Senior Backend Engineer - AI Security Infrastructure

At Robinhood, we are on a mission to democratize finance for all. As an estimated $124 trillion in assets transfers to younger generations over the next two decades, Robinhood is building the platform that powers this historic financial shift.

As a Senior Software Engineer on the AI Security team, you will build the foundational platform, infrastructure, and security primitives that empower internal security engineering teams to securely develop, deploy, and operate AI-powered agents and capabilities at scale. Sitting at the intersection of AI, distributed systems, and cloud security, you will engineer reusable APIs, SDKs, and platform guardrails—focusing on identity, authentication, authorization, encryption, and data protection controls across Go and Python microservices.

Key Responsibilities

• AI Security Platform Engineering: Architect and deploy a scalable, secure AI platform enabling internal security teams to operate AI-powered agents and workflows.
• Platform Primitives & Developer Tools: Build reusable platform microservices, REST/gRPC APIs, client libraries, and SDKs that simplify AI integration across security pipelines.
• Security-First Distributed Systems: Design distributed infrastructure equipped with robust identity, authentication, authorization, data encryption, and platform safety controls.
• AI Agent Guardrails: Develop automated platform guardrails and monitoring tools to ensure AI agents operate safely within enterprise boundaries.
• Automation & Performance: Optimize platform throughput, developer experience, system reliability, and threat detection through automated infrastructure tooling.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with infrastructure, security operations, and engineering leads across Robinhood to translate emerging security requirements into shared platform capabilities.

Requirements

Software Engineering & Security Depth

• 5+ years of professional software development experience.
• 3+ years of hands-on experience building large-scale distributed systems with embedded security architecture (authentication, authorization, identity management, or encryption).
• Practical experience building AI platforms, AI infrastructure, or production systems supporting AI-powered applications and agentic workflows.
• High proficiency in Go or Python, accompanied by strong production debugging, profiling, and system design skills.
• Experience with cloud-native platforms and distributed architectures (AWS, Kubernetes, gRPC, Apache Kafka).
• Demonstrated experience building reusable developer tools, internal APIs, libraries, or platform capabilities.

Work Logistics

• Ability to work onsite at least 3 days per week at Robinhood's offices in Menlo Park, CA or Bellevue, WA.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience building platform infrastructure for financial platforms, fintech, or high-compliance cloud environments.
• Deep familiarity with modern AI agent execution frameworks, model context security, and prompt injection mitigation strategies.
• Track record of leading complex, multi-quarter engineering projects from design through deployment and operation.

Total Rewards & Benefits

• Compensation & Equity: Base salary of $196,000 – $230,000 USD (Zone 1) + performance-driven bonus multipliers + equity ownership + 401(k) matching.
• Top-Tier Healthcare: 100% employer-paid health insurance for employees and 90% coverage for eligible dependents; fertility and mental health benefits.
• Private Investment Access: Access to the Robinhood Employee Fund, offering US team members private exposure to Robinhood Ventures funds.
• Perks & Stipends: Flexible Lifestyle Wallet stipend (wellness, learning, home setup), access to premier AI tools, and ongoing AI skill-building.
• Office Experience & Time Off: Catered meals, team events, paid time off, paid company holidays, and parental leave.