Applied AI Security Engineer

Waabi; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 118,000 - 168,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity awards

Health benefits

Unlimited vacation

WFH support

Catered meals

Team events

Job summary

Waabi, an AI‑driven leader in autonomous transportation, seeks a security‑minded software professional to own AI security controls and guardrails across the company. You will establish layered guardrails, inventory AI‑to‑service connections, and partner with engineers to bake secure‑by‑default workflows into everyday use.

You will evaluate new AI tools and integrate secure access patterns, while maintaining data access controls and policy documentation to support rapid AI adoption with safety

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field.
• Professional software development experience, with solid fundamentals in how services, APIs, and permissions fit together.
• Hands‑on experience using AI coding/productivity tools (Claude, Copilot, Gemini, or similar) in business‑critical workflows.
• Working knowledge of core security concepts — least privilege, sandboxing, trust boundaries, threat modeling basics.
• Strong communication skills - you work with engineers as a partner.

Responsibilities

• Audit how AI tools and MCP integrations are used across the company, and map where they touch sensitive systems, data, or credentials for the purpose of defining policy.
• Design and implement layered guardrails - enterprise‑level system prompts, scoped permissions, sandboxing patterns - that constrain AI behavior before it ever reaches a user’s request.
• Maintain an inventory of both MCP servers and AI‑to‑service connections and their data access controls, with a clear model of what each one can access and why.
• Partner directly with users across the organization to bake secure‑by‑default patterns into their AI‑assisted workflows so that written policy doesn’t just sit on a shelf.
• Evaluate new AI tools, plugins, and integration requests, and figure out the secure way to say yes.
• Continuously test and red‑team your own guardrails - assume they’ll be pushed on, and find the gaps before someone else does.
• Document guidance and patterns that a non‑security audience can actually follow without needing a security background.

Skills

Software development fundamentals

Security mindset

Cross-functional collaboration

Threat modeling

AI tools familiarity

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Claude

Copilot

Gemini

MCP (Model Context Protocol)

Job description

Waabi, founded by AI visionary Raquel Urtasun, is the leader in Physical AI. With a world-class team, we're unlocking the next era of autonomous transportation with technology that’s powering commercial autonomous trucks and robotaxis. Waabi is backed by and partners with world leaders in AI, automotive, logistics, and deep tech.

With offices in Toronto, San Francisco, Dallas, and Pittsburgh, Waabi is growing quickly and looking for diverse, innovative and collaborative candidates who want to impact the world in a positive way. To learn more visit: www.waabi.ai

Waabi is leaning into an AI-native strategy — not just in our trucks, but in how we build, ship, and operate every day. Our teams leverage key AI tools to enhance productivity and efficiency, continuously expanding AI integration across our systems and workflows. That’s a huge unlock, and it’s moving fast. We’re looking for someone to make sure it keeps moving fast safely — by establishing the guardrails and collaborating on the implementation of sandboxes and automations that let people adopt AI with confidence instead of second‑guessing themselves. You’ll join a small, sharp security team and take primary ownership of AI security controls and considerations across the company. If you’ve got a developer’s instincts, a security mindset, and you’re genuinely curious about what these tools can and can’t be trusted to do, this role is built around you.

You will...

• Audit how AI tools and MCP integrations are currently used across the company, and map where they touch sensitive systems, data, or credentials for the purpose of defining policy.
• Design and implement layered guardrails - enterprise‑level system prompts, scoped permissions, sandboxing patterns - that constrain AI behavior before it ever reaches a user’s request.
• Maintain an inventory of both MCP servers and AI‑to‑service connections and their data access controls, with a clear model of what each one can access and why.
• Partner directly with users across the organization to bake secure‑by‑default patterns into their AI‑assisted workflows so that written policy doesn’t just sit on a shelf.
• Evaluate new AI tools, plugins, and integration requests, and figure out the secure way to say yes.
• Continuously test and red‑team your own guardrails - assume they’ll be pushed on, and find the gaps before someone else does.
• Document guidance and patterns that a non‑security audience can actually follow without needing a security background.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field.
• Professional software development experience, with solid fundamentals in how services, APIs, and permissions fit together.
• Hands‑on experience using AI coding/productivity tools (Claude, Copilot, Gemini, or similar) in business‑critical workflows.
• Working knowledge of core security concepts — least privilege, sandboxing, trust boundaries, threat modeling basics.
• Strong communication skills - you work with engineers as a partner.

Bonus:

• Experience with MCP (Model Context Protocol) or similar tool‑calling/agent‑integration frameworks.
• Exposure to prompt injection, jailbreaking, or other AI/LLM‑specific attack techniques.
• Background in autonomous vehicles, robotics, or other safety‑critical systems

The US yearly salary range for this role is: $139,000- $258,000 USD and the Canada salary range for this role is: $118,000 - $168,000 CAD in addition to competitive perks & benefits. Waabi US Inc. and Waabi Canada Inc.’s yearly salary ranges are determined based on several factors in accordance with the Company’s compensation practices. The salary base range is reflective of the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position across all US and Canada locations. Note: The Company provides additional compensation for employees in this role, including discretionary equity incentive awards and discretionary annual performance bonus.

Perks/Benefits:

Waabi provides a competitive benefits package that includes:

• Competitive compensation and equity awards.
• Health and Wellness benefits that include Medical, Vision and Dental coverage.
• Unlimited Vacation.
• Flexible hours and Work from Home support.
• Daily drinks, snacks and catered meals (when in office).
• Regularly scheduled team building activities and social events.
• As we grow, this list continues to evolve!

Waabi is a technology start‑up building technologies to transform the way the world moves. Join our talented team to be a part of the future and to make an impact!

Waabi is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating a supportive, inclusive, and accessible workplace for all our employees. We seek applicants of all backgrounds and identities, across race, color, ethnicity, national origin or ancestry, age, citizenship, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military or veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or parental status, caregiver status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law. We make workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process please let our recruiting team know.