Staff Engineer, Agentic Access Controls

Google; Town of Montana (WI); On-site; USD 207,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Google's Access Governance Platform team seeks a Staff Engineer for Agentic Access Controls in Chicago to design next‑generation AI safety architectures and governance for autonomous agents, with a focus on scalable, secure access controls and trust.

You will translate strategy into concrete roadmaps, mentor engineers, and collaborate with product management and security teams to deliver cohesive, industry‑leading access solutions across Google Cloud and Workspace.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience.
• 8 years of experience in software development.
• 5 years of experience building software for data privacy or security (e.g., identity and access management).
• 3 years of experience with software design and architecture.

Responsibilities

• Pioneer the future of AI safety by designing next-generation architectures and security frameworks for autonomous agents, adapting proven enterprise-grade access controls to solve complex compliance challenges at scale.
• Translate high-level strategy into concrete technical roadmaps and project plans. Lead and mentor a high-performing team of software engineers to rapidly build, test, and deploy robust production services and controls.
• Collaborate closely with Product Management, Security Architects, and partner Google Cloud engineering teams to build cohesive, user-centric, and industry-leading access solutions.
• Partner with senior technical leaders to align on platform roadmap strategy, secure organizational buy-in, and successfully navigate all stages of the product development lifecycle from concept to global launch.

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience.

Job description

Staff Engineer, Agentic Access Controls

Location: Chicago, IL, USA

Experience Level: Advanced

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience.
• 8 years of experience in software development.
• 5 years of experience building software for data privacy or security (e.g., identity and access management).
• 3 years of experience with software design and architecture.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree or PhD in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field.
• 8 years of experience with data structures and algorithms.
• Experience designing or implementing access control and security guardrails for AI agents, including tool-use policies, runtime sandboxing, or autonomous workflow governance.
• Experience building or governing systems focused on agentic access, safety, and compliance.

About the Job

Google's software engineers develop the next-generation technologies that change how billions of users connect, explore, and interact with information and one another. Our products need to handle information at massive scale, and extend well beyond web search. We're looking for engineers who bring fresh ideas from all areas, including information retrieval, distributed computing, large-scale system design, networking and data storage, security, artificial intelligence, natural language processing, UI design and mobile; the list goes on and is growing every day. As a software engineer, you will work on a specific project critical to Google's needs with opportunities to switch teams and projects as you and our fast-paced business grow and evolve. We need our engineers to be versatile, display leadership qualities and be enthusiastic to take on new problems across the full-stack as we continue to push technology forward.

The Access Governance Platform (AGP) team secures Google Cloud (GCP and Workspace) by governing administrative access to production environments and customer content. We own flagship, customer-facing security products including Access Transparency (AXT) and Access Approval (AXA) alongside critical internal compliance controls.

Our systems protect mission-critical, tier-1 enterprise deployments for some of the world's most trusted organizations, including Apple, Deutsche Bank, Anthropic, and Workday. By delivering these high-assurance security controls, our platform underpins massive market opportunities across EU Sovereign Cloud and US Public Sector compliance frameworks (such as IL5 and ITAR), making safe and compliant AI adoption possible at hyperscale.

Google Cloud accelerates every organization's ability to digitally transform its business and industry. We deliver enterprise-grade solutions that leverage Google's cutting-edge technology, and tools that help developers build more sustainably. Customers in more than 200 countries and territories turn to Google Cloud as their trusted partner to enable growth and solve their most critical business problems.

Individual pay is determined by factors including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

Salary

US: $207,000 - $300,000 (USD) + 20% bonus target + equity + benefits

Learn more about benefits at Google.

Responsibilities

• Pioneer the future of AI safety by designing next-generation architectures and security frameworks for autonomous agents, adapting proven enterprise-grade access controls to solve complex compliance challenges at scale.
• Translate high-level strategy into concrete technical roadmaps and project plans. Lead and mentor a high-performing team of software engineers to rapidly build, test, and deploy robust production services and controls.
• Collaborate closely with Product Management, Security Architects, and partner Google Cloud engineering teams to build cohesive, user-centric, and industry-leading access solutions.
• Partner with senior technical leaders to align on platform roadmap strategy, secure organizational buy-in, and successfully navigate all stages of the product development lifecycle from concept to global launch.

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Google is proud to be an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. We are committed to building a workforce that is representative of the users we serve, creating a culture of belonging, and providing an equal employment opportunity regardless of race, creed, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or related condition (including breastfeeding), expecting or parents-to-be, criminal histories consistent with legal requirements, or any other basis protected by law. See also Google's EEO Policy, Know your rights: workplace discrimination is illegal, Belonging at Google, and How we hire.

If you have a need that requires accommodation, please let us know by completing our Accommodations for Applicants form.

Google is a global company and, in order to facilitate efficient collaboration and communication globally, English proficiency is a requirement for all roles unless stated otherwise in the job posting.

Equity is granted exclusively and discretionarily by Alphabet Inc. on the basis of an agreement concluded between you and Alphabet Inc. Alphabet Inc. is your sole contractual partner with respect to equity grants. GSU grants are not guaranteed, are discretionary, are subject to approval by the Alphabet Inc. board of directors or its delegate, the terms of the relevant Alphabet Inc. stock plan, and your grant agreement. They have no impact on statutory payments. Current or past grants do not confer an acquired right.

Locations

Chicago, IL, USA

Advanced Experience owning outcomes and decision making, solving ambiguous problems and influencing stakeholders; deep expertise in domain.