AI Security Engineer

Here at Appian our values of Intensity and Excellence define who we are. We set high standards and live up to them ensuring that everything we do is done with care and quality. We approach every challenge with ambition and commitment holding ourselves and each other accountable to achieve the best results. When you join Appian you’ll be part of a passionate team dedicated to accomplishing hard things together.

AI Security Engineer (Agentic SOC)

Location McLean VA On-site (5 days/week)

ABOUT THE TEAM

The Appian Information Security department continuously evaluates the global threat landscape to protect Appian operations and service offerings. Our mission is to build monitor and scale robust security tools and processes that shield critical corporate and customer assets from emerging threats international security concerns and vulnerabilities ensuring our AI-Powered Process Automation platform remains resilient and secure.

THE OPPORTUNITY

At Appian we believe our greatest innovations spring from in-person collaboration. Joining our team at our McLean headquarters means you will work alongside elite security architects in a high-velocity environment that prioritizes your professional growth. This role offers an unparalleled launchpad to transition academic knowledge into real-world impact giving you direct ownership over intrusion detection capabilities and cloud-based defense strategies for our Enterprise-Grade Orchestration ecosystem.

WHAT YOU LL DO

Build Deploy Agents Design test and deploy autonomous and semi-autonomous AI agents that integrate natively with our enterprise security stack (SIEM EDR XDR and Threat Intel feeds). Code the Playbooks Translate traditional human-centric SOC playbooks and analyst workflows into deterministic and heuristic agentic pipelines (using DAGs and multi-agent routing). Optimize RAG Pipelines Design optimize and maintain production-grade Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) workflows to inject real-time security context network topology and historical incident logs into agent prompts. LLM Performance Engineering Continuously evaluate benchmark and optimize LLM performance context window utilization latency and cost-efficiency across various models (OSS and commercial). Design Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) Collaborate deeply with Tier 3 Analysts and Threat Hunters to engineer seamless HITL handoff mechanisms ensuring agents safely escalate complex anomalies to humans. Secure the AI Implement robust security boundaries around our LLM architecture mitigating risks like prompt injection data poisoning model tool-abuse and addressing the OWASP Top 10 for LLMs.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education Bachelor s degree in Computer Science AI Electrical Engineering Computer Engineering or related fields plus at least 2 years of experience developing AI and ML algorithms or technologies OR a Master s degree in a related field plus at least 1 year of experience. Experience At least 2 years of experience programming with Python Go Scala or Java. You are a Builder First You take immense pride in shipping clean production-grade asynchronous code. You care about system architecture as much as model accuracy. Security-Curious or Security-Hardened You bridge the gap between AI research and practical cybersecurity. You understand that an AI agent is only as good as the guardrails keeping it from deleting a production server during a false positive. Thrives in Ambiguity Building an Agentic SOC means charting unknown territory. You love breaking down abstract high-level security problems into concrete execution-ready AI systems.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

3 years of experience deploying scalable and responsible AI solutions on cloud platforms (e.g. AWS Google Cloud Azure). Experience designing developing delivering and supporting AI services specifically within the domains of security operations or threat intelligence.
Hands-on experience building multi-agent or complex orchestration systems using tools such as LangChain LlamaIndex AutoGen CrewAI or Semantic Kernel.
Proven experience working with production Vector Databases (e.g. Pinecone Qdrant Milvus or Weaviate) for semantic chunking embedding generation and metadata filtering. Experience deploying and scaling AI workloads in containerized cloud environments (AWS Azure or GCP using Kubernetes/EKS/AKS).
The base salary range represents a good faith and reasonable estimate of the range at the time of posting. Actual compensation will be dependent on a number of factors including but not limited to the candidate’s relevant work experience qualifications internal peer equity and market and business conditions that exist when extending an offer. A discretionary bonus may be awarded in recognition of individual and company performance.

In addition Appian provides generous benefits offerings that include a 401(k) plan with company match flexible time off paid parental leave medical dental and vision plans life insurance disability insurance wellness programs flexible spending accounts health savings account contributions an employee referral bonus program and learning and development resources. Certain positions may be eligible for equity awards.

Pay and benefits are subject to change at any time consistent with the terms of any applicable compensation commission bonus or benefit plans.

Base Salary Range $100,000 $200,000 USD

rgb(0 0 0) Tools and Resources

rgb(0 0 0) rgb(0 0 0) Training and Development During onboarding we focus on equipping new hires with the skills and knowledge for success through department-specific training. Continuous learning is a central focus at Appian with dedicated mentorship and the First-Friend program being widely utilized resources for new hires. / rgb(0 0 0) rgb(0 0 0) Growth Opportunities Appian provides a diverse array of growth and development opportunities including our leadership program tailored for new and aspiring managers a comprehensive library of specialized department training through Appian University skills based training and tuition reimbursement for those aiming to advance their education. This commitment ensures that employees have access to a holistic range of development opportunities. / rgb(0 0 0) rgb(0 0 0) Community We’ll immerse you into our community rooted in respect starting on day one. Appian fosters inclusivity through our 8 employee-led a rgb(0 0 0) affinity groups. These groups help employees build stronger internal and external networks by planning social educational and outreach activities to connect with Appianites and larger initiatives throughout the company.

strong rgb(0 0 0) Benefits

Appian offers a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your health wellbeing and financial future. Benefits may include health coverage Employee Assistance Program (EAP) with free mental health support life and disability insurance an Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP) a retirement/pension plan wellness dollars tuition reimbursement family-forming benefits and more. Benefits vary by country please ask your Talent Acquisition contact for details specific to the location you are applying to.

rgb(0 0 0) About Appian

Appian provides AI automation for the most important business processes at the world’s largest organizations. Our platform is known for its unique power reliability and scale. We’ve been automating processes for more than 25 years and have proven expertise in enterprise operations. For more information visit a appian.com.

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Appian is an equal opportunity employer that strives to attract and retain the best talent. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any characteristic protected by applicable federal state or local law.

Appian provides reasonable accommodations to applicants in accordance with all applicable laws. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process please contact us by email at a ReasonableAccommodations@appian.com. Please note that only inquiries concerning a request for reasonable accommodation will be responded to from this email address.

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