Member of Technical Staff (Secure Intelligence Institute)

Perplexity AI; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Deepstreamtech is seeking a Security Researcher in San Francisco to advance the security and privacy of frontier intelligence systems. The ideal candidate will hold a PhD in Computer Science and have experience authoring impactful research for top security conferences. Responsibilities include developing threat models for AI products and collaborating with industry researchers. This role requires proficiency in Python, strong communication skills, and the ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Hold a PhD (or equivalent research experience) in Computer Science or related field.
• Experience publishing at top security conferences demonstrating original research contributions.
• Proficiency in Python; bonus for TypeScript, Go, and/or Rust.

Responsibilities

• Conduct original and impactful research on improving security and privacy.
• Develop threat models for emerging attack surfaces in AI-native products.
• Identify and analyze security and privacy threats across AI systems.

Skills

PhD in Computer Science or related field

Expertise in security of systems

Proficient in Python

Experience with security conferences

Strong communication skills

Education

PhD (or equivalent research experience)

Job description

Requirements

• Hold a PhD (or equivalent research experience) in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field, with a primary focus on security and/or privacy


• Experience publishing at top security conferences (IEEE S&P, USENIX Security, ACM CCS, NDSS) demonstrating original, impactful research contributions


• Deep expertise in one or more of: security of agentic systems, systems security, web and applications security, program analysis, and software security


• Proficiency in Python (bonus points for TypeScript, Go, and/or Rust)


• Ability to operate with high independence, willing to dive in and take ownership, and comfortable in a fast‑paced environment where research directly informs product


• Clear and concise communcation, translating complex attack narratives into actionable insights for engineering and leadership

What the job involves

• As a member of SII, you'll conduct original and impactful research on improving the security and privacy of frontier intelligence systems


• Your goal will be to conduct research that is not only rigorous in theory, but practical enough to improve the systems people rely on every day


• This work will be informed by the realities of operating general‑purpose AI systems used by millions of people and thousands of enterprises, and you'll be expected to translate both your own research and advances from the broader community to practical improvements that protect and defend Perplexity's users


• Develop threat models for emerging attack surfaces in AI‑native products, including browser, search, and autonomous agents


• Identify and analyze security and privacy threats across AI systems, infrastructure, and user‑facing products


• Develop novel defenses, mitigations, and detection mechanisms for security and privacy in AI‑native products


• Build security evaluation frameworks, benchmarks, and datasets to measure the effectiveness of different defense mechanisms


• Partner with Perplexity’s Security Engineering team to translate state of the art research into shipped security features and hardened system architectures


• Collaborate with top‑tier academic and industry researchers in SII's external research network


• Publish findings at premier venues and contribute to the broader security research community