Director, Application Security

Sierra Ventures; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 275,000 - 315,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Unlimited PTO

Excellent medical, dental, and vision

Employee Equity

Employee Discounts, Virtual Wellness,宠

Job summary

Zeta Global is seeking a Director of Application Security in San Francisco to architect and lead an AI-native, agent-driven AppSec function. The role emphasizes embedding security into the software development lifecycle and CI/CD pipelines, with a hands-on leadership approach.

The role focuses on shifting security left, building autonomous security capabilities, and protecting AI-powered development workflows at scale. Excellent communication and strategic vision are essential.

Qualifications

• 5–10+ years in AppSec, DevSecOps, or secure software development.
• Strong knowledge of OWASP, cloud-native systems, and API security.
• Familiarity with AI/ML security risks.
• Excellent communication and leadership skills.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive an AI-native Application Security vision and roadmap.
• Design the operating model for agentic AppSec, including security copilots and policy-enforcing agents.
• Act as a hands-on technical leader shaping secure architectures.
• Build and mentor a modern Application Security team focused on leverage and automation.
• Embed security agents into IDEs, PRs, and CI workflows.
• Lead AI-specific adversarial testing and continuous validation.

Skills

AppSec

DevSecOps

Secure SDLC

Leadership

AI/ML security

Job description

WHO WE ARE

Zeta Global (NYSE: ZETA) is the AI-Powered Marketing Cloud that leverages advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and trillions of consumer signals to make it easier for marketers to acquire, grow, and retain customers more efficiently. Through the Zeta Marketing Platform (ZMP), our vision is to make sophisticated marketing simple by unifying identity, intelligence, and omnichannel activation into a single platform – powered by one of the industry’s largest proprietary databases and AI. Our enterprise customers across multiple verticals are empowered to personalize experiences with consumers at an individual level across every channel, delivering better results for marketing programs. Zeta was founded in 2007 by David A. Steinberg and John Sculley and is headquartered in New York City with offices around the world. To learn more, go to www.zetaglobal.com.

About the Role

We’re looking for a Director of Application Security to architect and lead an AI-native, agent-driven Application Security function at Zeta.

This is a hands-on, player/coach leadership role focused on shifting security decisively left—embedding security intelligence directly into the software development lifecycle, CI/CD pipelines, and AI-powered development workflows.

Rather than operating as a traditional gate or review function, Application Security at Zeta is evolving into a continuous, autonomous capability: powered by policy-as-code, security agents, real-time risk signals, and deep integration with how engineers build software.

Zeta is at the forefront of the AI-native transformation of marketing, having launched Athena by Zeta—a superintelligent, conversational AI agent deeply embedded in the Zeta Marketing Platform. As Zeta accelerates into this AI-driven, agentic future, security is foundational—not optional.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Leadership & Strategy (AI-Native Player/Coach)

• Define and drive an AI-native Application Security vision and roadmap.


• Design the operating model for agentic AppSec, including security copilots and policy-enforcing agents.


• Act as a hands-on technical leader shaping secure architectures.


• Build and mentor a modern Application Security team focused on leverage and automation.

Agentic Threat Modeling & Continuous Validation

• Evolve threat modeling into continuous, system-aware analysis.


• Embed automated security reasoning into CI/CD and AI/ML pipelines.


• Lead AI-specific adversarial testing (prompt injection, model abuse, data leakage).

Shifting Security Left into the SDLC

• Embed security agents directly into IDEs, PRs, and CI workflows.


• Deliver in-context security guidance without slowing velocity.


• Use continuous risk scoring to influence release decisions.

AI & Emerging Threat Defense

• Own AppSec strategy for AI systems, models, prompts, and agents.


• Translate emerging AI risks into automated guardrails.

Security Culture & Enablement

• Foster an ambient, automated security culture.


• Train engineers on secure AI-native system design.

WHAT YOU NEED TO SUCCEED

• 5–10+ years in AppSec, DevSecOps, or secure software development.


• Strong knowledge of OWASP, cloud-native systems, and API security.


• Familiarity with AI/ML security risks.


• Excellent communication and leadership skills.

WHY THIS ROLE

This is a foundational opportunity to define what Application Security looks like in an AI-native enterprise—securing not just code, but decisions, agents, and intelligence at scale.

BENEFITS & PERKS

• Unlimited PTO


• Excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage


• Employee Equity


• Employee Discounts, Virtual Wellness Classes, and Pet Insurance And more!!

SALARY RANGE

The salary range for this role is $275,000-$315,000 TC, depending on location and experience.

PEOPLE & CULTURE AT ZETA

Zeta considers applicants for employment without regard to, and does not discriminate on the basis of an individual’s sex, race, color, religion, age, disability, status as a veteran, or national or ethnic origin; nor does Zeta discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.

We’re committed to building a workplace culture of trust and belonging, so everyone feels invited to bring their whole selves to work. We provide a forum for employees to celebrate, support and advocate for one another. Learn more about our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion here: https://zetaglobal.com/blog/a-look-into-zetas-ergs/

ZETA IN THE NEWS!

https://zetaglobal.com/press/?cat=press-releases

#LI-YW1