Lead Security Cloud and AI Engineer

Perdue Farms is a fourth-generation, family-owned food and agricultural business deeply rooted in tradition yet with a forward-thinking mindset. We believe that success starts with our people, and our culture is built on a foundation of teamwork, integrity, and respect, where every voice matters and everyone is encouraged to contribute to our shared goals. We are dedicated to creating a supportive, inclusive environment where associates feel valued and inspired to make an impact, both within the company and in the communities we serve. From promoting growth and development to prioritizing work-life balance, we’re committed to helping our team members thrive. That's Perdue.

Summary

As a Lead Security Cloud and Artificial Intelligences Engineer, you will shape the future of cybersecurity by designing, implementing, and enhancing secure cloud architectures while leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning to strengthen security across IT, OT, and cloud environments. You will partner with cross-functional teams to develop intelligent threat detection, automate security operations, and build scalable solutions that improve visibility, accelerate response, and protect critical business systems. This role is ideal for a forward-thinking security professional who is passionate about cloud technologies, AI innovation, and delivering proactive, resilient cybersecurity solutions in a fast-paced, evolving environment.

The salary range for this position is $128,000 - $192,000 per year, based on experience and qualifications with annual bonus available (variable depending on performance).

In addition to the base salary, Perdue offers a competitive benefits package, including medical/Rx, 401(k) with employer match after 1 year, critical illness, accident insurance, dental, vision, life insurance, optional group life insurance, short-term and long-term disability protection, flexible spending accounts and paid time off. 

This position may be based at our Corporate Headquarters Office in Salisbury, MD (relocation assistance available for qualified candidates) or structured as a remote role for individuals residing within a four-hour driving radius of Salisbury, MD. The role also requires travel up to 25% of the time, which may include visits to other company facilities, customer or vendor locations, training sessions, meetings, and industry events.

Principal Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Design and implement secure cloud architectures with a strong emphasis on identity, network security, and data protection.
• Configure and manage security controls across cloud services, including Entra ID, Key Vault, Storage, Azure Kubernetes Service, and networking.
• Lead threat modeling, attack surface analysis, and risk assessments for cloud systems.
• Implement and optimize cloud detection and response using tools such as Microsoft Sentinel and Defender for Cloud.
• Develop and enforce security standards, policies, and governance frameworks.
• Perform incident response, forensic analysis, and remediation for cloud-based threats.
• Continuously assess and improve cloud security posture using benchmarks such as CIS and NIST.
• Design and deploy artificial intelligence and machine learning models for security use cases.
• Detect anomalies in logs and network traffic.
• Enrich threat intelligence through artificial intelligence capabilities.
• Develop user and entity behavior analytics.
• Build and integrate large language model-powered systems.
• Develop security copilots and investigation assistants.
• Develop automated alert triage and summarization tools.
• Develop data pipelines for ingesting, processing, and analyzing large-scale security data.
• Build and integrate large language model-based solutions, including copilots, security assistants, and automated playbooks, using tools such as Azure OpenAI.
• Evaluate and mitigate artificial intelligence-specific security risks, including prompt injection, data leakage, and model abuse.
• Ensure responsible artificial intelligence practices, including model explainability and secure handling of sensitive data.
• Apply artificial intelligence to automate security operations, reduce manual effort, and improve response time.

Minimum Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 7+ years of experience in cloud security, cybersecurity engineering, or related roles.
• Strong expertise in Azure security services and cloud architecture.
• Solid understanding of threat detection, incident response, and security operations.
• Proficiency in Python or a similar programming language.
• Hands-on experience with machine learning or data-driven systems.
• Familiarity with large language models and prompt engineering.
• Experience with tools such as Azure Machine Learning, Azure OpenAI, or equivalent platforms.
• Understanding of data pipelines, feature engineering, and model evaluation.
• Knowledge of MLOps concepts, including model lifecycle, monitoring, and retraining.

Preferred Education and Experience

• Experience with Azure Cloud Policy for compliance and governance.
• Experience with SIEM/SOAR platforms and security analytics.
• Knowledge of adversarial machine learning and artificial intelligence security threats.
• Familiarity with secrets management and certificate automation.
• Working knowledge of Zero Trust Architecture.
• Experience with SOC 2, HIPAA, or GDPR compliance in a cloud-native environment.
• Ability to work cross-functionally and educate developers and operations teams on secure practices.

Physical Requirements and Environmental Factors

• Position is mostly sedentary but may require occasional moving to other offices or buildings.
• May need to move light equipment or supplies from one place to another.
• May need to access files, supplies and equipment.
• Work activity is in an office, open-partitioned, cubicle environment.

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Perdue Farms Inc. is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.