Founding Security Engineer

Success Matcher Recruitment; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Success Matcher Recruitment presents a Founding Security Engineer opportunity at a fast-growing AI startup. You will design and implement a security program from scratch, securing the LLM pipeline, multi-tenant cloud infrastructure, and product suite, reporting directly to the Co-Founder & CTO.

You will work closely with engineering teams, drive threat modeling, secure design reviews, and establish robust security controls across regions and enterprise workflows, as the first dedicated security

Qualifications

• 7–15 years spanning software engineering and security engineering.
• Proven experience building a security program from scratch at a high-growth tech company.
• Strong code-reading and secure design pattern knowledge.

Responsibilities

• Build end-to-end security architecture across the LLM pipeline, cloud infra, and product features.
• Embed with engineering teams on threat modeling, code reviews, and secure design patterns.
• Harden multi-tenant isolation and coordinate with infra on data residency across regions.
• Lead penetration testing, vulnerability scans, and security reviews for enterprise customers.
• Serve as security authority in vendor assessments with enterprise security teams.

Skills

Threat modeling

Vulnerability assessment

Cloud security architecture

Code-reading/review

TypeScript

IAM

Education

Computer Science degree

Job description

About the Company

Our client is a fast-growing, Sequoia-backed Series B AI startup ($100M+ raised, 20x YoY revenue growth) building an autonomous market research platform. Their AI system designs and conducts expert-level customer interviews across audio, video, and text, synthesizing responses into actionable insights in hours rather than weeks.

Trusted by top tech leaders and Fortune 500 enterprises including Google, Microsoft, Anthropic, and Nestlé the company manages voice, video, and device data for millions of participants globally. Founded by serial entrepreneurs alongside a world-class engineering team (with backgrounds from Jane Street, Tesla Autopilot, Harvard, and competitive programming medalists), they are scaling rapidly to transform qualitative research at scale.

About the Role

Seeking a Founding Security Engineer with 7+ years of experience who transitioned from a software engineering background into security. As the first dedicated security hire, you will report directly to the Co-Founder & CTO, building the security program from scratch and securing the entire LLM pipeline, multi-tenant cloud infrastructure, and product suite.

Key Responsibilities

• Build Security Architecture: Define and build end-to-end security architecture across the LLM pipeline, cloud infrastructure, and product features.


• Embed with Engineering: Work closely with engineering pods on threat modeling, code reviews, and secure design patterns for new features.


• Harden Infrastructure: Strengthen multi-tenant isolation and partner with infrastructure teams on multi-region data residency.


• Compliance & Audits: Manage penetration testing, vulnerability scans, internal IT access, and serve as the technical lead for enterprise customer security reviews.


• Client Engagement: Serve as the security authority in conversations with enterprise security teams during vendor assessments.

Role Requirements

• Experience:7–15 years spanning software engineering and hands-on application/infrastructure security engineering.


• Foundational Track Record: Proven experience building a security program from scratch at a high-growth technology company.


• Education:Computer Science degree or equivalent technical degree.


• Hard Skills: Expert-level threat modeling, vulnerability assessment, cloud security architecture (multi-tenant isolation), and strong code-reading/review skills.


• Tech Stack: TypeScript, Threat Modeling, Vulnerability Discovery, Penetration Testing, Cloud/Infrastructure Security, IAM.


• Location:Ability to work on-site 5 days a week in San Francisco, CA.