Senior AI Security Engineer

Role Description

Wilson Sonsini is looking for a Senior AI Security Engineer to join the Security Operations team. The Senior AI Security Engineer, under the direction of the Director, Security Engineering and Operations, sits at the frontier of AI infrastructure and enterprise security — a rare opportunity to architect how one of the world’s leading law firms builds and deploys AI systems with security and trust at their core. This role is designed for someone who understands how models are attacked and how to harden them, and who is energized by the challenge of securing AI-native workflows in a legal environment. You will own the firm’s AI security engineering function:

• Designing secure AI pipelines
• Evaluating MCP server integrations and agentic architectures
• Serving as the technical authority for AI security across the firm’s growing ecosystem of AI-powered tools and platforms

This position is available as a fully virtual opportunity.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, cybersecurity, or a related technical field required
• 5+ years of experience in application security, cloud security, or AI/ML engineering, with at least 2 years focused on AI system security
• Hands-on familiarity with the Model Context Protocol (MCP)
• Demonstrated experience with AI threat modeling
• Solid command of cloud security fundamentals (AWS, Azure, or GCP) as applied to AI workloads
• Experience securing agentic AI systems
• Experience in a law firm is a plus
• Relevant certifications (OSCP, GREM, Azure Security Engineer, or similar) are valued
• Intellectual curiosity and a builder’s mindset
• Comfortable working in a fast-moving environment
• Self-directed and resourceful

Requirements

• Collaborate on designing secure-by-default patterns for LLM integration, agentic workflows, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines, and MCP server deployments across firm systems
• Lead security architecture reviews for MCP integrations
• Build and operate AI threat modeling and red teaming capabilities
• Engineer secure data pipelines for AI systems
• Partner with IT, Information Security, and practice group leaders to evaluate and approve AI vendor integrations
• Develop and maintain security standards and engineering guardrails for AI development across the firm
• Perform related duties as assigned by supervisor
• Maintain compliance with all company policies and procedures

Benefits

• The anticipated pay range for this position is as follows:
• Palo Alto, New York, San Francisco: $163,200 - $220,800 per year
• Austin, Boston, Boulder, Century City, Delaware, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and all other locations: $147,050 - $198,950 per year
• The compensation for this position may include a discretionary year-end merit bonus based on performance
• We offer a highly competitive salary and benefits package