Lead Security Engineer (AI)

TL;DR

Lead Security Engineer (AI/Cybersecurity): Building and shaping the security engineering team for a premier venture capital firm with an accent on application, enterprise, and cloud security. Focus on securing internal AI tooling, agent governance, and implementing defenses against prompt injection attacks.

Location: Hybrid in San Francisco, CA (in-office presence 2 days a week required)

Salary: $295,000 - $347,000

Company

hirify.global (a16z) is a leading venture capital firm that invests in bold entrepreneurs across AI, bio + healthcare, crypto, and enterprise technology.

What you will do

• Own the AppSec and CloudSec roadmap and tooling stack across AWS and GCP.
• Secure internal AI initiatives, including agent governance, model risk, and prompt injection defense.
• Partner with the internal engineering organization to ensure security is integrated early in the SDLC.
• Stay hands-on with code reviews, threat modeling, and critical architecture decisions.
• Lead cross-functional initiatives spanning technical and non-technical teams across the firm.

Requirements

• 7+ years of security engineering experience with deep expertise in both AppSec and CloudSec.
• Proven track record of leading cross-functional projects and managing senior stakeholders.
• Experience leading or significantly contributing to small teams (3-5 people).
• Strong working knowledge of Terraform, Kubernetes, GitHub Actions, SAST, and SCA.
• Knowledge of AI security, specifically model risk and agent governance.
• Must be based in or able to work from San Francisco, CA for a hybrid schedule.

Culture & Benefits

• Eligibility for the a16z carry program and various discretionary bonus programs.
• Comprehensive health, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance.
• 401K plan, paid vacation, and sick leave.
• Collaborative environment built on respect for the entrepreneur and a "play to win" mentality.