Sr. Manager, AI Application Engineering

Job Description About Netskope Today, there's more data and users outside the enterprise than inside, causing the network perimeter as we know it to dissolve. We realized a new perimeter was needed, one that is built in the cloud and follows and protects data wherever it goes, so we started Netskope to redefine Cloud, Network and Data Security. Since 2012, we have built the market-leading cloud security company and an award-winning culture powered by hundreds of employees spread across offices in Santa Clara, St. Louis, Bangalore, London, Paris, Melbourne, Taipei, and Tokyo. Our core values are openness, honesty, and transparency, and we purposely developed our open desk layouts and large meeting spaces to support and promote partnerships, collaboration, and teamwork. From catered lunches and office celebrations to employee recognition events and social professional groups such as the Awesome Women of Netskope (AWON), we strive to keep work fun, supportive and interactive. Visit us at Netskope Careers. Please follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter@Netskope. About The Role We are seeking an exceptional Senior Engineering Manager to lead our AI Application Engineering team in India. This is a pivotal role that combines technical leadership, people management, and strategic vision to build cutting-edge AI-powered security solutions. You will lead a team of 14 talented engineers building intelligent applications that enhance our cloud security platform using Large Language Models (LLMs), Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), and advanced AI/ML techniques. Your team will be responsible for developing AI-driven features that transform how security teams detect threats, analyze incidents, and respond to security events. This includes building conversational interfaces for security operations, intelligent assistants for threat analysis, and automated systems that leverage generative AI to enhance security workflows. What You Will Be Doing AI Application Development & Strategy - Lead the design, development, and deployment of production-grade AI applications leveraging LLMs, RAG architectures, and agentic AI frameworks - Drive the technical vision for integrating generative AI capabilities across Netskope's security platform, including SIEM, threat detection, and security analytics - Architect scalable AI application systems that process and analyze massive security datasets in real-time - Establish best practices for LLMOps, including prompt engineering, model evaluation, fine-tuning, and production deployment - Guide the development of RAG systems that integrate vector databases with security threat intelligence and organizational knowledge bases Technical Leadership & Innovation - Oversee the end-to-end development lifecycle of AI applications using frameworks like LangChain, LlamaIndex, and modern orchestration tools - Lead implementation of OpenAI API, Anthropic Claude, and other LLM integrations into production security systems - Drive adoption of vector databases (Pinecone, Weaviate, Chroma, pgvector) for semantic search and knowledge retrieval - Champion MLOps and LLMOps practices including model versioning, A/B testing, monitoring, and continuous improvement - Collaborate with data engineering, ML infrastructure, and security research teams to build cohesive AI-powered solutions - Stay current with the rapidly evolving generative AI landscape and evaluate new models, techniques, and tools Security Domain Expertise - Build AI applications that enhance threat detection, anomaly detection, and security incident response - Develop intelligent systems that correlate security events across SIEM, CASB, SWG, and other security telemetry sources - Create conversational AI interfaces for security analysts to query threat intelligence and investigate incidents - Implement AI-driven automation for security workflows, alert triage, and incident remediation - Ensure AI applications meet enterprise security, compliance, and data privacy requirements (SOC 2, GDPR, etc.) Team Leadership & People Management - Build, mentor, and grow a high-performing team of 14 engineers across various experience levels - Foster a culture of innovation, technical excellence, and continuous learning within the team - Conduct regular 1:1s, performance reviews, and career development planning for all team members - Recruit top engineering talent and build diverse, inclusive teams - Create an environment that encourages experimentation, learning from failures, and rapid iteration - Collaborate with product management to define roadmaps, prioritize features, and deliver customer value Cross-Functional Collaboration & Delivery - Partner closely with Product Management, UX, Security Research, and Data Science teams - Translate complex technical requirements into actionable engineering plans with clear milestones - Manage project timelines, resources, and risks across multiple concurrent initiatives - Present technical architectures, progress updates, and strategic recommendations to senior leadership - Drive consensus on technical decisions across engineering, security, and product stakeholders - Establish metrics and KPIs to measure the success and impact of AI applications Required Skills And Experience AI/ML and Generative AI Expertise - 7+ years of software engineering experience, with 3+ years in engineering management leading teams of 10+ engineers - Deep hands-on experience building production AI applications using LangChain, LangGraph, or similar orchestration frameworks - Proven expertise implementing RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) systems with vector databases and LLMs - Strong understanding of LLM APIs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Azure OpenAI, etc.) and prompt engineering best practices - Experience with vector databases such as Pinecone, Weaviate, Chroma, Milvus, or pgvector - Knowledge of LLMOps practices including model evaluation, monitoring, versioning, and production deployment - Familiarity with fine-tuning, embeddings, semantic search, and information retrieval techniques Software Engineering & Architecture - Strong proficiency in Python for AI/ML applications, with experience in FastAPI, Flask, or similar frameworks - Hands-on experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and cloud-native architectures - Understanding of microservices, APIs, and distributed systems design patterns - Experience with containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) and modern deployment practices - Proficiency in version control (Git), CI/CD pipelines, and agile development methodologies - Knowledge of data engineering concepts including ETL/ELT pipelines, data quality, and data governance Cybersecurity Domain Knowledge - Strong background in cybersecurity with understanding of threat detection, incident response, and security operations - Experience with SIEM platforms (Splunk, Elastic Security, Azure Sentinel) or security analytics systems - Knowledge of security concepts including threat intelligence, anomaly detection, MITRE ATT&CK framework - Understanding of cloud security (CASB, SASE, SSE, Zero Trust) and modern security architectures - Familiarity with security data sources (logs, network traffic, endpoint telemetry) and threat hunting - Experience with compliance standards such as SOC 2, GDPR, HIPAA, or similar regulations Leadership & Communication - Proven track record of building and scaling high-performing engineering teams in fast-paced environments - Strong project management skills with ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously - Excellent communication and presentation skills for technical and non-technical audiences - Experience translating business requirements into technical solutions and strategic roadmaps - Ability to influence and drive consensus across cross-functional teams and stakeholders - Mentorship and coaching abilities to develop talent and grow future technical leaders Preferred Qualifications - Experience in the cybersecurity or cloud security industry - Hands-on experience with agentic AI frameworks and multi-agent systems - Background in NLP, machine learning, or deep learning research or applications - Experience with threat intelligence platforms and security orchestration (SOAR) - Knowledge of advanced AI techniques such as fine-tuning, reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF) - Contributions to open-source AI/ML projects or security tools - Experience with streaming data processing (Kafka, Flink) in security contexts - Publications, patents, or conference presentations in AI/ML or cybersecurity Education - Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field required - Master's degree or PhD in Computer Science, AI/ML, or related field strongly preferred What We Offer - Opportunity to work on cutting-edge generative AI applications in cybersecurity - Lead a talented team at a company recognized as a Gartner Leader in SASE - Competitive compensation package including salary, equity, and comprehensive benefits - Professional development opportunities and access to latest AI/ML technologies - Collaborative, innovation-driven culture with global impact - Flexible work arrangements and strong work-life balance - Work with Fortune 500 customers and solve real-world security challenges at scale About Working At Netskope Bangalore Join Netskope's growing Bangalore engineering hub, which serves as a key center for innovation in cloud security. Our Bangalore office features modern facilities in Whitefield's EPIP Zone, fostering collaboration and creativity. We maintain an open, transparent culture where technical experts work shoulder-to-shoulder with colleagues, and the best ideas win regardless of hierarchy. As part of our global team of 3,000 employees, you'll work with industry leaders in security, networking, and AI/ML. We support remote work flexibility, encourage continuous learning, and provide opportunities to work on products that protect some of the world's largest and most sophisticated organizations. Netskope is committed to implementing equal employment opportunities for all employees and applicants for employment. Netskope does not discriminate in employment opportunities or practices based on religion, race, color, sex, marital or veteran statues, age, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, genetic information, pregnancy (including childbirth, lactation and related medical conditions), or any other characteristic protected by the laws or regulations of any jurisdiction in which we operate. Netskope respects your privacy and is committed to protecting the personal information you share with us, please refer to Netskope's Privacy Policy for more details.