Staff / Senior Physical Security Systems Engineer
About this role
Anthropic requires a specialized physical security engineer to secure the data center footprint that powers reliable and interpretable AI systems. This role exists to solve the complex challenge of designing, specifying, and verifying physical security infrastructure across sites built largely with external partners. The person in this position will own the physical security reference design package, establishing performance specifications for perimeter barriers, intrusion detection, video systems, and security lighting while directly collaborating with design firms, vendors, and internal real estate teams.
Day-to-day responsibilities involve reviewing site designs at every stage, writing test methods and acceptance criteria, conducting field commissioning, and managing security operations control room requirements. Ideal candidates bring extensive experience designing physical security for campus-scale facilities, a strong ability to interpret and mark up construction documents, and a threat-driven approach to engineering risk controls. Someone who thrives in a foundational engineering environment with regular site travel and direct vendor accountability will excel in this position.
What you will do
- Produce vendor-ready design packages covering perimeter barriers, intrusion detection, video coverage, and security lighting.
- Define the per-site engineering basis by aligning security requirements with specific risk profiles and threat models.
- Write test methods and acceptance criteria to ensure every site produces verifiable evidence of compliance.
- Establish standoff, structural hardening, and site layout criteria for new data center designs.
- Run field verification and commissioning tests to evaluate perimeter, detection, video, and lighting performance.
- Develop operational and design requirements for security operations control rooms, including console layouts and resilient communications.
- Own control room acceptance by evaluating factory and site deliverables against predefined criteria.
What you need
- Have designed or specified physical security systems for campus-scale sites featuring multiple buildings and secured perimeters.
- Read and produce construction documents using standard design and markup tools such as AutoCAD, Revit, or Bluebeam.
- Write testable performance requirements that explicitly state verification methods and required evidence.
- Run commissioning and acceptance tests against performance criteria and reject non-compliant work.
- Derive security requirements from a threat basis rather than relying on product catalogs.
- Have owned an engineering domain where you set the approach, chose site applications, and worked directly with vendors.
Nice to have
- Experience carrying a physical security design from construction documents through construction to acceptance testing
- Experience engineering the security scope of colocation or partner-delivered facilities
- Working knowledge of published standards for standoff, hostile vehicle mitigation, and intrusion detection zoning
- Photometric and video quality measurement experience
- Control room, AV, or network design experience and familiarity with AI-assisted tooling for drafting
Skills and tech stack
Questions candidates ask
What is the remote work and travel policy for this role?
This role is remote-friendly with regular travel required to data center sites. Additionally, Anthropic maintains a location-based hybrid policy where staff are expected to be in an office at least 25% of the time, though some roles may require more.
What is the salary range for this position?
The annual base salary range for this role is $320,000 to $405,000 USD.
What tools and technologies are used in the engineering workflow?
Anthropic uses Claude throughout their engineering workflow, and team members are expected to use it as well. Standard design and markup tools like AutoCAD, Revit, and Bluebeam are also used for construction documents.
Does the position involve any on-call responsibilities?
Yes, because these are critical services, this role participates in an on-call rotation for data center sites.