Detection and Response Engineer

Get to know Okta

Okta is The World’s Identity Company. We free everyone to safely use any technology—anywhere, on any device or app. Our Workforce and Customer Identity Clouds enable secure yet flexible access, authentication, and automation that transforms how people move through the digital world, putting Identity at the heart of business security and growth.

At Okta, we celebrate a variety of perspectives and experiences. We are not looking for someone who checks every single box - we’re looking for lifelong learners and people who can make us better with their unique experiences.

Join our team! We’re building a world where Identity belongs to you.

Detection and Response Engineer

We safeguard Okta from threats and vulnerabilities that have the potential to disrupt our business or degrade our customers’ trust in us.

In addition to driving security in our enterprise environment and Okta service, the Security team is deeply entrenched in the Okta business. The team contributes to product roadmaps, promoting trust, research and other strategic aspects of Okta’s operations. We work across multiple functions, business partners and the research community. We are an engineering-focused team that seeks to stay on the cutting edge of security technology and the threat landscape.

The Role

Okta is seeking a Detection and Response Engineer to take on a hands-on role within Okta’s Cyber Defense team, reporting to the Senior Manager of Defensive Cyber Operations (Americas). In this role you will work to continuously improve Okta’s threat detection and response capabilities collaborating closely with security engineers and cross functional teams. This role is ideal for someone with 2-3 years of experience in security operations, incident response, or security engineering who wants to grow their skills in a fast-paced environment.

Core Responsibilities

Detection Engineering

• Develop and refine security detections across Okta’s infrastructure and applications ensuring optimal coverage across the organization.
• Create high-fidelity alerts that balance security visibility with operational efficiency.
• Work with detection & response engineers to tune detections, reduce false positives, and enhance response workflows.
  
  

Incident Response

• Assist in the Investigation and response to security incidents, working to quickly contain and remediate threats.
• Take part in the DCO watch roster triaging alerts escalated via automated processes, internal reports, and third-party notifications.
• Participate in forensic analysis of security events, logs, and endpoints to determine root causes.
• Document investigation findings and contribute to post-incident reviews.
  
  

Security Automation & Engineering

• Support automation efforts by writing scripts and integrating security tools to improve response workflows.
• Assist in developing security playbooks and automating repetitive tasks in security operations.
• Learn and work with APIs to enhance security telemetry and detection capabilities.
  
  

Collaboration & Knowledge Sharing

• Work closely with senior engineers and analysts to improve security operations and enhance Okta’s detection and response capabilities.
• Stay up to date on the latest cybersecurity threats, attack techniques, and industry best practices.
• Participate in tabletop exercises, and adversarial engineering engagements.
  
  

What does it take?

You’re a team player. You have great communications skills and a thirst for knowledge. You’re curious about systems and how they interact, knowing that to properly defend a system you must first understand how it works. You enjoy automating tasks and if you can’t find a tool for the job you create one. You’re calm under pressure and have a good internal compass for taking calculated risks.

If you don’t have a degree, you have equivalent experience that’s given you the foundational knowledge to understand complex computing environments.

People want to work with you. You want to learn what it takes to build a world-class defensive cyber capability and you’re passionate about helping make ours stronger.

Your experience probably includes:

• Contributing to technology focused teams large or small.
• Continuously learning and taking on opportunities to grow within your role.
• Providing support to the incident commander or technical lead during cyber security incidents.
• Developing detection logic and automating the triage and response of alerts they generate.
  
  

It would be fantastic, but not essential, if you also have experience in one or more of the following areas:

• Researching the tactics, techniques and procedures of sophisticated adversaries and hunting for evidence of them within an enterprise environment.
• Developing detection and response validation techniques and automating tests to enable continuous assurance of defensive cyber capabilities.
• Analyzing critical systems to understand both how to break them and defend them against attack.
• Working collaboratively within product and/or enterprise project teams, assisting to deliver large and complex technology solutions.
  
  

Below is the annual salary range for candidates located in Canada. Your actual salary will depend on factors such as your skills, qualifications, and experience. In addition, Okta offers equity (where applicable), bonus, and benefits, including health, dental, and vision insurance, RRSP with a match, healthcare spending, telemedicine, and paid leave (including PTO and parental leave) in accordance with our applicable plans and policies. To learn more about our Total Rewards program, please visit: https://rewards.okta.com/can.

The annual base salary range for this position for candidates located in Canada is between:

$99,000—$149,000 CAD

What you can look forward to as a Full-Time Okta employee!

• Amazing Benefits
• Making Social Impact
• Fostering Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging at Okta
  
  

Okta cultivates a dynamic work environment, providing the best tools, technology and benefits to empower our employees to work productively in a setting that best and uniquely suits their needs. Each organization is unique in the degree of flexibility and mobility in which they work so that all employees are enabled to be their most creative and successful versions of themselves, regardless of where they live. Find your place at Okta today! https://www.okta.com/company/careers/.

Okta is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, marital status, age, physical or mental disability, or status as a protected veteran. We also consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and convictions records, consistent with applicable laws. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application, interview process, or onboarding please use this Form to request an accommodation.

Okta is committed to complying with applicable data privacy and security laws and regulations. For more information, please see our Privacy Policy at https://www.okta.com/privacy-policy/.