Staff Application Security Enginee
Location: Sydney, AU đĻđē (Hybrid - 3 days in office required)
Relocation sponsorship available for candidates in the UK or Europe looking to move to Sydney.
About Relevance AI đ
At Relevance AI, we're not just building software; we're architecting the future of work itself. We are the home of the AI workforce, empowering every team to delegate meaningful work to AI agents that think, act, and collaborate like human experts. Our unified platform allows anyone to create and manage intelligent agents that master complex workflows, make critical decisions, and seamlessly collaborate.
Industry leaders like Canva, Databricks, Confluent, Autodesk, Lightspeed, and Rakuten already leverage our technology to scale excellence across operations, marketing, and sales. Backed by Bessemer Venture Partners and having raised our Series B in April 2025, we're accelerating growth and pushing the boundaries of agentic automation.
Headquartered in San Francisco and Sydney, we operate on a hybrid model, driven by curiosity, collaboration, and rapid execution. We move fast, think big, and win together. If you're ready to define how the world works with AI, your journey starts here.
The Challenge & The Role đ
Our engineering team operates at the frontier of AI-native software development, where curiosity, product thinking, rapid experimentation, and sound judgment are paramount. As our Staff Application Security Engineer, you won't just apply existing playbooks; you'll be pioneering the security posture for a platform of autonomous agents that plan, decide, and act on behalf of global enterprise customers.
This is a new threat surface. While established AppSec principles still apply to our product, APIs, and production environment, they fall short when addressing the truly novel challenges: How do you enable an agent to perform real work without it veering off course? How do you reliably contain prompt injection when a model struggles to differentiate instructions from data?
Enterprises demand trust. Security isn't just a feature; it's a fundamental differentiator that drives customer adoption. We invest in it accordingly, making security a core product strength.
This is a highly specialized Individual Contributor (IC) role, reporting directly to our Head of Engineering. You'll have no direct reports, and your focus will be on hands-on building and problem-solving, not just reporting vulnerabilities to others.
How We Build đ ī¸
AI engineering (coding agents, loops, evaluation) is core to every engineer's workflow.
Engineers own product areas and customer problems end-to-end.
We prototype quickly, validate with customers, and ship continuously.
We prioritize product impact as much as technical quality.
Your Impact & Key Responsibilities đĨ Lead the migration of our access control systems to a new model, meticulously closing any security gaps. Who We're Looking For đ§ A Vision for Agentic Security: You possess a distinct perspective on what security means when autonomous agents perform the work, not humans. You're ready to define this new frontier. This is a hands-on building role, deliberately specialized. If you're driven to transform security into a product strength, build rapidly, and remain deeply connected to the code, you will thrive here. Our Tech Stack (so far) đģ Frontend: React, Vue.js, TypeScript Why Join Us? đ We've cultivated a high-trust, low-ego environment with exceptionally high standards, attracting top-tier talent committed to doing their best work. Meet Some of The Team đ Paulwyn, Head of Engineering Benefits & Perks ⨠đ ESOP â Employee Stock Ownership Plan: Grow directly with the company's success. #LI-Hybrid
As our Staff Application Security Engineer, you will:
Fortify the entire product surface: encompassing robust authn/authz, advanced API security, secure input and output handling, and mitigating supply-chain risks.
Engineer critical guardrails for safe agent operation: including precise permissions, clear attribution, secure sandboxing, tool-use limits, and cutting-edge prompt-injection defense mechanisms.
Establish and enforce least-privilege access across our production environment, making the secure path the default and fastest path for development.
Longer-term, drive us towards an autonomous security team: envisioning and building agents that continuously scan our platform and codebase, identifying vulnerabilities and assisting in their remediation.
While deep experience is vital, your strategic thinking and approach matter most. In priority order:
Profound AppSec Expertise: Demonstrated depth in securing production platforms, including comprehensive authn/authz, API security best practices, secure design and review processes, and proactive supply-chain risk management. This is your core strength.
Hands-on Ownership: You are a builder and problem-solver who prefers to fix issues directly rather than merely reporting them.
Exceptional Systems Thinking: You can meticulously articulate the design of an end-to-end autonomous system and pinpoint potential failure points and vulnerabilities.
Foundational Stack Knowledge: Familiarity with our core stack, including TypeScript, AWS, MCP, and AI engineering fundamentals (tool use, context management, evaluations).
Comfort Building with Agents: You're either experienced with or eager to embrace working directly with AI agents â it's integral to how our entire team operates.
TypeScript and AWS will be part of your daily toolkit. Beyond these, your ability to quickly master new technologies is key:
Backend: Express.js, Node.js, TypeScript, Python
Database: PostgreSQL, MongoDB
Cloud Infrastructure: AWS, Vercel, Terraform, Kubernetes
Agents and Tooling: MCP, Dapr
AI Coding Tools: Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and more
In return, we offer a competitive salary, significant equity, and career-defining scope. As an early team member, you'll actively shape our culture and ways of working, rather than just inheriting them.
Our journey is guided by six core principles: eyes on the prize, work on the factory - not just in it, be truth-seeking, know your customer by name, let's find a way, and momentum matters.
Peter, Engineering Manage
đ¤ AI Productivity Benefit: Up to $1200 USD/year to invest in AI tools that enhance your workflow and skills.
đļ Parental Leave: 12 weeks of paid leave for all eligible new parents, with an additional 6 weeks for the birthing parent.
đ Milestone Merch: Celebrate your work anniversaries with exclusive Relevance AI swag.
đŋ Food, Drinks & Community: Enjoy catered lunches every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, Uber Eats dinners for late nights, free breakfasts, healthy snacks, and a fully stocked fridge.
đĒŠ Quarterly Team Events: Build strong connections through fun and meaningful team bonding experiences.
đ Social Clubs: Connect over shared hobbies, from hiking and chess to board game nights and social committee activities.
đ§ Sonder EAP: Access 24/7 mental health and wellbeing support through our Employee Assistance Program.