demonstrated track record of building strong, collaborative partnerships.
• Possession of elite certifications such as AWS Certified Security – Specialty or AWS Solutions Architect – Professional.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health and wellness plans.
• 401(k) with a Nielsen company match.
• Generous paid time off policy.
• Depending on the role, additional benefits may include a company-provided vehicle and/or discretionary incentive/bonus eligibility.

Compensation Transparency

The posted base salary range is a reasonable estimate that may be adjusted based on the final work location of the selected employee. Individual pay within the range is determined by factors such as experience, training, geography, certifications, and business needs. Beyond base salary, this role may be eligible for bonuses, equity, or other incentives.