AI Driven Defense Tech Lead

About the role

This position leads Google’s AI Driven Defense efforts, setting the governance and technical direction for how AI and machine learning are used to strengthen enterprise security. The role focuses on making detection and prevention systems more autonomous so Google can better defend against agentic threats and nation-state adversaries. You will help shape architecture, resolve security trade-offs, gain alignment across partner teams, and communicate risk and strategy to senior leadership. The role also requires influencing change across infrastructure and operations while guiding a distributed engineering effort spread across teams and regions.

The Core team develops the technical backbone for Google’s major products. It owns the foundational design, platforms, components, and infrastructure that support safe, reliable, and connected experiences across the company. The team works across Google’s product ecosystem to create centralized solutions, remove technical blockers, and strengthen core systems, with broad influence over technical direction at the company level.

Minimum qualifications

• A bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, a related technical field, or equivalent hands-on experience.
• 15 years of background in offensive security for enterprise settings, AI/ML security, or security for agentic systems.
• Practical exposure to AI-specific attack techniques such as prompt injection and lateral movement.
• Experience working with nation-state threat models and conducting threat analysis.
• Experience creating and rolling out cloud or enterprise security governance and policy enforcement.

Preferred qualifications

• A master’s degree or PhD in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or Electrical Engineering.
• Experience building or operating AI-led defenses and detection engineering solutions, including investigation agents that automate security response and strong observability plus audit trails for agent activity.
• Advanced technical knowledge of agentic identity and access management, including how autonomous authority differs from delegated authority, along with experience designing secure containment and sandboxing approaches.
• Strong expertise in relevant domains such as access control, network security, endpoint security management, applied cryptography, security monitoring, intrusion detection, and using AI in security operations both defensively and offensively.

Compensation and benefits

Pay is determined individually based on role-relevant skills, experience, and education or training. For the US locations listed, the base salary range is USD 307,000 to 428,000, with a 30% bonus target, equity, and benefits.

Work location

This is a hybrid-style workplace with both remote and in-office options. If selected, you will be able to state a preferred working location from the available choices: San Jose, California, USA; New York, New York, USA; or remote from New Zealand.

Equal opportunity

Google provides equal employment opportunities and is an affirmative action employer. Hiring is based on merit without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, veteran status, or other legally protected status. Applicants with criminal histories are also considered in accordance with applicable law. Accommodation support is available for candidates with disabilities or special needs.