Staff Security Architect

Lambda, The Superintelligence Cloud, is a leader in AI cloud infrastructure serving tens of thousands of customers. Our customers range from AI researchers to enterprises and hyperscalers. Lambda's mission is to make compute as ubiquitous as electricity and give everyone the power of superintelligence. One person, one GPU.If you'd like to build the world's best AI cloud, join us.*Note: This position requires presence in our Bellevue, San Francisco, or San Jose office location 4 days per week; Lambda’s designated work from home day is currently Tuesday.About the RoleLambda Security protects some of the world's most valuable digital assets: invaluable training data, model weights representing immense computational investments, and the sensitive inputs required to leverage best of breed AI models. We're responsible for securing every byte that powers breakthrough artificial intelligence.Reporting to the CISO, you'll be a principal technical leader responsible for shaping Lambda's overall security architecture, with a primary focus on Data Protection and Platform Security. Your work will define secure-by-default foundational patterns across our core AI infrastructure, hardware/GPU platform layers, multi-cloud control planes, and end-to-end data lifecycles.You will directly impact the security posture of our high-performance computing environment by architecting robust data loss prevention (DLP), encryption at rest and in transit, key management (KMS/HSM), confidential computing, and tenant isolation models. Leveraging Lambda's hosted LLMs, you'll pioneer AI-driven security architecture capabilities—such as automated threat modeling, sensitive data discovery, and platform policy verification.If you're excited about setting the architectural vision for data protection and platform security in the world's most demanding AI infrastructure, we want to talk.We value diverse backgrounds, experiences, and skills, and we are excited to hear from candidates who can bring unique perspectives to our team. If you do not exactly meet this description but believe you may be a good fit, please still apply and help us understand your readiness for a Staff Security Architect role. Your application is not a waste of our time.What You’ll DoData Protection Architecture:Architect, design, and standardize end-to-end data protection strategy, encompassing data classification, cryptographic key management (KMS/HSM), data loss prevention (DLP), and privacy-preserving controls across customer data and AI model weightsDefine data lifecycle security controls for training datasets, checkpoint storage, and model artifacts across cloud and on-premises storage layersDrive confidential computing architectures, envelope encryption, and hardware-backed data security guarantees for high-consequence customer workloadsEstablish robust zero-trust data access policies and fine-grained authorization frameworks for sensitive platform APIs and data repositoriesPlatform Security & Infrastructure Hardening:Design and enforce core platform security architectures across multi-tenant GPU infrastructure, bare-metal clusters, hypervisors, and container orchestration platforms (Kubernetes)Define strong tenant isolation, sandboxing, and secure virtualization controls to protect against cross-tenant side-channel and platform escape vulnerabilitiesConduct comprehensive threat models, architectural reviews, and risk assessments for core platform services and platform control planesAutomation & Strategic Innovation:Prototype reference implementations and security controls in Python or Go to demonstrate secure platform integration patternsPioneer AI-powered architectural security capabilities leveraging Lambda's hosted LLMs for automated threat modeling, automated policy validation, and data discoveryAssess third-party vendor risks and build automated tooling to evaluate SaaS vendor security posturesStrategic Leadership & Alignment:Partner closely with Platform, Engineering, Product, and Infrastructure leaders to embed security architecture into long-term product roadmapsAuthor technical whitepapers, architectural blueprints, and customer-facing trust documentation highlighting Lambda's platform security and data protection postureMentor senior engineering talent across the organization on secure design principles, platform security patterns, and threat modelingWhat We Think a Candidate Needs to Demonstrate to Succeed10+ years of total engineering experience with 5+ years specializing in security architecture, platform security, or data protection at cloud/infrastructure scaleDeep expertise in data security concepts including encryption key management (KMS/HSM), cryptographic protocols, DLP, and confidential computing primitivesProven track record of designing multi-tenant platform security architecture across heterogeneous infrastructure (bare-metal GPU clusters, hypervisors, KVM, Kubernetes, and public cloud)Strong technical skills in prototyping security designs and reference code in Python, Go, or similar languagesDemonstrated experience with threat modeling methodologies (STRIDE, PASTA, etc.) and security design reviews for high-consequence systemsStrong communication and stakeholder management skills, with a track record of partnering effectively with IT, Legal, and HRAbility to balance robust enterprise security controls with employee experience and productivityThrives in fast-moving, high-growth startup environments where building scalable structure is requiredNice to HaveExcitement about leveraging our direct access to state-of-the-art LLMs to revolutionize enterprise security—imagine AI-assisted access reviews, automated SaaS risk assessments, and intelligent policy generation.Experience building enterprise security and IAM programs at high-growth tech companies or cloud providersFamiliarity with compliance frameworks (SOC 2, ISO 27001, FedRAMP, HIPAA) and audit preparationExperience implementing Infrastructure as Code (Terraform) for managing enterprise identity and SaaS configurationsDeep technical background allowing hands-on contribution when neededExperience with both build and buy decisions for security toolingExperience driving or providing significant evidence for compliance audits, such as SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI-DSS, HIPAA/HITECH, or FedRAMP.Salary Range InformationThe annual salary range for this position has been set based on market data and other factors. However, a salary higher or lower than this range may be appropriate for a candidate whose qualifications differ meaningfully from those listed in the job description.About LambdaFounded in 2012, with 500+ employees, and growing fastOur investors notably include TWG Global, US Innovative Technology Fund (USIT), Andra Capital, SGW, Andrej Karpathy, ARK Invest, Fincadia Advisors, G Squared, In-Q-Tel (IQT), KHK & Partners, NVIDIA, Pegatron, Supermicro, Wistron, Wiwynn, Gradient Ventures, Mercato Partners, SVB, 1517, and Crescent CoveWe have research papers accepted at top machine learning and graphics conferences, including NeurIPS, ICCV, SIGGRAPH, and TOGOur values are publicly available: We offer generous cash & equity compensationHealth, dental, and vision coverage for you and your dependentsWellness and commuter stipends for select roles401k Plan with 2% company match (USA employees)Flexible paid time off plan that we all actually useEqual Opportunity EmployerLambda is an Equal Opportunity employer. Applicants are considered without regard to race, color, religion, creed, national origin, age, sex, gender, marital status, sexual orientation and identity, genetic information, veteran status, citizenship, or any other factors prohibited by local, state, or federal law.Compensation Range: $314K - $465KLocationBellevue Office; San Francisco Office (Fremont St); San Jose Office (First St)Employment TypeFull timeLocation TypeHybridDepartmentData Center BusinessCompensationSan Francisco / San Jose$349K – $465KBellevue$314K – $419K