Sr. AI Security Engineer

Backblaze; Colombia; On-site; COP 285,938,952 - 393,166,059; Full time

Job summary

Backblaze is looking for a Senior AI Security Engineer to design and implement safety mechanisms for internal AI usage. This role involves architecting controls for AI systems and ensuring all actions are attributable and auditable.

The ideal candidate will have over 7 years of experience in security engineering with a proven track record in deploying security protocols. Strong programming skills in Python are preferred, and familiarity with AI-assisted development tools is required.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in security engineering or backend systems.
• Proven experience designing and deploying security controls.
• Strong programming skills, preferably in Python.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement safeguards for internal AI usage.
• Build enforcement mechanisms for AI behavior during execution.
• Implement logging and detection for AI activity.

Skills

Security Engineering

Backend Systems

Programming (Python)

AI-Assisted Development Tools

Job description

Backblaze is seeking a Senior AI Security Engineer to design and implement safeguards for internal AI usage, with a focus on agentic systems, developer protection, and runtime security.

What You’ll Do

Agentic AI Safeguards

• Architect and implement guardrails for tool-using AI systems, including:
  • Tool access controls and allowlists
  • Context and memory isolation
  • Step-level validation of agent actions
• Apply mitigations aligned to the OWASP Agentic AI Top 10 (e.g., prompt injection, unsafe tool use, data leakage, excessive autonomy).

Runtime Security Controls

• Build enforcement mechanisms that govern AI behavior at execution time:
  • Interceptors, proxies, or middleware for tool/API calls
  • Policy decision and enforcement layers
  • Rate limits, execution bounds, and kill-switches
• Prevent unsafe or unauthorized actions initiated by AI systems.

Non-Human Identity (NHI)

• Design and implement identity and access controls for agents and automation, including:
  • Short-lived credentials and scoped permissions
  • Clear separation between human and non-human access
  • Strong binding of identity to task context and execution
• Ensure all AI actions are attributable and auditable.

Observability & Detection

• Implement logging and tracing for AI activity:
  • Prompts, tool usage, and decision flows
• Build detection capabilities using:
  • Behavioral baselining and anomaly detection techniques
• Identify and alert on:
  • Abnormal tool usage
  • Suspicious prompt patterns
  • Unexpected data access

Threat Modeling (MAESTRO)

• Perform agentic system threat modeling using MAESTRO, including:
  • Mapping agent capabilities, trust boundaries, and attack paths
  • Modeling misuse and adversarial scenarios
• Translate findings into practical safeguards and detection logic.

Developer Safeguards

• Protect developers using AI tools by:
  • Preventing sensitive data exposure
  • Validating AI-generated code and actions
  • Constraining unsafe automation
• Enable safe usage of AI‑assisted development tools (e.g., Claude Code, Codex, Cursor) with:
  • Security validation layers
  • Controlled prompting and output handling patterns

The Right Fit

• 7+ years in security engineering or backend systems
• Proven experience designing and deploying security controls, such as:
  • Runtime enforcement layers (proxies, middleware, policy engines)
  • Identity and access systems, especially for non-human entities
• Strong programming skills (Python preferred; Go, Java, or TypeScript a plus)
• Experience using AI‑assisted development tools such as Claude Code in real workflows, including understanding associated security risks and safeguards
• Experience with:
  • Logging, monitoring, and detection systems
  • Building or securing API/service interactions
• Practical familiarity with:
  • Agentic AI systems or tool-integrated LLM workflows
  • OWASP guidance for AI/agent risks

Practitioner Knowledge

• Experience applying (not just referencing):
  • OWASP Agentic AI / LLM risk guidance
  • NIST AI RMF concepts in real systems
  • CSA guidance on workload and machine identity
• Strong understanding of:
  • Zero Trust for non-human identities
  • Secrets management and credential scoping
  • Observability tooling (e.g., OpenTelemetry, ELK)

Bonus Points For

• Experience securing internal AI platforms or developer‑facing AI tools
• Background in detection engineering, threat hunting, or adversarial testing
• Familiarity with agent frameworks (e.g., LangChain, LlamaIndex)
• Experience mentoring engineers and guiding secure design

We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer.

We are committed to fostering a workforce where all employees feel a sense of belonging regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, socio-economic status, ability, veteran status, and education.