Kayak

Security Engineer

Berlin Office, Germany full-time Mid Salary not listed
full-time Mid level Technology & IT Curated
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About the role

KAYAK, part of Booking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG), is a leading travel search engine. With billions of queries across our platforms, we help people find their perfect flight, stay, rental car and vacation package. We're also transforming business travel with a new corporate travel solution, KAYAK for Business.
As an employee of KAYAK, you will be part of a travel company that operates a portfolio of global metasearch brands including momondo, Cheapflights and HotelsCombined, among others. From start-up to industry leader, innovation is in our DNA and every employee has an opportunity to make their mark. Our focus is on building the best travel search engine to make it easier for everyone to experience the world.
Security at KAYAK is a team effort — we protect the people, systems, and data that power travel for millions of users worldwide, and we do it by working closely with engineering, operations, and product teams. As a Security Engineer, you will help to drive our vulnerability management program while contributing across multiple security domains in a collaborative, globally distributed environment. You can find more information about our security program at https://www.kayak.com/security.
This role is required to work from our Berlin, Germany office 3 days per week.

In this role, you will:
Support and continuously improve the vulnerability management program — defining processes for identifying, prioritizing, tracking, and driving remediation of security findings across infrastructure and applications. This includes working closely with engineering, operations, and IT teams to ensure findings are understood, assigned, and resolved in a timely manner, and reporting on program health and trends to security leadership.

Participate in incident response activities, including triage, investigation, containment, and post-incident documentation.

Support application security initiatives, including automated code scanning, dependency analysis, and working with engineering teams to address security findings early in the development process.

Help configure, monitor, and improve security tooling across areas such as endpoint protection, email security, identity and access management, and cloud security posture.

Contribute to security automation and orchestration workflows that reduce manual effort and improve response times.

Collaborate with engineering, operations, and compliance teams to embed security thinking into development workflows and infrastructure changes.

Document processes, runbooks, and findings to support team knowledge sharing and continuity.

Participate in access reviews and support identity and access management processes in line with established policies.

Stay current with the evolving threat landscape and contribute ideas for improving the team's detection and response capabilities.

Please apply if you have:
A solid understanding of cybersecurity fundamentals — including networking, operating systems (Linux, macOS, or Windows), and cloud environments — gained through any combination of formal education, self-study, bootcamps, or professional experience.

Hands-on experience in at least one security domain, such as vulnerability management, incident response, application security, endpoint security, or identity and access management.

Experience working with security tooling (e.g., vulnerability scanners, endpoint detection and response platforms, SIEM systems, or similar); familiarity with specific tools is a plus, but willingness to learn our stack matters more than exact tool experience.

Familiarity with AI tools and how they can be applied in a security context — whether for automating workflows, triaging alerts, or improving detection and response. Experience working with AI models or building AI-assisted workflows is a plus.

The ability to communicate clearly in writing and in conversation — our team is globally distributed and works primarily in English (professional working proficiency is sufficient; native fluency is not required).

A collaborative approach to problem-solving — you ask questions, share what you learn, and support your teammates.

Comfort working with some degree of autonomy on assigned tasks and projects, while knowing when to ask for input.

Bonus points if you have:
Familiarity with the NIST Cybersecurity Framework or similar security frameworks.

Experience with cloud environments (AWS or GCP) or container security.

Exposure to security automation or scripting (e.g., Python, workflow automation tools).

Experience working in a regulated environment (e.g., SOC 2, PCI).

Benefits and Perks
Work from (almost) anywhere for up to 20 days per year

Focus on mental health and well-being:
Company-paid therapy sessions through SpringHealth

Company-paid subscription to HeadSpace

Company-wide week off a year - the whole team fully recharges (and returns without a pile-up of work!)

No meeting Fridays

Paid parental leave

Generous paid vacation + time off for your birthday

Paid volunteer time

Focus on your career growth:
Development Dollars

Leadership development

Access to thousands of on-demand e-learnings

Travel Discounts

Employee Resource Groups

6 weeks paid vacation

Free lunch 2 days per week

Pension plan contributions

Public transportation subsidies

Bike leasing program

Monthly social events, Thursday happy hours, sports teams

An awesome office in Friedrichshain, Berlin

 
Inclusion
At KAYAK, we want everyone to have the space to grow, share ideas and do great work. That’s why we’re focused on hiring the best talent from all walks of life and experiences, supporting them well and making sure no one feels like they have to fit a mold to belong here.
Need any adjustments for the interview, application or on the job? No problem - just give us a heads-up. We’ve got you.
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Interview prep

Walk in with sharper answers.

Use this as a quick practice sheet before you speak with the employer.

Mid
Technology & IT Data Analysis Operations Python SQL Writing Mid level

Likely questions

  1. Tell us about work you have done that is close to the Security Engineer role.
  2. How would you approach your first 30 days at Kayak?
  3. Which of Data Analysis, Operations and Python have you used recently, and what did it help you achieve?
  4. Describe a time you solved a problem without waiting to be told exactly what to do.
  5. How do you handle busy days, changing priorities, or pressure at work?

Prepare before the call

  • A recent example that proves your experience with Data Analysis, Operations and Python.
  • One short story with a problem, your action, and the result.
  • Two examples that show the strengths listed on your CV.
  • A clear reason why this role and company interest you.
  • Your availability, preferred work style, and salary expectations.

Ask them

  • What would success look like in the first 90 days?
  • What are the main problems this hire should help solve?
  • How does the team give feedback and measure good work?
  • What does a normal working week look like for this role?
Practice line

I am interested in the Security Engineer role because I can bring practical experience in Data Analysis, Operations and Python, learn the team quickly, and contribute to the outcomes Kayak needs from this hire.

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