Principal Software Engineer – Security (AI/ML)

About the role

DigitalOcean is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to lead AI/ML security initiatives across its cloud platform. You will work within the CISO organization, partnering with product, data‑science and engineering teams to embed security controls into customer‑facing AI services.

Key responsibilities

• Define and integrate AI security controls into DigitalOcean products, collaborating with Product Security and Engineering leadership.
• Build and deploy detection strategies, guardrails and automation with Security Data Science, and implement inference endpoints for in‑house AI/ML models.
• Lead adversarial testing and AI red‑team activities, including jailbreak, prompt‑injection, evasion, poisoning and model‑extraction tests.
• Conduct threat modeling across the AI lifecycle and own the AI Security strategy, roadmap and governance framework.
• Represent AI security at executive and board‑level briefings, communicating risk posture and program progress.

Required profile

• 15+ years in cybersecurity with 4–5 years focused on AI/ML security, adversarial machine learning or security data science.
• Proven track record of defining and driving AI security programs at an organizational level.
• Deep practitioner‑level knowledge of adversarial ML attacks and defenses (evasion, poisoning, model extraction, membership inference, prompt injection).
• Experience translating academic AI security research into engineering guidance and policy.
• Strong ability to communicate technical risk to senior leadership and justify investment decisions.

Required skills

• Python
• Go
• Adversarial machine‑learning techniques
• AI security frameworks: OWASP LLM Top 10, MITRE ATLAS, NIST AI RMF, ISO/IEC 42001, EU AI Act
• AI red‑team and defensive tooling, model supply‑chain frameworks

What we offer

• Purpose‑driven, innovative environment focused on simplifying cloud and AI.
• Career development resources, conference and training reimbursement, and LinkedIn Learning access.
• Well‑being benefits including Employee Assistance, flexible time‑off and local meet‑ups.
• Competitive salary, performance‑based bonus and equity compensation.
• Equal‑opportunity workplace that values diversity and inclusion.