Principal ML Architect - Security AI & Advanced Model Systems

External

Proofpoint · Sunnyvale, CA

Full-timeHybridToday

ComplianceDeep LearningGDPRLLMsMachine LearningObservability

Cover Letter Connect

Prepare for this interview

Elite

AI-generated questions, company research, and talking points tailored to this role

About the role

Proofpoint is a global leader in human- and agent-centric cybersecurity. We protect how people, data, and AI agents connect across email, cloud, and collaboration tools. Over 80 of the Fortune 100, 10,000 large enterprises, and millions of smaller organizations trust Proofpoint to stop threats, prevent data loss, and build resilience across their people and AI workflows. Our mission is simple: safeguard the digital world and empower people to work securely and confidently. Join us in our pursuit to defend data and protect people. How We Work: At Proofpoint you'll be part of a global team that breaks barriers to redefine cybersecurity guided by our BRAVE core values: Bold in how we dream and innovate Responsive to feedback, challenges and opportunities Accountable for results and best in class outcomes Visionary in future focused problem-solving Exceptional in execution and impact Role Overview We are seeking a Principal ML Architect to lead the design and development of next-generation AI systems for cybersecurity , leveraging state-of-the-art LLMs/SLMs and advanced machine learning techniques . This role requires deep expertise in model architecture, training, fine-tuning, and distillation , combined with a strong understanding of security domains such as threat detection, anomaly detection, data protection, and AI safety . You will drive the development of intelligent, security-focused AI systems and agents capable of operating at scale across high-volume, adversarial, and sensitive environments , while ensuring robustness, explainability, and compliance .

Responsibilities

AI Architecture for Security Systems

Design and lead architecture for AI-driven security platforms , including:

Threat detection and behavioral analytics

Data loss prevention (DLP) and insider risk detection

AI usage monitoring and policy enforcement (GenAI security)

Build systems that process high-volume, high-velocity security telemetry in real time

Model Development & Innovation

Lead development of state-of-the-art SLMs/LLMs tailored for security use cases:

Log analysis, alert triage, threat intelligence, policy reasoning

Drive experimentation with modern architectures (Transformers, MoE, retrieval-augmented systems, hybrid models)

Balance trade-offs between model accuracy, latency, interpretability, and cost

Training, Fine-Tuning & Distillation

Architect pipelines for:

Domain adaptation and instruction tuning on security-specific datasets

Model distillation and compression for efficient deployment in enterprise environments

Design and execute experiments for:

Alignment (RLHF/RLAIF) in security-sensitive contexts

Red-teaming and adversarial robustness of models

AI Agents for Security Workflows

Design and oversee AI agents that:

Automate security operations (SOC workflows, triage, investigation)

Integrate with enterprise tools (SIEM, EDR, SaaS platforms)

Define architectures for tool use, reasoning, memory, and policy-aware decision making

Experimentation & Evaluation

Establish rigorous evaluation frameworks for:

Detection accuracy, false positives/negatives

Model robustness under adversarial conditions

Safety, hallucination, and misuse risks

Lead deep experimentation cycles to continuously improve model performance and reliability

Productionization & Scale

Guide deployment of models into enterprise-scale, real-time environments

Optimize inference systems for low latency, high throughput, and cost efficiency

Collaborate with platform teams on ML infrastructure, data pipelines, and observability

Security, Governance & Responsible AI

Ensure models and systems meet enterprise security standards (SOC2, ISO, GDPR, etc.)

Establish best practices for:

Secure model development and deployment

Data privacy and protection in training pipelines

Responsible AI and model safety in adversarial environments

Required Qualifications

Principal ML Architect - Security AI & Advanced Model Systems

About the role

Responsibilities

Requirements

Benefits

Your Match

Company Intel

What employees say

Interested in this role?