Staff / Sr. Staff Engineer, AI & Security Analytics

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 .

About The Role
We are seeking an exceptional Staff / Sr. Staff Software Engineer to build next-generation security analytics and AI-powered capabilities within Netskope's platform. This is a high-impact individual contributor role for an engineer who excels at solving complex technical problems at the intersection of artificial intelligence, large-scale data systems, and cybersecurity.

As a Senior Staff Engineer, you will design and implement sophisticated systems that leverage cutting-edge AI/ML techniques, graph-based analytics, and real-time data processing to solve critical security challenges. You will work on problems spanning threat detection, risk assessment, behavioral analytics, and intelligent automation—building the systems that help security teams at the world's largest enterprises detect and respond to threats.

This role requires deep technical expertise with strong hands-on implementation skills. You will collaborate closely with Distinguished Engineers, senior engineers, product managers, and security researchers to deliver production-quality solutions that operate at massive scale. Your code and architectural decisions will directly impact how thousands of organizations protect their critical assets.

What You Will Be Doing

Hands-On Technical Development (60-70%)

• Build production systems for AI-powered security analytics processing billions of events daily
• Implement graph-based data models and complex query systems for security entity relationships (users, devices, applications, data, threats)
• Develop RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) systems integrating LLMs with vector databases for intelligent security insights
• Create real-time data processing pipelines using streaming technologies for near-real-time threat detection
• Build and deploy ML models for anomaly detection, behavioral analytics, and risk scoring at scale
• Implement vector search systems for semantic threat intelligence matching and security knowledge retrieval
• Develop APIs and services that expose security analytics capabilities to upstream applications
• Write high-quality, production-ready code in Python, Go, or Java/Scala with comprehensive testing
• Optimize performance of critical systems handling high-throughput, low-latency requirements
• Build data transformation pipelines that process and enrich security telemetry from multiple sources

System Design & Architecture (20-30%)

• Design components and services for large-scale security analytics systems
• Contribute to architectural decisions for AI/ML infrastructure, data pipelines, and graph systems
• Create technical specifications and design documents for complex features
• Evaluate and prototype new technologies (LLMs, graph databases, vector stores, streaming platforms)
• Participate in architectural reviews and provide technical feedback on designs
• Design for scale, reliability, and performance in distributed systems handling petabyte-scale data
• Make trade-off decisions balancing technical excellence with business requirements and timelines

Collaboration & Technical Leadership (10-20%)

• Collaborate with Distinguished Engineers to translate architectural vision into implementation
• Work closely with Product Management to refine requirements and deliver customer value
• Partner with Security Research teams to operationalize threat research into production systems
• Mentor mid-level and senior engineers on technical design, coding practices, and problem-solving
• Participate in code reviews and set standards for code quality and engineering practices
• Present technical designs to engineering teams and stakeholders
• Contribute to technical discussions and help drive consensus on implementation approaches
• Share knowledge through internal tech talks, documentation, and pair programming

Required Skills And Experience
Strong Technical Foundation

• 10-15 years of software engineering experience with progression to senior IC roles
• Expert-level proficiency in Python with modern frameworks and libraries
• Production experience with at least one other language (Go, Java, Scala, or C++)
• Deep understanding of distributed systems including consistency, scalability, and fault tolerance
• Strong computer science fundamentals: algorithms, data structures, complexity analysis
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and cloud-native architectures
• Solid understanding of software design patterns and system architecture principles

AI/ML & Advanced Analytics Expertise

• 3+ years hands-on experience building AI/ML systems in production, including:

• Working with Large Language Models (OpenAI API, Anthropic Claude, or similar)

• Building RAG systems using frameworks like LangChain or LangGraph
• Implementing vector search with vector databases (Pinecone, Weaviate, Chroma, pgvector)
• ML model training, evaluation, and deployment

• MLOps practices including model monitoring and versioning

• Experience with graph databases (Neo4j, TigerGraph, or similar) including:

• Graph data modeling and schema design

• Writing complex graph queries (Cypher, Gremlin, or similar)

• Graph algorithms and traversals

• Strong data engineering skills:

• Streaming data processing (Kafka, Flink, or similar)

• Large-scale data storage systems (ClickHouse, Snowflake, BigQuery)
• ETL/ELT pipeline design and implementation
• Working with both structured and unstructured data

Cybersecurity Domain Knowledge

• 5+ years of experience in cybersecurity with practical understanding of:

• Security operations and SOC workflows

• Threat detection and incident response
• Security data sources (logs, network traffic, endpoint telemetry)
• Common attack patterns and TTPs

• Security frameworks (MITRE ATT&CK)

• Experience with security analytics systems such as:

• SIEM platforms or log analytics systems

• Behavioral analytics and anomaly detection
• Threat intelligence platforms

• Security automation and orchestration

• Understanding of cloud security concepts (CASB, CSPM, Zero Trust, DLP)

• Familiarity with security compliance requirements (SOC 2, GDPR, HIPAA)

Technical Execution Skills

• Proven track record delivering complex projects from design through production deployment
• Strong debugging and troubleshooting skills for distributed systems
• Experience with testing including unit testing, integration testing, and test automation
• Proficiency with version control (Git) and CI/CD pipelines
• Understanding of monitoring and observability (Prometheus, Grafana, distributed tracing)
• Experience with containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Ability to work with ambiguity and drive technical decisions with incomplete information
• Strong problem-solving skills breaking down complex problems into manageable components

Communication & Collaboration

• Excellent written communication for technical documentation and design specs
• Clear verbal communication for explaining complex technical concepts
• Collaborative mindset working effectively with cross-functional teams
• Ability to give and receive constructive feedback in code reviews and design discussions
• Experience mentoring junior and mid-level engineers
• Customer empathy understanding security practitioner needs and workflows

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in cybersecurity product companies or security-focused roles
• Background in security research or threat hunting
• Contributions to open-source projects in AI/ML, security, or data engineering
• Experience with advanced graph algorithms: community detection, centrality measures, path finding
• Familiarity with behavioral analytics and UEBA systems
• Knowledge of prompt engineering and LLM optimization techniques
• Experience with real-time systems requiring low-latency processing
• Understanding of data privacy and secure system design
• Previous work on SIEM, XDR, or SOC platforms
• Experience with streaming ML and online learning systems
• Conference presentations or blog posts on technical topics

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field required
• Master's degree preferred (or equivalent practical experience)

Technical Environment

You will work hands-on with:

• Languages: Python (primary), Go, Java/Scala
• AI/ML Frameworks: TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit-learn, LangChain, LangGraph
• LLM APIs: OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Azure OpenAI
• Graph Databases: Neo4j, TigerGraph, or Apache AGE
• Vector Databases: Pinecone, Weaviate, Chroma, pgvector
• Streaming: Apache Kafka, Apache Flink
• Data Storage: ClickHouse, PostgreSQL, data lakes (S3/Delta/Iceberg)
• Cloud: AWS, Azure, or GCP
• Orchestration: Kubernetes, Docker, Airflow
• Monitoring: Prometheus, Grafana, ELK stack
• Development: Git, CI/CD (Jenkins, GitLab, GitHub Actions)

Typical Projects You Might Work On

• Build a graph-based threat detection system that models relationships between security entities and identifies attack patterns through graph traversal
• Implement RAG pipelines for security analysts to query threat intelligence and organizational security data using natural language
• Design and deploy real-time anomaly detection models that process streaming security telemetry and generate high-fidelity alerts
• Create vector search systems for semantic matching of security indicators and historical incident data
• Develop risk scoring engines that calculate entity risk based on behavioral patterns, relationships, and threat context
• Build automated investigation workflows that leverage graph analysis and AI to accelerate incident response
• Implement ML model training and deployment pipelines for continuous model improvement and A/B testing
• Create data enrichment systems that augment security events with threat intelligence and contextual information

Impact & Scope

Your work will:

• Power security analytics for thousands of enterprise customers
• Process billions of events daily with real-time performance requirements
• Influence product capabilities used by security teams at Fortune 500 companies
• Set technical standards through high-quality code and architecture
• Enable faster threat detection reducing time-to-response for security teams
• Contribute to team knowledge through mentorship and documentation

What We Offer

• Cutting-edge technical challenges at the intersection of AI and cybersecurity
• Hands-on work with latest technologies (LLMs, graph databases, vector search, streaming)
• Collaborate with world-class engineers and security experts
• Competitive compensation including base salary, equity, and comprehensive benefits
• Flexible work arrangements (remote or hybrid options)
• Professional development budget for conferences, courses, and certifications
• Learning opportunities staying current with rapidly evolving AI/ML landscape
• Work-life balance with flexible schedules and unlimited PTO
• Impact at scale solving real security problems for global enterprises
• Modern tech stack and freedom to influence tooling decisions

About Working At Netskope
Join a company redefining cloud security through technical innovation. We value engineers who:

• Love solving hard problems with elegant, scalable solutions
• Take ownership of their work from design to production
• Collaborate openly sharing knowledge and helping teammates succeed
• Stay curious continuously learning new technologies and techniques
• Focus on impact building features that matter to customers
• Embrace feedback iterating to find the best solutions

We're a Certified Great Place to Work with a transparent culture where engineers from diverse backgrounds collaborate to build solutions that protect the world's largest enterprises. Our team of ~3,000 employees works on cutting-edge problems with modern technologies and meaningful customer impact.

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.

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