Principal Engineer - AI Security

As a Principal Engineer in AI Security, you will define and lead Thrivent’s strategy for defending against emerging external AI-powered threats. This role focuses on protecting the enterprise from adversarial AI capabilities, including automated vulnerability discovery, exploitation, and AI-driven attack campaigns. You will operate at the intersection of cyber defense, artificial intelligence, and enterprise architecture, translating rapidly evolving external threats into practical, scalable protections across the organization. This role requires deep technical expertise, strong systems thinking, and the ability to influence security strategy at the highest levels.DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:Designing SolutionsApply expert-level knowledge of AI-driven threats, cyber defense, and enterprise security architecture to define and drive outcomes that protect the organization from emerging AI-powered attack vectors.Create the enterprise strategy for defending against AI-enabled threats, including automated vulnerability discovery, exploitation, and adversarial AI techniques.Establish architecture for detection, prevention, and response capabilities specific to generative AI threat patterns.Define and implement security patterns and guardrails to enable safe and secure enterprise consumption of AI technologies.Drive integration of AI threat detection and controls into existing cyber defense tooling and platforms.Build threat models focused on generative AI attack patterns and emerging adversarial techniques.Implementing SolutionsUse independent, critical thinking to translate evolving AI threat intelligence into scalable engineering controls and defensive capabilities.Lead the development of detection and response mechanisms for AI-driven attacks across enterprise environments.Design and implement telemetry strategies to identify anomalous behavior indicative of AI-enabled threats.Partner with Cyber Defense teams to operationalize detections, response playbooks, and automation for AI-related incidents.Prototype and evaluate defensive applications of AI to enhance detection, response, and security operations.Develop architecturally significant components that advance the organization’s ability to defend against AI-driven adversaries.Learning and Applying New TechniquesLead research initiatives focused on emerging AI threat capabilities, adversarial AI techniques, and evolving attack methodologies.Maintain deep expertise in industry frameworks such as OWASP LLM Top 10 and MITRE ATLAS.Continuously evaluate and introduce modern security technologies and approaches to address AI-era risks.Drive adoption of innovative defensive techniques across the organization to stay ahead of threat evolution.Collaborating Within the TeamProvide deep technical expertise in AI security to solve complex, high-impact problems and remove critical technical roadblocks.Partner with product owners and engineering teams to incorporate AI security requirements into technical designs and user stories.Act as a technical leader in system design across teams, ensuring AI security considerations are embedded into broader architecture decisions.Mentor engineers and elevate AI security capabilities within teams.Collaborating Across TeamsPartner closely with Cyber Defense, IAM, and Application Security teams to integrate AI threat protections across the security ecosystem.Promote adherence to enterprise security standards while extending them to address AI-specific risks.Broker design and implementation of AI security controls across product teams to support strategic priorities.Drive alignment across teams on detection engineering, telemetry, and response strategies for AI threats.Collaborating Across the OrganizationInfluence senior leadership on AI risk posture, threat landscape evolution, and required investments in defensive capabilities.Provide enterprise-wide guidance on AI security architecture, ensuring consistent and scalable protection strategies.Represent the organization externally on AI security topics when appropriate (industry forums, partnerships, etc.).Translate complex AI security risks into actionable insights for both technical and non-technical stakeholders.Setting Product/Platform Technology StrategyDefine enterprise-level capabilities required to defend against AI-powered threats.Shape the strategic direction for AI security across cyber defense, detection engineering, and secure AI adoption.Provide subject matter expertise to guide platform and security investments related to AI risk mitigation.Defining Engineering Standards/PatternsEstablish and promote engineering standards for AI security, including secure AI usage patterns and detection frameworks.Collaborate across teams to ensure consistent application of AI security controls and design patterns.Drive adoption of best practices for integrating AI threat protections into engineering workflows and platforms.DevOpsProvide technical leadership in identifying and responding to