Ai Trust Cybersecurity Jobs

1 job found

Today

Principal Software Engineer — Application Security & AI Trust Architecture

Cisco Systems San Jose, CA

San Jose, CA

Today

$221k - $380k/yr Full time Ai Security Ai Trust Api Security

Apply Now

Job Description

In this Principal Software Engineering role at Cisco Systems, you will help set the security direction for software platforms and services, with a specific focus on application security and AI trust architecture. The work spans from defining security architecture and threat modeling to turning high-level strategy into secure-by-default, spec-driven engineering practices across cloud-to-box products.

This onsite position is based in San Jose, CA. The salary range for this role is USD 220,900 - 380,000 per year, and the position requires 15+ years of experience.

What you will do

Define and drive security architecture across software platforms and services.
Translate security strategy into hands-on engineering execution, ensuring products are secure from the cloud to the box.
Lead cross-functional initiatives and mentor engineering team members.
Engage with customers and leverage AI to improve the development lifecycle and threat prevention capabilities.
Collaborate with application teams to design secure-by-default software patterns.
Implement strict Model Context Protocol (MCP) access boundaries.
Enforce spec-driven security contracts across application interfaces.
Mitigate vulnerabilities unique to autonomous agent workflows, including prompt injection, indirect data exfiltration, and unauthorized tool invocation.
Design trust boundaries, sandboxing models, and execution guardrails for autonomous application agents and LLM tool-calling workflows.
Architect granular authentication, authorization, and least-privilege scoping for MCP servers, tool registries, and external integrations.
Mitigate emerging AI threat vectors such as OWASP Top 10 for LLMs, indirect prompt injection, tool hijacking, credential harvesting, and context leakage.
Establish spec-driven security standards across application contracts including OpenAPI, TypeSpec, and gRPC/Protobuf, embedding authentication schemes, data sanitization, and authorization scopes directly into machine-readable specs.
Implement automated security contract testing and static/dynamic schema validation to detect authorization bypasses, Broken Object Level Authorization (BOLA), and injection vulnerabilities before deployment.
Lead comprehensive architectural threat modeling for critical application tiers, distributed business logic, and multi-tenant data boundaries.
Create reusable, hardened software design patterns, cryptographic utilities, and session management frameworks for application engineering teams.
Architect and scale automated security gates in CI/CD pipelines including SAST, DAST, IAST, software composition analysis, container image signing, and SBOM tracking.
Define policy-as-code frameworks (for example, OPA/Rego and Cedar) to enforce deterministic security baselines across service deployments.
Act as the principal technical escalation point for complex application security architecture reviews and critical vulnerability disclosures.
Mentor senior engineers on defensive coding practices, modern API security standards, and zero-trust application design.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field.
15+ years of experience in software engineering and application security architecture, including designing, securing, and operating distributed applications.
Experience with application security frameworks such as OWASP Top 10, OWASP API Top 10, CWE/SANS 25, or zero-trust application patterns.
Experience in identity and access governance including one or more of OAuth 2.0, OIDC, SAML, mTLS, SPIFFE/SPIRE, or fine-grained authorization models (RBAC, ABAC, ReBAC).
Experience in at least one backend language: Python, Go, TypeScript/Node.js, Rust, or Java.
Experience integrating security controls into cloud-native architectures such as Kubernetes, AWS/GCP/Azure, API gateways, or service meshes.

Technologies

Model Context Protocol (MCP); LLM tool-calling workflows
OpenAPI, TypeSpec, gRPC/Protobuf
Open Policy Agent (OPA), Rego, Cedar
OWASP Top 10, OWASP API Top 10, CWE/SANS 25, OWASP Top 10 for LLMs
OAuth 2.0, OIDC, SAML, mTLS, SPIFFE/SPIRE
RBAC, ABAC, ReBAC
Python, Go, TypeScript/Node.js, Rust, Java
Kubernetes, AWS, GCP, Azure, API gateways, service meshes
SAST, DAST, IAST, software composition analysis
Container image signing, SBOM tracking
OPA/Rego (also listed separately), Semgrep, CodeQL, CVE

Benefits

Medical, dental and vision insurance
401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution
Paid parental leave
Short and long-term disability coverage
Basic life insurance
Cisco restricted stock units that vest following continued employment with Cisco for defined periods
10 paid holidays per full calendar year
1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees
1 paid day off for employee’s birthday
Paid year-end holiday shutdown
4 paid days off for personal wellness determined by Cisco
Non-exempt employees: 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year, accrued at 4.92 hours per pay period for full-time employees
Exempt employees: flexible vacation time off program with no defined limit (subject to availability and some business limitations)
80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter, and up to 80 hours of unused sick time carried forward
Additional paid time away may be requested to deal with critical or emergency issues for family members
Optional 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer
For non-sales roles, employees may be eligible to earn annual bonuses subject to Cisco’s policies

Application window

The application window is expected to close on 10/30/2026.

Preferred qualifications

Experience with the security implications of the Model Context Protocol (MCP) or similar AI tool-invocation interfaces
Experience writing policy-as-code engines (Open Policy Agent, AWS Cedar, Oso/Polar) or custom linter/SAST rules (Semgrep, CodeQL)
Active involvement in application security research, CVE publications, open-source security tooling, or industry working groups (OWASP, CNCF Security, OASIS)
Relevant security certifications (for example, CISSP, CSSLP, CCSP, or AWS Certified Security)
Experience evaluating and securing LLM-powered applications, tool-use execution loops, and RAG architectures

View full job page →

Get Ai Trust Cybersecurity Jobs alerts

New Ai Trust Cybersecurity Jobs, daily.