DevSecOps Engineer
You wire security into the delivery pipeline so every release ships with it.
Competency areas
- Secure Software Development
- Systems Security Analysis
- DevSecOps
- Software Security Assessment
Aramis:Current Daily
A short reading list for a DevSecOps Engineer, under 30 minutes per edition.
2026-09-30. 13 minutes in total
Beyond source code: A path to the keys to the kingdom
Microsoft Defender Experts Cybersecurity Incident Response, 2026-09-29. Read, 6 min.
Why it matters for this role: Require approvals and branch protection on the repositories that define your pipelines, because Storm-3068 used a pipeline it created to harvest Kubernetes credentials.
PixelLeak: How AI Agents Exposed Developer Screenshots from Leading Tech Companies
Glow, 2026-09-29. Read, 7 min.
Why it matters for this role: Read the shared rule and instruction files your coding agents load, where at one vendor Glow found agents had written public screenshot hosting into a skill used on every ticket.
Sample questions
Three real questions from this role's assessment, with the answer, the reasoning, and the NICE statement each one measures. The full assessment draws from hundreds like these.
Sample question 1
A DevSecOps engineer is retesting a previously reported authentication bypass in Calder Freight's shipment tracking API. The vendor's patch notes say a missing null check was added to the token validation function. The engineer re-runs the original proof of concept request and confirms it now returns a 401 response. What should the engineer do next to properly complete the analysis of this patch?
- A.Record the 401 response as retest evidence and mark the finding remediated in the final report.
- B.Obtain the vendor's code diff and verify the null check was added to the token validation function before closing out.
- C.Re run the original proof of concept against the staging and disaster recovery instances to confirm consistent patch deployment.
- D.Probe the other endpoints that call the same token validation library for the original bypass before closing the finding.
Show the answer and reasoning
Correct answer: D
A fix confirmed at one call site says nothing about the rest: other endpoints invoking the same validation library may still accept the bypass, so patch analysis checks whether the flaw survives elsewhere before the finding closes. A 401 on the original request proves only that the reported path was fixed. Reading the diff confirms intent in source, not behavior across every deployed call path. Verifying deployment consistency across environments checks that the same fix is present everywhere, which still leaves unexamined endpoints sharing the vulnerable validation logic.
This question measures: T1624: Conduct vulnerability analysis of software patches and updates
Sample question 2
At Solstice Retail, engineers on the DevSecOps team make firewall rule changes directly in production whenever a business team messages the on-call channel, with no record of who approved the change and no rollback plan. A rushed change made this way blocks legitimate payment traffic for six hours. Leadership asks the DevSecOps engineering lead to fix the process so this stops happening. Which change reflects service management best practice?
- A.Require all firewall changes to route through the DevSecOps engineering lead personally for execution, replacing documented approval with the lead's judgment
- B.Restrict firewall changes to a nightly maintenance window to limit the blast radius of errors, while keeping the current unrecorded approval process
- C.Establish a formal change process for firewall changes that requires a documented request, risk assessment, approval, and rollback plan before deployment
- D.Require each firewall change to be approved retroactively by the requesting business team after deployment, and log that approval for the audit record
Show the answer and reasoning
Correct answer: C
Option C is correct because formal change management, a documented request, risk assessment, approval, and a rollback plan before deployment, addresses the root cause: changes are made without control or review, not merely without the right person or the right timing. Option A is wrong because routing everything through one individual's judgment removes documentation and creates a single point of failure rather than establishing a repeatable control. Option B is wrong because it only changes when changes happen, not how they are reviewed or approved, leaving the unrecorded ad hoc process intact. Option D is wrong because approving a change after it is already deployed is not change control, it is after the fact documentation, which does nothing to prevent the next outage.
This question measures: K0873: Knowledge of service management standards and best practices
Sample question 3
Your client Kestrel Financial is preparing to embed a third-party large language model API into its customer support tool. Reviewing the vendor's subprocessor list as the DevSecOps engineer, you discover the vendor uses a fourth-party data labeling firm to fine-tune the model on customer transcripts, but this firm appears nowhere in the vendor's public documentation or the signed master service agreement. What is the most appropriate next step, grounded in supply chain risk management practice?
- A.Proceed with the integration, since the master service agreement's data protection clauses already bind every party that touches customer data downstream.
- B.Note the undisclosed subprocessor as a finding for the next scheduled annual vendor review, since contract terms are normally revisited only at renewal.
- C.Require the vendor to disclose the fourth-party labeling firm and contractually flow down the same data handling and security obligations before the integration proceeds.
- D.Instruct the vendor to stop using any fourth-party labeling firm immediately, since involving an undisclosed subcontractor breaches the vendor's compliance obligations outright.
Show the answer and reasoning
Correct answer: C
Option C is correct because supply chain risk management requires visibility into every party that touches the data in the chain, including fourth parties, and the standard mechanism for extending security and privacy obligations beyond the direct vendor is a contractual flow-down requirement; the integration should not proceed until that gap is closed. Option A is wrong because prime-contract data protection clauses do not automatically bind undisclosed subcontractors; they only extend to a fourth party if the contract's flow-down provisions explicitly say so, which was never confirmed here. Option B is wrong because deferring a material, currently active exposure to the next annual review cycle ignores that the risk is live now, while the integration is being built. Option D is wrong because it treats any use of a subprocessor as automatically disqualifying; supply chain risk management is about gaining visibility and imposing appropriate controls, not banning all subcontracting outright, so this overcorrects instead of solving the actual gap.
This question measures: K0803: Knowledge of supply chain risk management principles and practices
Job description templates
Three ready-to-edit drafts for hiring managers and recruiters: copy one, replace the bracketed lines, and post it. Responsibilities and requirements are drawn from the same NICE statements this role is measured against.
Statements use the official NICE Framework wording, which is published in English.
DevSecOps Engineer: Junior
We are hiring a junior DevSecOps Engineer. You wire security into the delivery pipeline so every release ships with it. At this level you take on well-defined parts of the work, with senior colleagues to learn from, and grow into the rest.
[Company] provides [what you do]. The security function is [size and shape: e.g., a five-person team reporting to the CTO]. Replace this paragraph with your own.
Responsibilities
- Consult with customers about software system design and maintenance
- Perform code reviews
- Determine project security controls
- Evaluate interfaces between hardware and software
- Conduct threat modeling
- Conduct vulnerability analysis of software patches and updates
- Assess the effectiveness of security controls
- Recommend development of new applications or modification of existing applications
- Pair with senior colleagues and grow through structured feedback.
- Document what you do so the team learns with you.
Required knowledge
- Service management principles and practices
- Service management standards and best practices
- Technology integration processes
- Data repositories
- Code tailoring tools and techniques
- Cybersecurity operation policies and procedures
- Standard operating procedures (SOPs)
- Computer networking protocols
Skills
- Systems integration testing
- Applying security controls
- Assessing security systems designs
- Applying secure coding techniques
- Performing root cause analysis
How to use this template
Copy the draft, replace every bracketed line, cut statements that do not apply to your opening, and add your compensation range and location policy. The statement lists come from the NIST NICE Framework v2.2.0, so candidates can be assessed against the same statements with Aramis:Insight.
DevSecOps Engineer: Mid-level
We are hiring a mid-level DevSecOps Engineer. You wire security into the delivery pipeline so every release ships with it. You own this work day to day and work closely with the rest of the security team.
[Company] provides [what you do]. The security function is [size and shape: e.g., a five-person team reporting to the CTO]. Replace this paragraph with your own.
Responsibilities
- Consult with customers about software system design and maintenance
- Perform code reviews
- Determine project security controls
- Evaluate interfaces between hardware and software
- Conduct threat modeling
- Conduct vulnerability analysis of software patches and updates
- Assess the effectiveness of security controls
- Recommend development of new applications or modification of existing applications
- Create development plans for new applications or modification of existing applications
- Evaluate software design plan timelines and cost estimates
- Implement application cybersecurity policies
- Design application interfaces
Required knowledge
- Service management principles and practices
- Service management standards and best practices
- Technology integration processes
- Data repositories
- Code tailoring tools and techniques
- Cybersecurity operation policies and procedures
- Standard operating procedures (SOPs)
- Computer networking protocols
- Risk management processes
- Cybersecurity laws and regulations
- Cybersecurity policies and procedures
- Privacy laws and regulations
Skills
- Systems integration testing
- Applying security controls
- Assessing security systems designs
- Applying secure coding techniques
- Performing root cause analysis
- Tailoring code analysis
- Applying standards
- Communicating complex concepts
How to use this template
Copy the draft, replace every bracketed line, cut statements that do not apply to your opening, and add your compensation range and location policy. The statement lists come from the NIST NICE Framework v2.2.0, so candidates can be assessed against the same statements with Aramis:Insight.
DevSecOps Engineer: Senior
We are hiring a senior DevSecOps Engineer. You wire security into the delivery pipeline so every release ships with it. You set the direction for this work, mentor the people who do it, and answer for its results.
[Company] provides [what you do]. The security function is [size and shape: e.g., a five-person team reporting to the CTO]. Replace this paragraph with your own.
Responsibilities
- Consult with customers about software system design and maintenance
- Perform code reviews
- Determine project security controls
- Evaluate interfaces between hardware and software
- Conduct threat modeling
- Conduct vulnerability analysis of software patches and updates
- Assess the effectiveness of security controls
- Recommend development of new applications or modification of existing applications
- Create development plans for new applications or modification of existing applications
- Evaluate software design plan timelines and cost estimates
- Implement application cybersecurity policies
- Design application interfaces
- Develop threat models
- Document commercial product timeline requirements dictated by the management authority for intended operational environments
- Determine if security control technologies reduce identified risk to acceptable levels
- Determine cybersecurity measures for steady state operation and management of software
- Mentor junior team members and review their work.
- Represent this function to leadership and to auditors or clients.
- Set standards, select tooling, and own the roadmap for this area.
Required knowledge
- Service management principles and practices
- Service management standards and best practices
- Technology integration processes
- Data repositories
- Code tailoring tools and techniques
- Cybersecurity operation policies and procedures
- Standard operating procedures (SOPs)
- Computer networking protocols
- Risk management processes
- Cybersecurity laws and regulations
- Cybersecurity policies and procedures
- Privacy laws and regulations
- Privacy policies and procedures
- Cybersecurity principles and practices
Skills
- Systems integration testing
- Applying security controls
- Assessing security systems designs
- Applying secure coding techniques
- Performing root cause analysis
- Tailoring code analysis
- Applying standards
- Communicating complex concepts
- Communicating verbally
- Communicating in writing
How to use this template
Copy the draft, replace every bracketed line, cut statements that do not apply to your opening, and add your compensation range and location policy. The statement lists come from the NIST NICE Framework v2.2.0, so candidates can be assessed against the same statements with Aramis:Insight.
Related roles
Roles with similar work or at a similar career stage. Each has its own job description templates and a free assessment.