Staff Software Engineer - Advanced Threat Protection

VulnU; Bengaluru; Hybrid; INR 4,000,000 - 7,000,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Paid parental leave

Job summary

Okta is seeking a Staff/Principal Security Engineer for Advanced Threat Protection in Bengaluru. You will research how attackers exploit AI in identity systems and develop defenses to protect Okta Customer Identity tenants.

The role blends threat research with engineering to deliver proactive protections and scalable security tooling. You will lead architecture decisions, collaborate across security, product, and engineering, and mentor senior engineers while shaping a long-term security

Qualifications

• Hands-on AI/ML security knowledge including attacks and defenses.
• Experience mentoring senior engineers and influencing security strategy.
• Strong research culture with ability to translate findings into actionable protections.
• Familiarity with secure software lifecycle practices.
• Proficient communication for cross-functional collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Research how to use AI to protect customer tenants and harden defenses.
• Build protections against adversarial ML, prompt-injection, and related threats.
• Architect and implement AI-powered security tooling and defenses.
• Collaborate with product, engineering, and security teams to set long-term threat models.
• Define multi-quarter technical strategy and influence platform-wide security standards.
• Mentor and develop senior engineers within the team.

Skills

AI/ML security

Mentoring engineers

Threat research

Secure SDLC

Excellent communication

Tools

Go

Kubernetes

AWS security

Azure security

LLM security

Job description

# Staff Software Engineer - Advanced Threat ProtectionOkta · okta.comCategory: Security EngineeringLocation: Bengaluru, IndiaLevel: Staff / Principal## Quality of lifeWhat the posting states. Hover or tap a perk to see the line it came from.* Equity* Paid parental leaveSecure Every Identity, from AI to HumanIdentity is the key to unlocking the potential of AI. Okta secures AI by building the trusted, neutral infrastructure that enables organizations to safely embrace this new era. This work requires a relentless drive to solve complex challenges with real-world stakes. We are looking for builders and owners who operate with speed and urgency and execute with excellence.This is an opportunity to do career-defining work. We're all in on this mission. If you are too, let's talk.Security Engineer, Customer Identity, Advanced Threat ProtectionGet to know OktaOkta is The World’s Identity Company. We free everyone to safely use any technology—anywhere, on any device or app. Our Workforce and Customer Identity Clouds enable secure yet flexible access, authentication, and automation that transforms how people move through the digital world, putting Identity at the heart of business security and growth.At Okta, we celebrate a variety of perspectives and experiences. We are not looking for someone who checks every single box - we’re looking for lifelong learners and people who can make us better with their unique experiences.Join our team! We’re building a world where Identity belongs to you.The RoleWe seek a knowledgeable and research-focused Security Engineer to join a new Advanced Threat Protection team within Auth0 Customer Identity. This role does two things at once: it researches how attackers will use AI against identity systems, and it researches and builds how we use AI to defend our products, our infrastructure, and — most importantly — our customers' tenants.This role is a key member of the Security team embedded within the Customer Identity product unit and works across multiple functions to get ahead of emerging AI threats, supporting the growth of our global Customer Identity business.We are an engineering-focused team that seeks to stay on the cutting edge of security technology and the threat landscape. In this role you won't just assess our current AI security offering — you'll research what we should be protecting customers from one to two years ahead, turn that research into concrete protections, and help put AI-assisted defenses into the hands of the teams and customers who protect their tenants.In this role you will work as part of a globally distributed team of talented engineers who share a passion for security and enjoy solving complex problems at scale. This role works closely with and alongside the members of the broader Okta Security team in support of Okta's company-wide security strategy and Okta’s Secure Identity Commitment.This is a level-agnostic description; scope, autonomy, and leadership expectations scale with level (Senior through Staff).Responsibilities:Research and lead how we can use AI to protect customer tenants — both proactively (hardening posture before an attack) and during active incidents (accelerating detection, triage, and response)Research and build protections against novel AI attacks that Auth0 and Auth0's customers can be subjected to — adversarial ML, prompt injection, abuse of agentic protocols (MCP, A2A, UCP, and emerging equivalents), model and data poisoning — as they apply to identity systems and customer tenantsPartner with the identity security teams to help customers strengthen their own tenant security posture through AI-assisted defensesResearch the emerging AI threat landscape and translate it into a forward-looking (12–24 month) view of what we need to protect ourselves and our customers from — then architect, recommend, and build the tooling to get thereReview and harden Auth0's AI security offering, identifying gaps and recommending mitigations before they're exploitedPartner across a globally distributed product-aligned team of security engineers to turn research into shipped protections for customer tenantsEstablish and execute a long-term engineering and threat research roadmap for Advanced Threat Protection aligned with company-wide business and security goals.Own high-impact security architecture designs and decisions across Auth0 and Okta Customer Identity infrastructure to support long-term threat resilience.Drive cross-functional security strategies and partner across engineering, product, and enterprise security leadership across Okta to influence platform-wide standards and policies.Actively coach, mentor, and level up Senior (P3) engineers and team members, fostering technical excellence, research discipline, and leadership growth.What this position is not:Dedicated application security, code review, or compliance-focused workReactive patch and vulnerability management as a primary function — this role is about getting ahead of threats, not chasing themRequirements:You have hands-on experience with AI/ML security — attacking, defending, or both (e.g., adversarial ML, LLM/prompt-injection attacks, agentic-system or model abuse), and an interest in using AI to build defenses, not just to study attacks8+ years of experience in security engineering, with a proven track record of setting technical vision, driving cross-organizational initiatives, and leading architectural choices in cloud/product security.Demonstrated experience mentoring senior-level engineers, defining multi-quarter technical strategy, driving architectural consensus, and influencing cross-organizational security initiatives.You have hands-on development experience — Go preferred — sufficient to prototype tooling, build AI-powered defenses, and operationalize your researchYou have working knowledge and hands-on experience with one or more of the following:AWS and/or Azure securityKubernetesYou have strong knowledge of OWASP (including the OWASP Top 10 for LLM Applications) and secure coding best practicesYou have a strong foundation in secure software development lifecycle best practicesYou have strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to turn research into clear guidance for engineering and product teamsYou have experience working with a globally distributed and remote teamBonus points if:You have published threat research, CVEs, or conference talks in AI/ML security or identity securityYou have built AI/ML-powered security tooling or defensive automation in a production environmentYou have working knowledge and experience with one or more of the following:Adversarial ML, model red-teaming, or AI safety researchThe AI agent / MCP ecosystem and its security implicationsIdentity and access managementFull-stack engineeringSite reliability engineeringVulnerability and threat managementGovernance, risk and compliance#PID: P25952#LI-Hybrid