Job Description

Starling is the UK's first and leading digital bank on a mission to fix banking! We built a new kind of bank because we knew technology had the power to help people save, spend and manage their money in a new and transformative way.

We're a fully licensed UK bank with the culture and spirit of a fast-moving, disruptive tech company. We're a bank, but better: fairer, easier to use and designed to demystify money for everyone. We employ more than 3,000 people across our London, Southampton, Cardiff and Manchester offices.

Our technologists are at the very heart of Starling and enjoy working in a fast-paced environment that is all about building things, creating new stuff, and disruptive technology that keeps us on the cutting edge of fintech. We operate a flat structure to empower you to make decisions regardless of what your primary responsibilities may be, innovation and collaboration will be at the core of everything you do. Help is never far away in our open culture, you will find support in your team and from across the business, we are in this together!

The way to thrive and shine within Starling is to be a self-driven individual and be able to take full ownership of everything around you: From building things, designing, discovering, to sharing knowledge with your colleagues and making sure all processes are efficient and productive to deliver the best possible results for our customers. Our purpose is underpinned by five Starling values: Listen, Keep It Simple, Do The Right Thing, Own It, and Aim For Greatness.

About the Role

We're seeking a passionate and skilled Detection Engineer and Threat Hunter to join our growing Security Operations team, and proactively defend Starling Bank against emerging threats.

Reporting to the Information Security Lead - Detection, the analyst's primary responsibility will be to proactively identify and defend against potential threats to the bank. You will achieve this by developing, tuning, and maintaining detection rules, conducting intelligence-driven threat hunts, and participating in collaborative defence improvement activities like Purple Teaming to identify and mitigate risks before they impact the bank.

Please note, there is an on-call element to this role.

What you'll get to do

Detection Engineering - Design, build, test, and maintain high-fidelity detection rules and analytics in our SIEM and other security platforms. Proactive Threat Hunting - Formulate hypotheses and hunt for undetected attacker TTPs across our cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure), SaaS, and endpoint environments. Purple Team - Collaborate with our Adversarial Simulation team in Purple Team exercises to test, validate, and improve detection logic and response. Incident Response SME support - Act as a Subject Matter Expert during security incidents, providing deep technical analysis and aiding remediation. Threat Intelligence integration - Integrate and operationalise threat intelligence to inform detection strategies and hunting projects. Collaboration - Work closely with the wider Security Operations team, and other stakeholders to uplift Starling's security posture and improve detective controls. Documentation - Maintain clear documentation for detection rules, hunting playbooks, and processes.

Requirements:

5+ years in a technical security role, such as detection engineering, threat hunting, incident response, or threat intelligence. Attacker Knowledge: Practical experience analysing attacker behavior, with a strong understanding and application of threat analysis models like MITRE ATT&CK to prioritize and enhance detective controls. SIEM Expertise: Hands-on experience with SIEM platforms (e.g., Splunk, Google SecOps, Elastic, Sentinel) for rule/query creation and analytics. Threat Hunting: Experience conducting proactive threat hunts, defining hypotheses, and developing hunting methodologies. Cloud Security: Solid knowledge of security risks and detection strategies for AWS, GCP, Azure. EDR Proficiency: Experience with EDR tools (e.g., Crowdstrike, SentinelOne, Cortex XDR). Core Technical Skills: Good understanding of OS internals (macOS, Linux, Windows) and network security principles. Key Attributes: Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills. Self-starter, able to lead projects, and highly collaborative. Growth Mindset: Eagerness to learn and apply knowledge to new security challenges.

Preferred

Experience with at least one programming or scripting language (e.g., Python, Go, Bash) for security automation or analysis. Experience with container security monitoring (Docker, Kubernetes). Experience with SOAR platforms. Knowledge of digital forensics and incident response procedures. Understanding of malware analysis techniques.

It would be great if you have one or more of the following qualifications, but it's not essential;

GIAC Certified Forensic Analyst (GCFA) GIAC Cloud Threat Detection (GCTD) GIAC iOS and macOS Examiner (GIME)

Interview Process

Our interviews are conversational and we want to get the best from you, so come with questions and be curious. In general you can expect the below video interviews, following a chat with one of our Talent Team:

First Interview: 45 minutes Technical Interview: 90 minutes Final Interview: 30 minutes

Benefits:

We have a Hybrid approach to working here at Starling - our preference is that you're located within a commutable distance of one of our offices so that we're able to interact and collaborate in person. In Technology, we're asking that you attend the office a minimum of 1 day per week.

25 days holiday (plus take your public holiday allowance whenever works best for you) An extra day's holiday for your birthday Annual leave is increased with length of service, and you can choose to buy or sell up to five extra days off 16 hours paid volunteering time a year Salary sacrifice, company enhanced pension scheme Life insurance at 4x your salary & group income protection Private Medical Insurance with VitalityHealth including mental health support and cancer care. Partner benefits include discounts with Waitrose, Mr&Mrs Smith and Peloton Generous family-friendly policies Perkbox membership giving access to retail discounts, a wellness platform for physical and mental health, and weekly free and boosted perks Access to initiatives like Cycle to Work, Salary Sacrificed Gym partnerships and Electric Vehicle (EV) leasing

About Us

You may be put off applying for a role because you don't tick every box. Forget that! While we can't accommodate every flexible working request, we're always open to discussion. So, if you're excited about working with us, but aren't sure if you're 100% there yet, get in touch anyway. We're on a mission to radically reshape banking - and that starts with our brilliant team. Whatever came before, we're proud to bring together people of all backgrounds and experiences who love working together to solve problems.

Starling Bank is an equal opportunity employer, and we're proud of our ongoing efforts to foster diversity & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment at Starling Bank are considered without regard to race, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

When you provide us with this information, you are doing so at your own consent, with full knowledge that we will process this personal data in accordance with our Privacy Notice. By submitting your application, you agree that Starling Bank will collect your personal data for recruiting and related purposes. Our Privacy Notice explains what personal information we will process, where we will process your personal information, its purposes for processing your personal information, and the rights you can exercise over our use of your personal information.