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Software Engineer, Security

SierraSan Francisco, CAEngineering
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Salary
$230K - $390K USD
Job type
Full-time
Posted
7 Jan 2026
Status
Open · checked 7d ago

About this role

The Software Engineer, Security role at Sierra in San Francisco, California, involves designing and shipping foundational systems that make customer-facing AI agents secure by default. This full-time position is tailored for engineering professionals who want to shape the future of artificial intelligence security and data privacy.

Role Overview

Security Engineering at Sierra establishes the critical foundations that allow powerful AI agents to operate while protecting customer data and trust. Professionals in this role partner closely across product and platform teams to embed security, privacy, and safety directly into core product capabilities. Work spans across multiple security domains, giving team members the freedom to dive deep into their strongest areas while exploring new specialties alongside colleagues.

Key Responsibilities

Design and ship systems that secure the platform by default, covering agent safety and security, privacy, identity, authentication, authorization, and data security across production layers.
Partner with product and platform teams to implement trust primitives, including identity management, access control, auditability, and data lifecycle management, balancing usability and performance.
Build robust controls for agentic AI systems to prevent customer data leaks, unauthorized actions, and prompt manipulations, while implementing runtime policy enforcement and safe sandboxing.
Create developer-friendly tooling to scale security workflows through automated CI/CD security checks, privacy boundary enforcement via schema validation, and runtime monitoring for sensitive events.

Requirements

Strong software engineering skills with proven experience building and maintaining production systems.
Ability to design APIs, integrate authentication or identity frameworks, and thoughtfully use AI-assisted tools to ship high-quality code.
A dedicated security mindset focused on data flow analysis, least privilege principles, and transparency.
Product and platform mindset centered on building scalable systems that foster innovation without sacrificing trust.
High curiosity and ownership to take ambiguous, cross-cutting problems from first principles all the way to production.

Nice to Have

Prior experience working on privacy, identity, trust and safety, authentication/authorization, or data protection systems.
Background in building security frameworks, libraries, or tooling, or integrating security automation into CI/CD pipelines.
Exposure to artificial intelligence systems or a passion for designing secure-by-default LLM applications.
An attacker's perspective, with a history of finding or fixing real security issues in production systems.
Experience thriving in zero-to-one environments where foundational systems must balance speed, reliability, and trust.

Skills and Tools

LLM
Production system design
API design
Authentication and identity frameworks
CI/CD security automation
Runtime policy enforcement

Salary and Benefits

Annual salary range of $230,000 to $390,000 USD
Flexible, unlimited paid time off
Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits for employees and their families
Life insurance and disability benefits
Retirement plan dependent on the country of employment
Parental leave alongside fertility and family building benefits through Carrot
Daily lunch, snacks, and coffee at the office
Discretionary benefit stipend and free alphorn lessons
Participation in company equity plans for eligible full-time employees

About the Company

Sierra serves as a leading platform for customer-facing artificial intelligence agents, partnering with major global brands like The GAP, Rocket Mortgage, SoFi, Sutter Health, and SoftBank. The company is primarily in-person and based in San Francisco, with expanding offices spanning North America, Europe, and Asia. Operations are driven by core values emphasizing Trust, Customer Obsession, Craftsmanship, Intensity, and Family. Co-founded by Bret Taylor and Clay Bavor, the organization is committed to bringing the transformative power of AI to organizations worldwide while maintaining a respectful and inclusive workplace culture.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should visit the official Sierra careers page to submit an application.

Skills and tech stack

LLM

Questions candidates ask

What is the salary range for the Software Engineer, Security position?

The salary ranges from $230,000 to $390,000 USD per year.

Where is this job located?

The position is based in San Francisco, California, as Sierra is primarily an in-person company.

What are the core values of Sierra?

The core values are Trust, Customer Obsession, Craftsmanship, Intensity, and Family.

What benefits are offered for full-time employees?

Benefits include unlimited paid time off, medical, dental, and vision coverage, life and disability insurance, a retirement plan, parental leave, Carrot fertility benefits, office meals and snacks, a discretionary benefit stipend, equity plans, and free alphorn lessons.

Who co-founded Sierra?

Sierra was co-founded by Bret Taylor and Clay Bavor.

Ready to apply?

The application is on the official Sierra careers page.

Apply on company site