API Security Team Lead

CloudGuard WAF – API Security Team

Wish to lead and shape one of the most exciting teams in Check Point, in an innovative environment within a successful global company? Want to own the technical and product direction of our next-generation API security solution - from roadmap to architecture to delivery - while growing a world-class engineering team? Check Point’s API Security team is looking for a talented Team Lead to take the helm.

You will own the team end-to-end: technical architecture, roadmap, cross-functional alignment, execution, hands-on leadership and people growth. Your decisions will shape a product used by enterprises worldwide and influence the API security industry at large.

Key Responsibilities

• Roadmap Ownership: Partner with Product Management to define and own the API Security multi-quarter roadmap, prioritize ruthlessly, and align with the broader CloudGuard WAF and Infinity platform strategy.
• Highly hands-on ability: You will take part in writing code and leading and mentoring developers
• Drive Architecture & Development: Lead end-to-end design and delivery of API security capabilities - API discovery, schema enforcement, runtime protection, anomaly detection, sensitive data handling, and shift-left testing. Stay hands-on in design reviews, deep code reviews, and the hardest architectural decisions.
• Cloud-Native Execution: Guide the team in building scalable, multi-tenant solutions on AWS and Kubernetes, with robust microservices and big data pipelines processing high-volume security telemetry.
• Lead & Grow the Team: Mentor and grow a high-performing R&D team. Run 1:1s, drive performance, and continuously raise the technical bar. Shape the team’s engineering culture.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Collaborate closely with Product Management and the broader CloudGuard WAF and Infinity platform teams to deliver cohesive, high-impact solutions.
• Shape the Strategic Frontier: Drive Check Point’s prevention-first approach to API security through the AI transformation era.
• Industry Presence: Represent Check Point and the team externally - to customers, analysts (Gartner, KuppingerCole, Forrester), and industry events.

Qualifications

• Proven Leadership: 3+ years as a Team Lead, Engineering Manager, or equivalent - with a track record of building teams, shipping production software, and owning a product or major component end-to-end.
• Strong Engineering Background: 7+ years in software engineering overall, with hands-on experience in high-level languages such as Python, Go, or similar. Still comfortable reading a PR and leading deep technical reviews.
• Microservices & Cloud: Demonstrated expertise designing and operating microservices-based architectures on Kubernetes and AWS at production scale.

Advantages

• BCs/MCs degree from a known university
• API Security Domain Depth: Prior building or operating API security, WAF, WAAP, or API gateway products.
• Networking Expertise: Hands-on experience with reverse proxies, NGINX, Envoy, API gateways (Kong, Apigee, AWS API Gateway, Azure APIM), or service mesh.
• Security or Adjacent Domain Experience: Background in cybersecurity, networking, or large-scale infrastructure products. Strong understanding of web and API security concepts - OWASP API Top 10, authentication/authorization patterns (JWT, OAuth, mTLS), and modern attack vectors.
• HTTP Protocol Mastery: Good familiarity with HTTP/1.1, HTTP/2, HTTP/3, GraphQL, gRPC, and their security implications.
• Cross-System Architecture: Track record designing complex, scalable systems across diverse environments - SaaS, on-prem, hybrid.
• C++/Go Familiarity: Comfortable with low-level performance-critical code paths.