AI Security Engineer Lead

Accrue Partners; Charlotte (NC); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

AccruePartners is seeking an AI Security Engineer Lead to drive the security strategy for enterprise AI agents in a large Azure-based environment. You will shape reference architectures, guardrails, and controls while partnering with Cybersecurity, AI Engineering, Enterprise Architecture, and business stakeholders.

You will act as the senior AI security SME, influence technical direction, and help mature an early-stage AI security capability with hands-on execution and pragmatic design patterns.

Qualifications

• Strong cybersecurity foundation within cloud security, application/product security, security architecture, API security, or a similar engineering discipline.
• Proven enterprise experience securing AI agents or agentic AI workloads beyond personal projects, labs, or theoretical knowledge.
• Hands-on experience with Microsoft Azure AI technologies, ideally Azure AI Foundry / Microsoft Foundry, Azure OpenAI, APIM, or AI Gateway.
• Practical experience securing agent integrations such as MCP / Model Context Protocol, APIs, agent identities, permissions, and tool access.
• Strong architecture and communication skills with the ability to influence technical and business stakeholders without relying on formal authority.

Responsibilities

• Lead the technical security strategy for enterprise AI agents, including how they access data, APIs, tools, the internet, and other agents.
• Develop reusable security architectures, reference patterns, guardrails, and controls for agentic AI environments.
• Secure AI workloads primarily within Microsoft Azure / Foundry, including API and AI gateway controls, MCP servers, and agent-to-agent interactions.
• Partner with AI developers, architects, and business stakeholders to embed security into solutions while helping prioritize the organization's AI security roadmap.
• Evaluate emerging threats such as prompt injection, excessive agency, data leakage, tool misuse, and unauthorized access and implement controls to mitigate them.

Skills

Cloud security

Security architecture

API security

Communication skills

Enterprise security

Tools

Azure AI Foundry

Microsoft Foundry

Azure OpenAI

APIM

AI Gateway

Job description

AI SECURITY ENGINEER LEAD

THE TEAM YOU WILL BE JOINING

• Join a growing Security Architecture & Engineering organization supporting a major enterprise investment in AI and agentic technology.
• Serve as the senior AI Security SME within a collaborative team spanning Cybersecurity, Enterprise Architecture, AI Engineering, IT, GRC, and business stakeholders.
• Step into a newly created Lead-level individual contributor role with significant influence over the organization's AI security strategy and technical direction.
• Work within a primarily Microsoft Azure environment where AI agents are actively being deployed across the business.
• Help mature an early-stage AI security capability by bringing proven approaches, reference patterns, and hands-on experience to the existing team.

WHAT THEY OFFER YOU

• Opportunity to help build and shape an enterprise AI Security capability during a critical period of AI adoption.
• Significant ownership over security architecture, technical standards, guardrails, and priorities surrounding agentic AI.
• Exposure to emerging technologies including Microsoft Foundry, AI Gateway, MCP, Agent 365, Entra Suite, and Anthropic.
• Clear growth opportunity within a Lead/Principal technical career path without requiring people management.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

• Lead the technical security strategy for enterprise AI agents, including how they access data, APIs, tools, the internet, and other agents.
• Develop reusable security architectures, reference patterns, guardrails, and controls for agentic AI environments.
• Secure AI workloads primarily within Microsoft Azure / Foundry, including API and AI gateway controls, MCP servers, and agent-to-agent interactions.
• Partner with AI developers, architects, and business stakeholders to embed security into solutions while helping prioritize the organization's AI security roadmap.
• Evaluate emerging threats such as prompt injection, excessive agency, data leakage, tool misuse, and unauthorized access and implement controls to mitigate them.

HOW YOU WILL QUALIFY

• Strong cybersecurity foundation within cloud security, application/product security, security architecture, API security, or a similar engineering discipline.
• Proven enterprise experience securing AI agents or agentic AI workloads beyond personal projects, labs, or theoretical knowledge.
• Hands-on experience with Microsoft Azure AI technologies, ideally Azure AI Foundry / Microsoft Foundry, Azure OpenAI, APIM, or AI Gateway.
• Practical experience securing agent integrations such as MCP / Model Context Protocol, APIs, agent identities, permissions, and tool access.
• Strong architecture and communication skills with the ability to influence technical and business stakeholders without relying on formal authority.

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