Principal AI Security Engineer

We are seeking a Principal AI Security Engineer to lead our AI security strategy and serve as the primary technical owner for AI risk management across our platform. This role is responsible for ensuring our AI framework is secure, developing modern AI-native security capabilities, and helping the organization stay ahead of the AI security curve while maintaining efficient software development practices.

You'll have the chance to:

1. Lead technical AI security strategy across ML and Generative AI infrastructure, serving as the primary technical owner for the Model Risk Office from a security perspective
2. Build comprehensive AI security tools, frameworks, and AI-powered security solutions that enable secure AI/ML systems at scale
3. Drive AI risk management across all technical areas including model security, adversarial attacks, data privacy, and AI supply chain security while partnering with legal and privacy teams on governance
4. This role is an individual contributor position with mentoring responsibilities, focused on maturing our AI security function as we scale our machine learning and generative AI capabilities. If you are passionate about AI security and looking to shape the future of secure AI in fintech, we would love to have you on board!

The Impact You’ll Have:

• Lead AI security strategy and risk assessment across customer-facing AI products, fraud detection models, LLMs, and recommendation systems
• Build and maintain AI security frameworks, tools, and monitoring capabilities for model validation and ongoing risk management
• Conduct security assessments of AI/ML model architectures, training pipelines, and deployment infrastructure
• Develop security controls specifically designed for AI/ML systems including adversarial attack prevention and bias mitigation
• Mentor security engineers and cross-functional teams on AI security best practices
• Partner closely with AI/ML engineering, data science, product security, and compliance teams
• Create secure AI development lifecycle practices and self-service security capabilities
• Drive technical decisions for AI security architecture and implementation across the organization

Who You Are:

• A minimum of 10 years related security engineering experience with demonstrated technical leadership; or equivalent combination of related education and work experience
• Strong background in data and ML security (generative AI experience preferred but flexible for the right candidate)
• Deep understanding of AI/ML security risks including adversarial attacks, model poisoning, data privacy, and bias
• Experience with cloud AI/ML platforms (AWS Bedrock, Azure AI, GCP AI Platform, etc.)
• Proven ability to build security frameworks and tools from the ground up
• Strong programming skills in Python, with experience in ML frameworks (TensorFlow, PyTorch, etc.)
• Experience with security assessment methodologies and risk management frameworks
• Experience with compliance and control frameworks (PCI DSS, SOX, SOC2, ISO27001, GDPR, NIST CSF)

Nice to Have:

• Financial services or fintech experience strongly preferred
• Experience with payment processing systems and fraud detection models
• Knowledge of AI governance and model risk management practices
• Background in data science or machine learning engineering
• Experience with privacy-preserving ML techniques (differential privacy, secure multi-party computation)
• Experience with Kubernetes and containerized AI/ML workloads
• Experience with IaC tools such as Terraform for AI infrastructure
• CISSP, CCSP, CISA, or other appropriate security certifications
• Experience building and scaling security programs in high-growth environments

Compensation and Benefits:

Marqeta is a Flex First company which allows you to choose your best working environment, whether that be from home or at a company office. To support Flex First, we calibrate pay to a competitive value according to working location. Compensation is aligned according to three tiers within the United States:

• National: A baseline tier that applies to most of the geographic territory of the United States.
• Premium: Slightly elevated from the National tier, and oriented toward a narrower set of higher cost-of-living areas, such as Los Angeles CA and Seattle WA
• Premium Plus: A tier for the most expensive working areas, like the San Francisco Bay area and New York City.

Visit this page or consult with a Recruiter to determine which tier would be applicable to you.

When determining salaries, we consider several factors including, but not limited to, skills, prior experience, and work location. The new-hire base salary range for this position is:

• National: $217,700 - $272,100
• Premium: $224,300 - $281,000 
• Premium Plus: $244,300 - $305,400

We also believe in recognizing the contributions of our people. That's why we award annual bonuses to eligible employees, rewarding both individual performance and the success of the entire company.

Along with monetary compensation, Marqeta offers

• Multiple health insurance options
• Flexible time off – take what you need
• Retirement savings program with company contribution and after tax contributions
• Equity in a publicly-traded company and an Employee Stock Purchase Program
• Family-forming benefits, fertility support, and up to 20 weeks of Parental Leave
• Free therapy sessions, financial and professional coaching, and legal advice
• Monthly stipend to support our remote work model
• Annual “development dollars” to support our people growth and development

About Marqeta

Marqeta is on a mission to change the way money moves. We’re one of the earliest enablers of embedded finance, a market opportunity sized up in the trillions. Our card issuing platform provides unprecedented flexibility and control for companies to issue cards, authorize transactions, and manage payment operations in real time. Marqeta is powering the most well known brands in the new economy (Block, Cash App, Affirm, Instacart, Doordash, Uber, Walmart, etc). You don’t need to be a Payments expert to join the Marqeta Team, let us help you with that.  This is the opportunity of a lifetime to work with innovators around the world and unlock equitable financial access for all.

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Marqeta’s Values

– Solve for the Customer: With a deep understanding of our customers' business and empathy for their needs, we deliver products and services that drive their success. Earning and keeping their trust guides everything we do.

– Do What's Right: Knowing businesses and livelihoods depend on us, we pursue solutions that disrupt responsibly and deliver high-quality results that our customers count on. We own our work from start to finish.

– Simplify and Innovate: We approach challenges with curiosity and take smart risks. Innovation comes from finding better, simpler ways to achieve extraordinary outcomes.

– Win as a Team: We succeed together by embracing diverse perspectives and pushing each other to raise the bar. We lead with humility and set aside hierarchy to work as a team.

– Make it Count: We drive forward with focus and agility. With a sense of urgency and purpose, we get the job done, and done right.

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Equal Employment Opportunity, Accommodations and Privacy 

Marqeta is an equal opportunity employer committed to an inclusive workplace that fosters belonging. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, lactation, childbirth, or related medical conditions), veteran status or uniformed service member status, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship or immigration status, physical or mental disability, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, genetic information (including testing or characteristics) or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. 

Marqeta endeavors to make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities. If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to submit this application, complete any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participate in the employee selection process, please submit this form with your specific accommodation request.

Personal data that is provided as part of the application and recruitment process is processed in accordance with the Applicant Privacy Notice. Additional information for California residents can be found here.