Senior Security Researcher - GenAI

About the Role

Key Responsibilities

• Drive strategic research initiatives on Generative AI security by proposing, validating, and executing innovative projects.
• Conduct hands-on research to discover and demonstrate vulnerabilities, attack vectors, adversarial methods, and misconfigurations in Generative AI and large language model (LLM) technologies.
• Create proof-of-concept attacks, simulations, and demonstrations to illustrate vulnerabilities and defensive strategies clearly.
• Serve as a subject matter expert in Generative AI and collaborate with product management, engineering, and detection engineering teams to translate research findings into actionable product improvements.
• Author and present impactful blog posts, webinars, and conference presentations to educate the broader security and AI community.
• Engage closely with cloud providers, AI vendors, and open-source communities to responsibly disclose and remediate security issues.
• Track, research, and experiment with the latest tactics, techniques, and procedures for attacking and defending Generative AI infrastructure.
• Partner with Threat Research and Detection Engineering teams to build detection content from research findings.
• Collaborate with technical customers to understand their security needs and demonstrate how Datadog's products can detect attacks.

Requirements

• Deep knowledge of Generative AI technologies and frameworks (e.g., MCP, A2A, LangGraph, CrewAI).
• Understanding of vulnerabilities specific to Generative AI, such as prompt injection and model poisoning.
• Knowledge of OWASP Top 10 for LLMs and web security concepts related to access controls, input handling, and API security.
• Experience in offensive security roles (penetration testing, red teaming) or vulnerability research in cloud or SaaS environments.
• Ability to create research plans from ambiguous requirements and obtain stakeholder buy-in.
• Experience presenting research findings internally or publicly at conferences and through blog posts.
• Strong communication skills, both verbal and written.
• Ability to write software (e.g., Go, Python, Rust) to solve problems and build research systems.
• Humble, precise, and thorough approach to security research.

Nice to Have

• Experience working in a Security Research organization.
• Proven track record in discovering, disclosing, and documenting vulnerabilities.
• Experience presenting research at large conferences.
• Experience working in an OKR-driven environment.

Qualifications

• Educational background or experience in security research, vulnerability discovery, or related fields.

Benefits & Perks

• New hire stock equity (RSUs) and employee stock purchase plan (ESPP).
• Continuous professional development, product training, and career pathing.
• Intra-departmental mentor and buddy program for in-house networking.
• Inclusive company culture with access to Community Guilds (employee resource groups).
• Inclusion Talks and internal panel discussions.
• Free, global mental health benefits for employees and dependents aged 6+.
• Competitive global benefits including healthcare, dental, parental planning, mental health, 401(k) plan and match, paid time off, fitness reimbursements, and discounted employee stock purchase plan.
• Estimated yearly salary range: $187,000—$240,000 USD.