Every engineer is trusted to represent OSS directly.
Every consultation is owned by the person delivering it.
The standard is high because the work matters.
This page defines the standard required to represent Open Source Security.
OSS is a startup. We soft-launched in March 2026 and just tested the production logistics end to end. Everything is ready to go. No VC funding, no corporate safety net. What exists today is a model that works, a product nobody else has built, and a ground floor that is actually the ground floor.
We ran a six-month beta program that passed with flying colors. Outreach is just getting started. Content creator collaborations are in motion. Side projects like GlassBox (hardened shell), custom OPNsense plugins, and open source access points are already in development.
We are looking for 3-5 engineers to form the founding team.
What this means for you: There is no established hierarchy to slot into. The people who join early, deliver quality work, and build their region become the regional leadership. Nobody who joins at this stage gets relegated later.
An OSS Engineer is a senior, customer-facing security professional responsible for deploying, explaining, and supporting real-world network security for non-technical users.
This role sits at the intersection of deep technical mastery, clear human communication, and personal accountability.
OSS Engineers are not tier-1 support. They are not call-center technicians. They are not learning on the job. They are trusted to represent OSS directly to customers.
This role starts part-time. No minimum hours, no required schedule. You take consultations when they are available and your schedule allows. This is intentional: it lets you see what OSS is building before you commit further, and it lets us see you in action before offering expanded responsibility.
Consultations are assigned using a weighted round-robin system. The more available you are, the more work you get. Engineers who consistently show up and deliver quality work will naturally accumulate more volume as demand in their region grows.
OSS Engineers are expected to arrive with deep, practical experience in all of the following areas. This is not a training role.
OSS touches nearly every security subsystem OPNsense provides. Engineers must understand how these systems interact, not just how to navigate the GUI.
Concrete example: You should be able to troubleshoot a WireGuard handshake failure without searching for the answer. You should understand why "Disable Routes" must be checked in OPNsense WireGuard peer configuration. If these references mean nothing to you, this role is not a fit.
Technical knowledge alone is not sufficient. OSS Engineers must be able to:
| ✓ | Explain complex security concepts to non-technical users |
| ✓ | Communicate calmly and clearly under pressure |
| ✓ | Guide customers through decisions without overselling |
| ✓ | Set and enforce boundaries when necessary |
| ✓ | Earn trust quickly and maintain it over time |
You are often the most technically capable person a customer has ever spoken to. You are also responsible for making them feel confident, not overwhelmed.
| Aspect | Structure |
|---|---|
| Location | Fully remote |
| Interaction | Customer-facing video consultations |
| Compensation | Paid per engagement |
| Hours | No minimum, no maximum |
| Schedule | Self-managed availability |
Consultations are typically 20-25 minutes and focus on configuration, validation, and education. This role is designed for experienced professionals who value autonomy and responsibility over hierarchy.
Every customer starts with a free Introduction Consultation: an 8-10 minute video call where you evaluate ISP compatibility, confirm the customer is a good fit, and answer initial questions. This call is unpaid. It exists to protect your time. Bad fits get filtered here so you are not spending a paid session on someone who should not be a customer.
If the customer is approved and purchases hardware, you get the paid Onboarding Consultation. That is yours. You configure SecureNet for their home, validate operation, set up monitoring, create backups, and make sure they understand what they own. Sometimes you have to turn people away during the intro call to avoid spending hours trying to finish work that should take 25 minutes. That judgment is part of the job.
The contract scope is straightforward: get the customer from unboxing to a working, customized OSS system. But homes vary dramatically in what they need. Apple devices need a split-VPN tunnel on SafeNet VLANs or APNS breaks and they lose notifications, App Store access, and iMessage. Families with kids make Zenarmor Home exponentially more valuable. Customers with NAS devices and security cameras need careful VLAN placement. Determining what of value OSS can offer each customer is an essential part of every consultation. This is where technical depth separates a good engineer from someone reading a checklist.
Every OSS Engineer is also an OSS Ambassador. You represent the brand in public, in communities, and in every customer interaction. This is a professional standard, not an optional extra.
Thoughtful engagement is encouraged and expected. You can participate in relevant communities, build relationships with content creators, propose collaborations, and share your expertise in ways that reflect well on OSS. What you cannot do is spam. No unsolicited ads, no cold DMs, no carpet-bombing subreddits or forums. There is a clear line between being present in a community and exploiting one, and OSS Engineers are expected to know the difference.
OSS provides an outreach guide covering what is and is not appropriate. If you would not want it done to your community, do not do it to someone else's.
OSS Engineers are compensated per consultation. This is a 1099 contractor role.
| What Exists | What Does Not Exist |
|---|---|
| Per-consultation payment | Guaranteed hours |
| Regional leadership opportunities | Required schedules |
| Higher compensation for team oversight | Quotas or sales commissions |
At launch, OSS operates exclusively within the United States.
The plan is to expand region by region across the country. The regional map is built and population targets are set. Engineers who establish strong local presence and deliver consistent quality will be offered responsibility for defined geographic regions as demand grows.
How regional ownership will work: An engineer in Texas owns Texas. Customers in that region route to you. You build the relationship. You maintain the standard. Everything that comes through OSS efforts and exposure in your region is yours.
We are forming the core team now. The entire United States is open territory and we are actively building the engineering team to cover it. There is no established hierarchy to slot into. The people who join early, deliver quality work, and build their region become the regional leadership. Nobody who joins at this stage gets relegated later. If you show up now and you have staying power, you are the regional director. The only question is when demand reaches your territory.
This is where every founding team member starts. 1099 contractor. Set your own schedule. No minimum hours. Prove the work, learn the product, build trust.
As demand grows in your area, you own it. Every customer in your region routes to you. You build the relationships, you become the face of OSS locally. Early engineers get first pick of territories.
This is where the core team lands. Train and manage your own team of OSS Engineers. The regional map is built, the population targets are set, and early engineers who delivered are the ones running it. $25K/year per full-time engineer you manage, on top of your own consultation pay.
This path is earned, not granted. It requires consistent quality, customer trust, and the ability to maintain the OSS standard as you grow. There is no fixed timeline. Demand drives expansion, and performance drives promotion.
The long play: Early engineers are not competing for scraps. The whole country is open. If you are the kind of person who builds things instead of waiting for permission, this is designed for you.
To be explicit, this role is not:
| X | Entry-level |
| X | A helpdesk position |
| X | A sales job |
| X | A full-time employment requirement |
| X | A path for learning networking fundamentals |
| X | A place to learn customer-facing skills for the first time |
| X | A role with formal training or onboarding curriculum |
You will not be thrown into customer calls on day one. OSS has a specific way of doing things and you will learn it before you represent us. Expect hands-on walkthroughs of:
This is not training from zero. This is showing experienced people how we do it and why we do it like that. If you understand the concepts, we will show you the implementation.
The expectation is clear: If you cannot understand what OSS does by reading the AI Whitepaper and this website, you will get buried on calls with questions you do not know the answer to. If you have never worked directly with customers, this would be a learning experience and not a good fit.
Home networks are now critical infrastructure.
OSS exists because this gap has become untenable. The mission is to make enterprise-grade network security accessible to people who will never become network engineers.
The market is not theoretical. 71% of American households get their router from their ISP (Parks Associates, 2025). That is over 90 million homes paying monthly rent for hardware that does nothing for their security. OSS turns that cost into a positive investment in approximately four years while providing enterprise-grade protection the entire time. The opportunity is sitting in every neighborhood in the country.
If you read this page and thought:
"Yes. This is already how I work."
Then you may be a fit for OSS.
This page exists permanently because OSS is always looking for the right people. There is no rush, and there is no pressure.
The bar is the bar.
If you believe you meet the standard described on this page, introduce yourself. Tell us who you are, what you run on your own network, and why this caught your attention.
[email protected]How you introduce yourself is part of the evaluation.