Application Security Engineer

About Wave

Wave is on a mission to make Africa the first cashless continent. By 2017 more than half of Sub‑Saharan Africans had no bank account, and conventional banking was out of reach for many. We provide financial services that are free of account fees, instantly available, and accepted everywhere – even in places where electricity, water and roads are unreliable. With millions of users across nine countries and continuous growth, Wave is building the future of African finance.

Role Summary

We are looking for an experienced security engineer who is independent, action‑oriented, and ready to hit the ground running. Your focus will be on application security, working with product teams to secure new systems and strengthening our overall security posture. You will also collaborate with infrastructure and database teams to embed security throughout our stack.

Key Responsibilities

• Centralise application‑level login and permission enforcement.
• Configure and utilise external SIEM solutions to monitor our infrastructure.
• Improve our posture around secret management.
• Conduct security reviews of our public‑facing APIs.
• Partner with cross‑functional teams across Wave to define secure guardrails, support investigations, and lead incident response.
• Resolve any non‑conformities found during audits by central banks and ISO certification.

Required Qualifications

• Minimum of 5 years of professional experience, with at least 2 years in a security‑related role.
• Strong experience with Python.
• Fluent in English.
• Experience with industry certifications such as ISO‑27001 and PCI‑DSS is beneficial (audit leadership not required).

Desired Attributes

• Excited about balancing security and velocity.
• Persistence in tackling hard problems.
• Experience remediating non‑conformities.
• Enjoy coaching other engineers on secure patterns.
• Comfortable with complex systems.
• Interest in security‑focused source‑code review and penetration testing.
• Desire to grow and mentor a team.

Benefits & Remuneration

• Competitive salary up to $152,100 USD, plus a generous equity package.
• Full‑time remote position; candidates must be based in designated talent hub or operational market countries.
• Yearly $1,200 stipend for coworking meetups.
• Travel to operation markets (e.g., Senegal or Côte d’Ivoire) at least once a year.
• Biannual performance reviews with bonuses for strong performers after six months.
• Major benefits: Subsidised health insurance for you and dependents, plus retirement contributions (varies by country).
• Six months of fully paid parental leave and subsidised fertility assistance.
• Flexible vacation; most employees take 21‑30 days plus statutory holidays.
• $10,000 annual charitable donation matching.

Company Culture

We care about the big picture – solving problems rather than merely shipping tickets. Speed is valued; we aim for MVPs, short PRs, and quick feedback loops while maintaining caution for financial products. We prefer reliable, well‑understood technologies and adopt new tools only when they add real value.

Team

Rapidly expanding teams across Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Uganda, Niger, Sierra Leone, and Cameroon, plus remote members worldwide. We raise funding from top investors such as Founders Fund, Sequoia Heritage, Stripe, Ribbit Capital, Y Combinator, and Partech Africa. We are on Y Combinator’s top companies by revenue.

How to Apply

Fill out the application form and upload a résumé in English along with a cover letter describing your interest in Wave and this role.

Equal‑Opportunity Statement

Wave is an equal‑opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.