Senior AI/ML Engineer
TENEX.AI · United States
- Hybrid
- Full-time
- $160,000 / year
- United States
Job highlights
- Lead AI/ML engineering for cybersecurity solutions.
- Design and build AI layer for detection and response.
- Develop and productionize large-scale LLMs and reasoning engines.
- Collaborate cross-functionally to translate attacker behavior.
- Mentor junior engineers and drive technical innovation.
About the role
Senior AI/ML Engineer at TENEX.AI
TENEX is an AI-native, automation-first, built-for-scale Managed Detection and Response (MDR) provider. We are a force multiplier for defenders, helping organizations enhance their cybersecurity posture through advanced threat detection, rapid response, and continuous protection. Our team is composed of industry experts with deep experience in cybersecurity, automation, and AI-driven solutions. Backed by leading investors, we are rapidly growing and seeking top talent to join our mission of revolutionizing the AI-Native MDR landscape.
We’re a fast-growing startup backed by industry experts and top-tier investors led by Crosspoint Capital Partners and also backed by Shield Capital, DTCP (formerly Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners), Deepwork Capital, and the Florida Opportunity Fund. Seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). As an early employee, you’ll play a meaningful role in defining and building our culture. Get in on the ground floor. We’re a small but well-funded team that just raised a substantial round – joining now comes with limited risk and unlimited upside.
As a Senior AI/ML Engineer at TENEX, you will be a senior technical leader and architect responsible for designing, developing, and optimizing scalable, high-performance AI systems. You will play a crucial role in implementing our AI-driven cybersecurity solutions while collaborating across engineering teams and contributing to technical innovation.
Culture is one of the most important things at TENEX.AI—explore our culture deck at culture.tenex.ai to witness how we embody it, prioritizing the irreplaceable collaboration and community of in-person work.
Location
This role will require Monday - Thursday onsite in any of our locations. WFH Friday.
Job Responsibilities
- Project Execution: Lead and own the architecture and delivery of technical components of complex projects. This means communicating effectively to align on requirements, executing on high-quality code, and collaborating with senior engineers and stakeholders throughout the development lifecycle.
- AI Layer Engineering: Design & build the AI layer that powers autonomous detection, RAG-backed investigation, and auto-remediation workflows.
- Productionize Reasoning Engines: Develop and productionize large-scale LLMs, graph-based reasoning engines, and streaming feature pipelines that operate on billions of security events.
- Evaluation & Reliability: Own evaluation & reliability—from prompt libraries and fine-tuning to red-team testing, latency budgets, and fallback strategies.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Lead cross-functional initiatives, partnering with Product, Detection Engineering, and Customer Success to translate real-world attacker behavior into robust ML and rule-based detections.
- Push the Frontier: Experiment with retrieval-augmented generation, tool-calling agents, and multi-modal models (text + logs + graphs) to keep defenders decisively ahead.
- Mentorship: Provide technical mentorship to junior engineers, foster engineering best practices, and contribute to architectural design reviews.
Required Skills & Qualifications
Software Engineering & Architecture Expertise
- Core Engineering: 7+ years of experience in software development, engineering production systems using modern programming languages (Python, Go, Rust, or Java).
- Agentic Systems: Deep knowledge of agentic systems design, such as Centralized and/or Decentralized MAS (Multi-Agent Systems) architectures.
- Graph Architectures: Solid understanding of Graph structures and specifically graph databases.
- Orchestration Frameworks: Hands-on experience building agents, orchestration frameworks (LangChain/LangGraph, Agno AGI, or custom), and evaluation harnesses.
- Distributed Systems: Deep understanding of microservices architecture, containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), and event-driven systems.
- APIs: Strong fundamentals in API design (REST/gRPC) and distributed systems.
Soft Skills
- Communication: Clear, concise communication skills and a bias for collaborative problem-solving.
- Leadership Alignment: Proven track record of gathering consensus and guiding multi-stakeholder initiatives through uncertain boundaries.
- Analytical Rigor: Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.
Nice-to-have
- Domain Background: Prior work in cybersecurity (SIEM, EDR, SOAR, or MDR).
- Startup Mentality: Background driving high-impact engineering initiatives in high-growth startups or enterprise SaaS.
- Cloud Infrastructure: Familiarity with cloud infrastructure security (AWS, GCP, or Azure).
Education & Certifications
Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field. Relevant certifications (AWS/GCP Professional Engineer, Kubernetes, or security-related credentials) are a plus.
Why Join Us?
- Opportunity to work with cutting-edge AI-driven cybersecurity technologies and Google SecOps solutions.
- Collaborate with a talented and innovative team focused on continuously improving security operations.
- Competitive salary and benefits package.
- A culture of growth and development, with opportunities to expand your knowledge in AI, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies.
If you're passionate about combining cybersecurity expertise with artificial intelligence and have experience with advanced multi-agent architectures, we encourage you to apply!
Key skills/competency
- Senior AI/ML Engineer
- AI Systems Architecture
- Agentic Systems Design
- Large Language Models (LLMs)
- Graph Databases
- Orchestration Frameworks
- Distributed Systems
- Cybersecurity
- Machine Learning
- Software Engineering
Skills & topics
- Senior AI/ML Engineer
- AI
- Machine Learning
- Cybersecurity
- LLM
- Agentic Systems
- Graph Databases
- Python
- Software Engineering
- MDR
- TENEX.AI
- Cloud Infrastructure
- Distributed Systems
- Orchestration
How to get hired
- Tailor your resume: Highlight experience with AI systems, agentic design, graph databases, and orchestration frameworks relevant to a Senior AI/ML Engineer role at TENEX.AI.
- Showcase leadership: Emphasize your experience in leading technical projects, cross-functional collaboration, and mentorship for junior engineers.
- Demonstrate technical depth: Prepare to discuss your experience with Python, Go, Rust, Java, microservices, Kubernetes, and API design in detail.
- Understand TENEX.AI's mission: Research their AI-native MDR approach and how your skills can revolutionize their cybersecurity solutions.
- Prepare for technical interviews: Be ready for coding challenges and in-depth discussions on AI/ML concepts, distributed systems, and agentic architectures.
Technical preparation
Behavioral questions
Frequently asked questions
- What are the core responsibilities of a Senior AI/ML Engineer at TENEX.AI?
- As a Senior AI/ML Engineer at TENEX.AI, you will lead the design, development, and optimization of AI systems for cybersecurity. This includes building the AI layer for detection and response, productionizing LLMs and reasoning engines, ensuring evaluation and reliability, and collaborating across teams. You will also mentor junior engineers and contribute to architectural decisions.
- What specific AI/ML technologies and concepts are important for this role at TENEX.AI?
- Key technologies and concepts include agentic systems design (MAS architectures), large language models (LLMs), graph-based reasoning engines, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and multi-modal models. Experience with orchestration frameworks like LangChain/LangGraph is also highly valued for this Senior AI/ML Engineer position.
- What is the work arrangement for the Senior AI/ML Engineer role at TENEX.AI?
- The work arrangement for this role requires employees to be onsite Monday through Thursday, with the option to work remotely on Fridays. This hybrid model emphasizes in-person collaboration during the core work week.
- What kind of cybersecurity background is beneficial for a Senior AI/ML Engineer at TENEX.AI?
- While not strictly required, a prior background in cybersecurity, specifically with technologies like SIEM, EDR, SOAR, or MDR, is considered a significant advantage for this role. It helps in translating real-world attacker behavior into effective AI and ML-driven detections.
- How does TENEX.AI emphasize culture for its Senior AI/ML Engineers?
- TENEX.AI places a strong emphasis on culture, viewing it as a top priority. They encourage exploring their culture deck at culture.tenex.ai to understand their commitment to collaboration and community, particularly through their hybrid work model.
- What are the 'nice-to-have' qualifications for the Senior AI/ML Engineer position at TENEX.AI?
- Nice-to-have qualifications include prior experience in cybersecurity (SIEM, EDR, SOAR, MDR), a startup mentality with experience in high-growth environments, and familiarity with cloud infrastructure security on platforms like AWS, GCP, or Azure.
- What is the expected software engineering experience for this Senior AI/ML Engineer role?
- The role requires at least 7 years of experience in software development, focusing on engineering production systems. Proficiency in modern programming languages such as Python, Go, Rust, or Java is essential.