AI Security Researcher
About The Position
Harmonic Security lets teams adopt AI tools safely by protecting sensitive data in real time with minimal effort. It gives enterprises full control and stops leaks so that their teams can innovate confidently. We are led by cybersecurity experts and backed by top investors including N47, Ten Eleven Ventures, and In-Q-Tel. As organizations accelerate their adoption of generative and agentic AI, the security landscape is shifting faster than ever before. Harmonic is building the research, insights, and technology foundations that help enterprises understand and mitigate AI risk—creating an opportunity for this role to shape the emerging field of AI security from the ground up. Harmonic’s Security team is breaking new ground in understanding the security risks that come with Generative and Agentic AI. Our mission is to equip security leaders and practitioners with clear, actionable insights on securing AI systems. This work should shape how the industry thinks about AI security, and our findings make their way onto the stages of the world’s top security and AI conferences. As we embark on this mission, we’re looking for a founding AI Security Researcher to build and lead Harmonic’s AI Security Research program from the ground up. You’ll define our research agenda, uncover real-world security risks in AI tools and platforms, and help shape how enterprises can adopt AI safely. This role blends hands-on technical research with public thought leadership - from identifying vulnerabilities in emerging AI systems to creating guides, publishing insights, and representing Harmonic at major industry events. You’ll also play a key role in informing our product strategy, ensuring Harmonic stays ahead of evolving AI security threats and opportunities.
Requirements
- Deep Technical Curiosity: 3-5 years of experience in cybersecurity or applied ML/AI security research, with a strong interest in how AI systems fail and can be attacked.
- AI Security Expertise: Hands-on experience assessing or red-teaming LLMs, generative AI tools, or AI-integrated SaaS products; familiarity with adversarial ML, model extraction, prompt injection, or data poisoning.
- Security Research Skills: Proven ability to design and execute independent research- identifying vulnerabilities, publishing technical findings, and proposing mitigations.
- Communication & Storytelling: Excellent written and verbal skills for translating complex research into accessible content - whether blog posts, practitioner guides, or conference talks.
- Public Presence: A strong desire to build a profile for presenting or contributing to security or AI conferences (e.g., Black Hat, DEF CON, RSA)
Responsibilities
- Lead AI Security Research: Design and drive a greenfield research program focused on securing the use of AI systems and tools.
- Thought Leadership: Develop practitioner guides and actionable content on securing AI technologies (e.g., “How to secure ChatGPT Enterprise”).
- Public Engagement: Represent Harmonic at industry conferences (e.g., RSA, BlackHat, DEFCON) through talks, panels, and research presentations.
- Threat Intelligence: Research emerging AI threats and threat actors, assessing their impact on our customers and the broader ecosystem.
- Internal SME: Partner with Product Security to identify and mitigate AI-related risks across Harmonic’s products and infrastructure.
Benefits
- Competitive pay and meaningful equity with a direct stake in Harmonic’s success
- Comprehensive benefits including health, dental, vision, 401k matching, and flexible time off
- Comprehensive benefits, pension plan, generous PTO, and flexible hybrid work
- A small, passionate team that values transparency, creativity, and learning
- Thoughtful leadership that cares deeply about growth, impact, and people
- Annual global offsites (past trips include Lisbon and Nashville)
- The chance to directly shape both our product and our culture as we build a category-defining company
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
Education Level
No Education Listed
Number of Employees
11-50 employees
