Rapid 7

Senior Manager, UX - Platform Leadership Across Cybersecurity Domains

NOTE: Due to a company-wide layoff and loss of access to internal systems, I no longer have access to work files from my time at Rapid7. Any visuals included here were sourced from publicly available materials.

Executive Summary

I led UX for several cybersecurity products, such as vulnerability management, application security, cloud security, offensive tools, and community platforms.

  • I grew and managed on-site and remote teams of 3-15 designers, including 4 managers.

  • I was often asked to help during acquisitions and times of organizational change.

  • I helped bring newly acquired products into Rapid7’s larger platform vision.

  • I supported key revenue products and helped the company move toward a unified SaaS ecosystem.

Business Context

When I joined Rapid7, the company had around 600 employees and was growing after its IPO. The main product, Nexpose (later InsightVM), drove most of the revenue.

At the same time, Rapid7 was expanding into new cybersecurity areas through acquisitions and internal projects. The long-term goal was to build a unified SaaS platform with a full set of security features in one ecosystem.

As the company grew, my role changed. I went from leading single-product teams to helping align products and integrate acquisitions.

The Problem

Rapid7 was growing fast, but that growth also brought more complexity.

The organization faced:

  • Distributed UX teams across geographies

  • Products at different levels of maturity

  • Acquired companies with different cultures and tech stacks

  • Separate workflows that did not yet feel like one platform

Some products had little or no UX support. Others had strong technology but needed a clearer user experience. Acquired teams often found it hard to move from startup independence to a bigger company setting.

We needed to add structure, alignment, and consistency, but still keep innovation moving quickly.

Leadership And Alignment

Over six years, I helped shape the UX team through different stages of growth.

I:

  • Reorganized distributed teams and rebuilt trust with Product and Engineering.

  • Defined hiring standards and participated in org design decisions.

  • Hired and mentored designers, including future managers.

  • Promoted workflow and visual consistency across product lines.

At times, I was asked to step in when teams or products faced challenges. My job was to improve teamwork, clarify goals, and help teams work well within Rapid7.

tCell - Suspicious Actions Dashboard
InsightCloudSec - Toxic Combinations (Dark Mode)
InsightCloudSec - Risk Overview (Light Mode)

Acquisition And Integration

tCell - RASP solution

tCell was acquired to bring Runtime Application Security Protection into Rapid7’s application security offering.

The team did not have a UX function and worked separately from Rapid7’s platform.

I helped:

  • Introduce UX practices into the team.

  • Align the experience with Rapid7’s design system.

  • Rethink workflows with cross-product integration in mind.

  • Work through technical limits that affected whether full integration was possible.

The biggest challenge was helping the team move from working alone to being part of the larger platform.

DivvyCloud (rebranded to InsightCloudSec)

DivvyCloud was acquired to expand into cloud security posture management.

The product was technically strong but designed for a hands-on, managed service. Rapid7 wanted it to be more accessible and self-service, matching the rest of the platform.

I helped:

  • Guide the team through the post-acquisition transition.

  • Replatform and rebrand the product.

  • Simplify complex cloud risk data into more actionable experiences.

  • Define a unified risk scoring approach focused on clarity and action.

Our goal was clear: help users quickly see what’s happening in their cloud and what steps to take next.

Product Ecosystem Influence

Expose / Insightvm

This was the company’s top revenue driver.

I took over a scattered UX team and rebuilt relationships across functions. I also helped shape the vision for a unified product suite centered on InsightVM.

Insightappsec

When I joined, the product had a single designer and lacked experience and clarity.

I grew the team, introduced structure, and partnered with Product and Engineering to define a clearer direction. I also led exploration into integrating DAST, RASP, and software composition analysis workflows.

Metasploit

I brought a UX perspective to a team that had not had one before.

I helped fix usability issues in Metasploit Pro and worked with security researchers on new projects, including an IoT RFID-scanning platform that resulted in patent US12075252B1 (Radio Frequency Capture Analysis Reporting)

AttackerKB

AttackerKB turned Rapid7’s security research into a community platform.

We shifted from static blog posts to a more interactive experience, which boosted engagement and encouraged community contributions.

Cybersecurity Domain Depth

During my time at Rapid7, I worked confidently in areas like:

  • Vulnerability management

  • DAST

  • RASP

  • Cloud security posture management

  • Offensive security tooling

  • Threat research

Engineers saw me as technically credible, and a big part of my job was turning complex security ideas into practical, user-friendly experiences.

Impact

  • I helped grow and mature the UX team during the company’s post-IPO expansion.

  • I played a key part in bringing acquired products into a single platform vision.

  • I supported important revenue systems and areas for strategic growth.

  • I improved alignment across products in both workflows and visual design.

Reflection

At Rapid7, design for me meant a lot more than just screens or features. It meant leading teams through growth, supporting acquisitions, and making different security products feel like one unified platform.