Principal, AI Security

itron; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Itron seeks a Principal, AI Security Architecture & Engineering to serve as the senior technical authority for AI security. This hands‑on leader will define the security architecture, governance controls, engineering standards, and operational practices enabling safe, scalable AI adoption across the enterprise and product portfolio.

The role requires deep cybersecurity expertise with practical AI security experience, partnering with teams across Legal, Privacy, Engineering, Cloud Operations, and

Qualifications

• 7+ years in cybersecurity, security architecture, cloud security, IAM, application security or related field.
• 2+ years with AI-enabled systems, ML environments, automation platforms.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead enterprise AI security strategy, architecture, policies and roadmaps.
• Design and implement security controls across AI lifecycles and agent ecosystems.
• Establish scalable guardrails for generative AI platforms, APIs, plugins and automation.
• Develop governance around privacy, data protection, explainability and ethics in AI use.
• Lead AI-focused threat modeling, testing, reviews and risk assessments.
• Embed secure‑by‑design principles into AI development, deployment and operations.

Skills

Cybersecurity

Security architecture

Cloud security

Identity & access management

Application security

Product security

AI/ML security

Job description

Itron is innovating new ways for utilities and cities to manage energy and water. We create a more resourceful world to protect essential resources for today and tomorrow. Join us.

Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI) is a global leader in technology and services dedicated to the resourceful use of energy and water. With more than 300 million connected endpoints deployed worldwide, Itron is one of the world's largest and most successful IoT companies. Through innovative technology, software, and services, we help utilities and cities improve operational efficiency, enhance customer experiences, and build a more resourceful and sustainable future.

As we accelerate adoption of artificial intelligence across our enterprise, products, and services, we are seeking an exceptional security leader to help shape and secure the future of AI at Itron.

Role Summary

The Principal, AI Security Architecture & Engineering serves as Itron's senior technical authority for AI security. This highly visible, hands-on leadership role is responsible for defining and implementing the security architecture, governance controls, engineering standards, and operational practices that enable safe, scalable adoption of artificial intelligence, generative AI, machine learning, and AI agents across the enterprise and product portfolio.

The ideal candidate combines deep cybersecurity expertise with practical experience securing modern AI ecosystems, including autonomous and semi-autonomous agents, large language models, AI platforms, model gateways, non-human identities, and data access controls. This individual will partner closely with Information Security, Product Security, Legal, Privacy, Engineering, Cloud Operations, Enterprise Architecture, Infrastructure, and business leaders to help drive innovative AI capabilities while protecting customers, products, data, and intellectual property.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Define and lead Itron's enterprise AI security strategy, architecture, policies, standards, reference architectures, and multi-year roadmap.
• Design and implement security controls across the AI and agent lifecycle, including registration, inventory management, identity governance, credential protection, authorization boundaries, autonomy controls, human oversight checkpoints, memory isolation, and agent decommissioning.
• Establish scalable security guardrails for generative AI platforms, model integrations, APIs, plugins, automation workflows, AI assistants, and emerging agentic ecosystems.
• Develop and maintain governance controls supporting privacy, confidentiality, data protection, transparency, explainability, accountability, ethical AI use, and bias mitigation.
• Lead AI-focused threat modeling, adversarial testing, security reviews, and risk assessments for enterprise and customer-facing solutions.
• Evaluate and mitigate emerging AI threats, including prompt injection, tool misuse, privilege escalation, AI supply chain compromise, context poisoning, insecure agent interactions, and rogue agent behavior.
• Partner with engineering, product, and architecture teams to embed secure-by-design principles into the development, deployment, testing, and operation of AI-enabled systems.
• Advance the use of AI within Cybersecurity by designing and piloting AI-assisted capabilities that improve detection engineering, threat hunting, vulnerability management, alert triage, evidence collection, and operational effectiveness.
• Define security logging, telemetry, monitoring, alerting, and reporting requirements that measure AI control effectiveness and detect anomalous or malicious activity.
• Develop and operate AI Security Posture Management capabilities, including inventories, risk assessments, third-party evaluations, incident response processes, compliance readiness, and ongoing monitoring.
• Conduct security assessments of AI vendors, platforms, and service providers with emphasis on architecture, data handling, privacy, access controls, resiliency, and operational risk.
• Provide technical leadership and guidance for AI-related incidents, investigations, governance decisions, policy exceptions, and risk acceptance reviews.
• Author clear technical standards, reference architectures, implementation guidance, and executive communications that enable responsible and secure AI adoption.
• Mentor engineers, architects, and security practitioners while fostering a collaborative, customer-centric culture that balances innovation with risk management.
• Stay current on evolving AI technologies, industry regulations, attack techniques, and emerging security best practices, translating insights into actionable improvements for Itron.

Required Skills & Experience

• 7+ years of experience in cybersecurity, security architecture, cloud security, identity and access management, application security, product security, or a related technical discipline.
• 2+ years of experience working with AI-enabled systems, machine learning environments, automation platforms, advanced