Application Security Engineer (X Money)
About this role
The team at xAI builds artificial intelligence systems designed to understand the universe and assist humanity in acquiring knowledge. Operating within a flat organizational structure, engineers on this small team maintain a hands-on approach and direct involvement in mission-critical tasks.
Joining the X Money initiative, the Application Security Engineer protects financial products, payments, and digital wallets across the software development lifecycle. Daily work involves reviewing code, securing CI/CD pipelines, performing threat modeling, and building agentic or LLM-based solutions to detect security issues. Candidates who thrive in this role possess strong prioritization skills, a high level of curiosity, and a background in safeguarding fintech or high-value transaction platforms.
What you will do
- Perform static analysis and detailed code reviews to discover and resolve security flaws in financial applications.
- Establish secure coding standards and collaborate with developers to embed security throughout the CI/CD pipeline.
- Execute threat modeling and risk assessments for ledgers, wallets, and payments to prevent fraud and unauthorized transfers.
- Oversee vulnerability tracking, manage bug bounty workflows, and assist with application security incident response.
- Assess software supply chains by generating and maintaining Software Bills of Materials.
- Build agentic and LLM-driven tools designed to investigate, detect, and prevent security incidents.
What you need
- Hold a Bachelor's degree in Cybersecurity, Computer Science, or a related discipline.
- Bring three to five years of application security experience centered on code security practices.
- Demonstrate familiarity with secure coding standards, application security frameworks, and the OWASP Top 10.
- Write code proficiently in Python or Rust while applying secure coding principles.
- Possess background knowledge in securing CI/CD pipelines, DevSecOps workflows, and software supply chains.
- Show strong communication skills capable of clarifying complex security concepts for technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Nice to have
- Hands-on experience securing applications on AWS and familiarity with other cloud platforms
- Relevant security certifications such as BSCP, OSCP, or OSWE
- Experience managing bug bounty programs
- Background in data privacy and compliance for financial products and cloud-native applications
- Experience with GitOps, infrastructure-as-code security, and building custom security tooling
Benefits
- Equity
- Comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage
- Access to a 401(k) retirement plan
- Short and long-term disability insurance
- Life insurance
- Various other discounts and perks
Skills and tech stack
Questions candidates ask
What locations are available for this role?
This position is located in Palo Alto, CA; Austin, TX; New York, NY; and Washington, DC.
What is the salary range for the Application Security Engineer position?
The base salary ranges from $100,000 to $258,000 USD, which is part of a total rewards package that also includes equity and benefits.
What citizenship or residency is required to apply?
Applicants must conform to U.S. Government export regulations, meaning they must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, refugee, asylee, or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.