Staff Security Research Engineer

Mosaic.tech; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 4,000,000 - 6,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Harness in Bengaluru, India, is seeking a senior security researcher to advance AI-powered security across SAST, DAST, SCA, and CI/CD pipelines. You will research risks in AI-assisted development, prototype detection methods, and collaborate with product teams to embed findings into developer workflows.

Applicants should have 8–10+ years in security research, strong coding skills, and a track record publishing research or presenting at security conferences.

Qualifications

• Strong background in shift-left security tools (SAST, DAST, SCA).
• Experience building or customizing scanning rules, engines, or pipelines.
• Hands-on development with modern languages and build systems.

Responsibilities

• Research and build AI-powered security capabilities across SAST, SCA, DAST, and CI/CD.
• Lead research into risks in AI-assisted development and insecure code generation.
• Develop AI-assisted detection and testing methods to improve coverage.
• Collaborate with product teams to integrate findings into workflows and features.
• Publish security research and contribute blogs or talks to the community.

Skills

Security research

Application security

SAST

DAST

SCA

CI/CD security

Programming in Python/Go/Java

AI/LLM security

Open-source risk analysis

DevSecOps

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in Computer Science or Cybersecurity

Job description

Harness is the AI Software Delivery Platform company, led by technologist and entrepreneur Jyoti Bansal (founder of AppDynamics, acquired by Cisco for $3.7B). Harness has raised approximately $570M in funding and is valued at $5.5B, backed by leading investors including Goldman Sachs, Menlo Ventures, IVP, Unusual Ventures, Citi Ventures, and more. As AI accelerates code creation, the real bottleneck has shifted to everything after the code – testing, deployments, application security, reliability, compliance, and cost optimization. Harness brings AI and automation to this “outer loop,” helping teams ship software faster while maintaining security and governance throughout the entire software delivery lifecycle.

Powered by Harness AI and the Software Delivery Knowledge Graph, the Harness Platform applies deep context and intelligent automation across the software delivery lifecycle with governance and policy-driven controls embedded throughout the platform.

Over the past year, Harness powered over 185M deployments, 82M builds, 18T flag evaluations, 8M security scans, 9.1B optimized tests, 3T protected API calls, and helped manage $2.8B in cloud spend — enabling customers like United Airlines, Morningstar, and Choice Hotels to accelerate releases by up to 75%, reduce cloud costs by up to 60%, and achieve 10x DevOps efficiency.

With a global team across 26 offices and 27 countries, Harness is shaping the future of AI software delivery — and we’re looking for exceptional talent to help us move even faster.

Key Responsibilities

• Research and build AI-powered security capabilities that enhance early detection and prevention across SAST, SCA, DAST, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Research risks in AI-assisted development, including insecure code generation, dependency suggestions, and automated refactoring.
• Lead research into modern attack vectors targeting code, dependencies, build systems, CI/CD pipelines, and cloud environments.
• Develop AI-assisted detection and testing methods to improve accuracy, automation, and coverage across security tooling.
• Prototype and validate new detection methods that help developers prevent vulnerabilities before deployment.
• Collaborate with engineering and product teams to integrate research outcomes directly into developer workflows and platform features.
• Perform deep technical assessments of applications, APIs, source repositories, and build pipelines to uncover design flaws, dependency risks, and supply chain threats.
• Work with customers and internal teams to align research with real-world DevSecOps use cases and product improvements.
• Contribute to pre-sales and technical enablement through proof-of-concepts, demos, and solution design for code-to-cloud protection.
• Build internal tools and automation that accelerate vulnerability discovery, analysis, and AI-driven security research.
• Share insights and research outcomes through blogs, whitepapers, and conference talks to advance the field of Shift-Left and AI security.
• Continuously monitor emerging threats and apply learnings to improve product detection and protection capabilities.

About You

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, or a related field.
• 8 - 10+ years of experience with special focus on security research and application security.
• Strong background in shift-left security tools (SAST, DAST, SCA) with experience building or customizing scanning rules, engines, or pipelines.
• Prior hands-on development experience with a solid understanding of modern programming languages, frameworks, and build systems.
• Understanding of AI and LLM models, their integration into developer workflows, and potential security risks.
• Deep understanding of OWASP Top 10, API Security Top 10, LLM Top 10, and CI/CD Security Top 10, with the ability to map real-world vulnerabilities to these risk categories.
• Familiarity with AI-assisted development tools and experience evaluating or mitigating risks from AI-generated code and dependency suggestions.
• Proficient in at least one modern programming language (Python, Go, Java, JavaScript, etc.)
• Familiarity with dependency management ecosystems (npm, PyPI, Maven, Go modules) and open-source risk analysis.
• Demonstrated experience in publishing security research, authoring technical blogs, or presenting at top security conferences (e.g., Black Hat, DEF CON, RSAC, BSides) is a strong plus.
• Relevant credentials such as OSCP, OSCE, CEH, or equivalent security certifications are a plus.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to lead complex research independently; from hypothesis to validation and implementation.
• Proven ability to work autonomously, drive large research efforts, and collaborate cross-functionally with product and engineering teams.
• Passion for research, security, and continuous learning, with a never-give-up attitude.

Work Location

This role will be out of our Bengaluru, India office on a Hybrid capacity.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex or national origin.

At Harness, we care about your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal data. For additional information on this topic, you can visit our privacy Portal: https://harness-privacy.relyance.ai/