Select your current position

Pick a role and level — we'll show the growth path, skills and gap analysis.

Development path

Junior

0-2 years

Current

Responsibility: Conducting security code review. SAST scanning. Vulnerability analysis. Writing security tests. Studying OWASP Top 10.

Key skills:

GDPR / 152-FZ Compliance Need
JWT / OAuth2 / OIDC Need
OWASP & Application Security Need
PCI DSS Need
RBAC / ABAC Authorization Need
SAST/DAST Need
Secrets Management Need
SOC2 Compliance Need
Supply Chain Security Need
Kubernetes Security Need
Cloud Security Need
Threat Modeling Need
Network Fundamentals Need
Digital Forensics Basics Need
Secure Coding Practices Need
Incident Response Process Need
Network Security Need
Dependency Vulnerability Scanning Need
Vulnerability Management Need

Middle

2-5 years

Next

Responsibility: Threat modeling. DAST testing. Setting up security pipelines in CI/CD. Penetration testing basics. Security training for developers.

Key skills:

GDPR / 152-FZ Compliance Need
JWT / OAuth2 / OIDC Need
OWASP & Application Security Need
PCI DSS Need
RBAC / ABAC Authorization Need
SAST/DAST Need
Secrets Management Need
SOC2 Compliance Need
Supply Chain Security Need
Kubernetes Security Need
Cloud Security Need
Threat Modeling Need
Network Fundamentals Need
Digital Forensics Basics Need
Secure Coding Practices Need
Incident Response Process Need
Network Security Need
Dependency Vulnerability Scanning Need
Vulnerability Management Need

Senior

5-8 years

Responsibility: Application security architecture. Auth/authz design. Incident response. Security architecture review. Bug bounty program.

Key skills:

Code Review Need
Docker Need
ELK Stack Need
GDPR / 152-FZ Compliance Need
Git Advanced Need
GitHub Actions / GitLab CI Need
GitHub Copilot Need
JWT / OAuth2 / OIDC Need
Kubernetes Core Need
OWASP & Application Security Need
PCI DSS Need
Prometheus & Grafana Need
Rate Limiting & Throttling Need
RBAC / ABAC Authorization Need
REST API Design Need
Runbook & Playbook Writing Need
SAST/DAST Need
Secrets Management Need
Security Testing Need
SOC2 Compliance Need
Supply Chain Security Need
Webhooks & Integrations Need
Algorithms & Complexity Need
Kubernetes Security Need
Cloud Security Need
Code Quality & Refactoring Need
Threat Modeling Need
Network Fundamentals Need
Digital Forensics Basics Need
Secure Coding Practices Need
OOP & SOLID Principles Need
Incident Response Process Need
Network Security Need
Container Security Scanning Need
Dependency Vulnerability Scanning Need
Structured Logging Need
Data Structures Need
API Testing Need
Vulnerability Management Need

Lead / Staff

7-12 years

Responsibility: AppSec strategy. Security champions program. Coordination with DevOps and Development. Compliance (PCI DSS, GDPR). Vendor evaluation.

Key skills:

Code Review Need
Docker Need
ELK Stack Need
GDPR / 152-FZ Compliance Need
Git Advanced Need
GitHub Actions / GitLab CI Need
GitHub Copilot Need
JWT / OAuth2 / OIDC Need
Kubernetes Core Need
OWASP & Application Security Need
PCI DSS Need
Prometheus & Grafana Need
Rate Limiting & Throttling Need
RBAC / ABAC Authorization Need
REST API Design Need
Runbook & Playbook Writing Need
SAST/DAST Need
Secrets Management Need
Security Testing Need
SOC2 Compliance Need
Supply Chain Security Need
Webhooks & Integrations Need
Algorithms & Complexity Need
Kubernetes Security Need
Cloud Security Need
Code Quality & Refactoring Need
Threat Modeling Need
Digital Forensics Basics Need
Secure Coding Practices Need
OOP & SOLID Principles Need
Incident Response Process Need
Network Security Need
Container Security Scanning Need
Dependency Vulnerability Scanning Need
Structured Logging Need
Data Structures Need
API Testing Need
Vulnerability Management Need

Principal

10+ years

Responsibility: Enterprise security strategy. Zero Trust architecture. Security culture. Industry compliance. Public disclosure policy.

Key skills:

Code Review Need
Docker Need
ELK Stack Need
GDPR / 152-FZ Compliance Need
Git Advanced Need
GitHub Actions / GitLab CI Need
GitHub Copilot Need
JWT / OAuth2 / OIDC Need
Kubernetes Core Need
OWASP & Application Security Need
PCI DSS Need
Prometheus & Grafana Need
Rate Limiting & Throttling Need
RBAC / ABAC Authorization Need
REST API Design Need
Runbook & Playbook Writing Need
SAST/DAST Need
Secrets Management Need
Security Testing Need
SOC2 Compliance Need
Supply Chain Security Need
Webhooks & Integrations Need
Algorithms & Complexity Need
Kubernetes Security Need
Cloud Security Need
Code Quality & Refactoring Need
Threat Modeling Need
Digital Forensics Basics Need
Secure Coding Practices Need
OOP & SOLID Principles Need
Incident Response Process Need
Network Security Need
Container Security Scanning Need
Dependency Vulnerability Scanning Need
Structured Logging Need
Data Structures Need
API Testing Need
Vulnerability Management Need

Gap analysis: skills to develop

To reach the next level you'll need to develop:

GDPR / 152-FZ Compliance

Applies GDPR/152-FZ compliance in application security: conducts privacy-focused code reviews, implements data minimization checks, and validates consent management flows. Uses SAST tools to detect PII exposure and logging violations.

JWT / OAuth2 / OIDC

Validates JWT/OAuth2 implementations in applications: reviews token validation logic, audits OAuth2 flow configurations for security weaknesses, and tests for common JWT attacks (algorithm confusion, claim injection). Conducts security code reviews focusing on authentication middleware. Uses tools like jwt.io and Burp Suite for token analysis.

OWASP & Application Security

Applies OWASP Top 10 and application security practices to secure development workflows. Conducts security-focused code reviews identifying injection, authentication, and access control vulnerabilities. Uses SAST/DAST tools (SonarQube, Burp Suite, OWASP ZAP) for automated vulnerability scanning and triage.

PCI DSS

Applies PCI DSS requirements when reviewing application security architecture. Conducts security code reviews focused on cardholder data handling and encryption. Uses vulnerability scanning tools to verify PCI compliance across services.

RBAC / ABAC Authorization

Implements RBAC and ABAC authorization models in application security reviews. Conducts code reviews focused on access control logic and permission enforcement. Uses static analysis tools to detect authorization bypass vulnerabilities in application code.

SAST/DAST

Configures and runs SAST/DAST tools to identify vulnerabilities in application code and running services. Conducts security code reviews using static analysis findings as input. Triages scanner results, eliminates false positives, and tracks confirmed issues to resolution.

Secrets Management

Integrates secrets management into application security workflows: scans codebases for hardcoded secrets (TruffleHog, git-secrets), reviews Vault policies for least-privilege access, and validates secret rotation procedures. Conducts security code reviews focusing on credential handling patterns.

SOC2 Compliance

Implements SOC 2 security controls in application architecture: access logging, encryption at rest/in transit, and vulnerability management. Conducts security code reviews aligned with Trust Services Criteria.

Supply Chain Security

Applies SBOM and supply chain security practices in CI/CD pipelines: integrates SCA tools (Snyk, Grype, Trivy), enforces license policies, and automates vulnerability patching workflows. Conducts security reviews of dependency trees and evaluates third-party component risks for production applications.

Kubernetes Security

Applies Kubernetes security practices to containerized applications including pod security standards, network policies, and RBAC configurations. Scans container images for vulnerabilities using Trivy or Snyk. Reviews Kubernetes manifests for security misconfigurations and hardening compliance.

Cloud Security

Applies cloud security principles to application workloads. Conducts security reviews of cloud-native apps using CSPM tools. Performs container image scanning and serverless function analysis to identify misconfigurations and vulnerabilities in deployment pipelines.

Threat Modeling

Independently conducts threat modeling sessions for application components using STRIDE methodology. Builds data flow diagrams and identifies trust boundaries. Prioritizes threats using DREAD or risk matrices. Integrates threat modeling into SDLC gates and tracks remediation of identified risks.

Network Fundamentals

Understands the TCP/IP stack. Configures TLS/SSL. Works with load balancers and reverse proxies (nginx). Understands DNS resolution and TTL. Debugs network issues (tcpdump, wireshark basics).

Digital Forensics Basics

Applies digital forensics techniques to investigate application security incidents. Collects and preserves application logs, memory dumps, and network captures maintaining chain of custody. Uses forensic tools (Volatility, Autopsy) to analyze artifacts from compromised web applications.

Secure Coding Practices

Applies secure coding practices in application security workflows — conducts in-depth security code reviews identifying injection, authentication, and cryptographic weaknesses. Uses SAST tools (Semgrep, CodeQL) for automated vulnerability detection and develops custom security rules for organization-specific risk patterns.

Incident Response Process

Participates in application security incident response following established playbooks. Triages security alerts related to application vulnerabilities (SQLi, XSS, SSRF). Collects application logs and artifacts for investigation and communicates findings to the incident commander clearly.

Network Security

Independently configures and audits network security controls protecting application infrastructure: WAF rules, reverse proxy hardening, TLS certificate management. Analyzes network traffic for signs of application-layer attacks (SQLi over HTTP, SSRF, DNS exfiltration). Integrates IDS/IPS alerts with application security monitoring workflows.

Dependency Vulnerability Scanning

Independently configures and maintains SCA tools (Snyk, Dependabot, Trivy) across multiple repositories. Analyzes transitive dependency trees to assess real exploitability of reported CVEs. Understands trade-offs between auto-merge policies for patch updates and manual review for major version bumps. Integrates dependency scanning into CI/CD pipelines with appropriate break-build thresholds.

Vulnerability Management

Manages vulnerability lifecycle from discovery to remediation in application environments. Conducts security code reviews to validate and classify identified vulnerabilities. Uses vulnerability scanners and tracking tools to maintain accurate inventory of application security issues.

Career transitions

Possible career trajectories for the <strong>Application Security Engineer</strong> role

↔️ Lateral 1

Adjacent roles for a lateral move

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