Life as a Security Engineer at FINBOURNE

In this series, we speak to our diverse and talented colleagues about life at FINBOURNE. In each interview we will learn more about their roles and what life is like in a fast-paced scale-up.  
 
This time we caught up with James Baxter, a Security Engineer at FINBOURNE, to hear about his role in the Security Team and what he enjoys most about working for the company.

Tell us a bit about your role at FINBOURNE

In the Security team, we are responsible for developing and maintaining the security controls and systems to protect ourselves and most importantly, our clients.

At FINBOURNE, we implement security by design, and we take ownership of the software we build and run. I help manage our internal infrastructure, investigate incidents, and provide guidance on secure development practices.

Our solutions are cloud-native, API-first and developer friendly.  We utilise industry tools such as Docker, AWS and Kubernetes, as well as build leading, in-house functionality to respond to emerging security threats to secure our platform.

Why did a role in FINBOURNE’s Security team appeal to you?

My interest in security was originally sparked at my final year of university. I then completed a two-year graduate scheme which provided me with foundational security knowledge. FINBOURNE appealed to me as it is a young, dynamic company and I wanted to pursue a more flexible, hands-on role, with the opportunity to work with the latest-cloud technologies.

Security is central to everything we do at FINBOURNE. The team is constantly evolving as we keep up with the changing threat landscape, so we have to be quick thinkers and problem solvers, with an ability to scale and automate. Our technology is used by some of the world’s leading financial services firms and so we are collectively driven to do our best for them and I’m excited to see how we can develop the platform as our client base grows.

What’s next for you at FINBOURNE?

At FINBOURNE there is relatively flat hierarchy and I regularly collaborate with highly experienced developers, testing and exploring solutions together. I like the freedom of my work stack and I enjoy working independently, for example devising ways to help detect and manage emerging security risks with more efficiency.

FINBOURNE also support engineers with relevant security certifications, and I recently have started working towards a Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP) certification, which will enable me to gain a deeper technical understanding and progress in my role.

What do you enjoy about FINBOURNE’s company culture?

FINBOURNE is scaling at a fast pace – we’ve recently expanded to North America and Asia-Pacific and there’s a genuine sense of excitement for the future of the company. Openness and transparency are highly valued, and knowledge is shared across the business in regular company-wide meetings where we receive updates and news. By creating this inclusive environment, each employee feels involved, and as we continue to scale and achieve our mission, we very much feel like we all have a direct impact and role to play in the company’s success.

Why should an engineer come and work FINBOURNE?

At FINBOURNE we welcome a creative mix of people, including those that challenge the norm, to help us think out of the box and solve the challenges we are faced with. We’re also a very sociable people who enjoy working together as part of a driven team. The Security team is constantly evolving to keep up with the changing threat landscape, and we’re looking hire capable technologists, from interns to experienced engineers, who are passionate about learning, improving and building a better platform for clients.

If you’re interested in finding out more about the positions we have open at FINBOURNE, please check out our careers page.