AI Security Engineer

The application window is expected to close on: 07/06/2026

** Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received** .

** Meet the Team*
* Join Cisco's Enterprise AI team, the core group enabling Generative AI powered experiences across Cisco. Our mission is to build secure, scalable AI platforms that empower teams to safely develop, deploy, and operationalize AI-powered solutions. We operate at the intersection of applied AI, cloud infrastructure and security
-partnering across engineering, security, compliance, and product teams to bring trusted AI to life at enterprise scale.

We are a fast-growing, highly collaborative team of platform engineers, AI engineers, and data scientists who value technical depth, ownership, and pragmatic execution. What makes this team exciting is the opportunity to define how secure Generative AI is built and governed inside a global technology leader.

** Your Impact*
* + Design and implement security controls for Generative AI systems, including LLM-based applications, RAG pipelines, and agent-driven workflows.

+ Identify and mitigate AI-specific threats such as prompt injection, data exfiltration, insecure tool usage, and model abuse.

+ Establish guardrails for prompt handling, input/output validation, and safe tool invocation to ensure secure agent behavior.

+ Secure Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines by enforcing data access controls, source integrity, and retrieval boundary protections.

+ Define and enforce model access controls, API protections, and runtime monitoring to prevent misuse and unauthorized access.

+ Partner with AI platform and infrastructure teams to integrate security into model deployment pipelines and inference services.

+ Conduct threat modeling and security assessments for AI systems, including model lifecycle, data pipelines, and inference endpoints.

+ Build automated detection and response mechanisms for AI-specific risks, including anomalous queries and unsafe outputs.

** Minimum Qualifications*
* + Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity related field or equivalent certifications along with work experience.

+ 3+ years of experience in application security, cloud security, or platform security engineering.

+ Hands-on experience securing distributed systems or cloud-native applications (Kubernetes, APIs, microservices).

+ Experience designing and implementing authentication, authorization, and data protection controls.

+ Strong programming/scripting skills (Python, Go, or similar) for building security tooling and automation.

** Preferred Qualifications*
* + Cybersecurity background and operational experience

+ Certifications from ISC2 (e.g CISSP, CCSP) or ISACA (e.g., SSCP, CC, CISA, CISM)

** Why Cisco?*
* At Cisco, we're revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era - and beyond. We've been innovating fearlessly for 40 years to create solutions that power how humans and technology work together across the physical and digital worlds. These solutions provide customers with unparalleled security, visibility, and insights across the entire digital footprint.

Fueled by the depth and breadth of our technology, we experiment and create meaningful solutions. Add to that our worldwide network of doers and experts, and you'll see that the opportunities to grow and build are limitless. We work as a team, collaborating with empathy to make really big things happen on a global scale. Because our solutions are everywhere, our impact is everywhere.

We are Cisco, and our power starts with you.

** Message to applicants applying to work in the U.S. and/or Canada:*
* The starting salary range posted for this position is $ to $ and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation*, equity, or benefits.

Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location, market conditions, job-related skillset, experience, qualifications, education, certifications, and/or training. The full salary range for certain locations is listed below. For locations not listed below, the recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.

U.S. employees are offered benefits, subject to Cisco's plan eligibility rules, which include medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability coverage, and basic life insurance. Please see the Cisco careers site to discover more benefits and perks.  Employees may be eligible to receive grants of Cisco restricted stock units, which vest following continued employment with Cisco for defined periods of time.

U.S. employees are eligible for paid time away as described below, subject to Cisco's policies:

+ 10 paid holidays per full calendar year, plus 1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees

+ 1 paid day…