The RoleWe're hiring a Staff Engineer, Security Automation to anchor automation across a16z's security org. Your mandate is leverage - connect the tools the security team relies on, centralize the data they generate, and build the dashboards and AI-native automations that let a small team (Security Engineering and Incident Response) operate at the scale of a much larger one.
This is an AI-native role. You'll build with and on AI: LLM-augmented workflows, agentic automations, AI-assisted analysis as a first-class building block - and you'll help the rest of the security team get more leverage out of AI in their own work.
a16z's security stack spans cloud telemetry, SIEM, identity, endpoint, vulnerability scanning, ticketing, and more. The team needs them stitched into one picture and one workflow rather than ten siloed ones. You'll be the person who makes that real. You'll work day to day with the Security Engineering Lead, Incident Response, SecOps, IT, and ASG(A16Z's Applied Software Group).
Venture capital firms face targeted, sophisticated threats - capital call wire fraud, vishing, social engineering, and threat actors who specifically pursue firms in this space. Your work protects the firm, our LPs, and our portfolio companies.
This role requires an in-office presence 2 days a week in our San Francisco, CA office.
To join our team, you should be excited to:- Build the connective tissue across the security tools the org relies on - SIEM, vulnerability scanners, EDR, identity, asset management, ticketing - and centralize the data they generate into a single picture the team can act on
- Use AI as a first-class building block - LLM-augmented analysis, agentic automations, AI-assisted summarization - and design for compounding leverage, not one-off scripts
- Build the frameworks and dashboards that unify asset inventory, vulnerability posture, exposure reviews, and compliance evidence across systems
- Take the bigger automation problems off the team's plate - vulnerability management at scale, asset hygiene, access reviews, and the workflows that span multiple tools
- Raise the rest of the security team's leverage with AI - share patterns, ship tooling others use, and make it easy for security engineers and IR engineers to add AI to their own work
Minimum Qualifications- 5+ years of security engineering experience, with automation and tool-building as a core part of your work - not a side project
- Builder mindset - comfortable shipping production-quality security tooling, with strong Python or similar
- Hands-on experience building with LLMs or AI APIs - integrating AI into workflows, not just using AI-powered products
- Broad security fundamentals across cloud security, detection engineering, identity, and vulnerability management. Depth in one is fine; breadth across many is required
- Understanding of AI security risks: prompt injection, data exfiltration from LLM workflows, agent identity boundaries, and model risk
- Experience translating technical security concepts, decisions, and trade-offs into terms non-technical audiences across the firm can act on
- Low ego, high empathy, and the capacity to collaborate across security, engineering, and IT without creating friction
The anticipated salary range for this role is between $243,000 - $284,000, actual starting pay may vary based on a range of factors which can include experience, skills, and scope.
This role is eligible to participate in the a16z carry program and various discretionary bonus programs as well as benefit and perquisite plans including health, dental, vision, disability, life insurance, 401K plan, vacation, and sick leave.
