Mid-Level AI Engineer - Application Security & AI Systems

Mid-Level AI Engineer - Application Security & AI Systems - Contract - Remote - $70.00 - $83.33/hr.

The final salary or hourly wage, as applicable, paid to each candidate/applicant for this position is ultimately dependent on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, the candidate's/applicant's qualifications, skills, and level of experience as well as the geographical location of the position.

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Sponsorship not available.

Our client is seeking Mid-Level AI Engineer - Application Security & AI Systems for a Remote Opportunity

Role Description

Development & Enforcement
Design, build, and maintain secure AI-powered applications, services, and intelligent automation solutions.
Develop reusable frameworks, APIs, libraries, and tooling that accelerate AI adoption across engineering teams.
Implement security controls and automated guardrails directly into development workflows, CI/CD pipelines, and AI-assisted engineering environments.
Conduct secure code reviews and provide remediation guidance for applications developed in Python, Go, Rust, JavaScript, and related technologies.
Establish and promote secure coding standards, security requirements, and responsible AI engineering practices.
Support DevSecOps initiatives by integrating application security controls throughout the software development lifecycle.
Collaboration & Expertise
Partner with engineering, architecture, product, security, and operations teams to design and deliver secure AI-enabled solutions.
Provide technical expertise on AI application development, software security, and cloud-native architectures.
Participate in architecture reviews, design sessions, and technical planning activities.
Collaborate with developers to embed security best practices into applications and engineering workflows.
Support enterprise AI adoption initiatives through guidance, consultation, and engineering leadership.
Analysis & Configuration
Conduct application security assessments, vulnerability analysis, and remediation planning.
Evaluate AI systems and workflows for risks including prompt injection, data leakage, model abuse, and unauthorized access.
Participate in threat modeling exercises across distributed systems, cloud-native environments, and AI-enabled applications.
Analyze and configure security controls across cloud, hybrid, and on-premises environments.
Document findings, technical recommendations, standards, and operational procedures.
Operational Support
Support production AI systems, applications, and security platforms to ensure reliability and security.
Troubleshoot and resolve application security issues, platform vulnerabilities, and operational challenges.
Assist with incident response activities involving application security events, AI misuse, or data protection concerns.
Monitor system performance, security posture, and operational metrics.
Contribute to ongoing platform maintenance, optimization, and continuous improvement initiatives.
Participate in on-call rotations and provide support during occasional after-hours deployments, production incidents, maintenance windows, and critical operational events as required.

Skills & Requirements

5-7 years of professional software engineering experience developing, deploying, and supporting enterprise applications.
2+ years of hands-on experience with AI technologies, including LLMs, AI agents, generative AI applications, RAG architectures, or AI-powered automation solutions.
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Information Systems, Software Engineering, or a related technical discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
Strong programming experience in Python, Go, Rust, JavaScript, or similar development languages.
Experience with cloud-native development, APIs, containers, Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines, and Git-based development workflows.
Solid understanding of secure coding principles, application security fundamentals, and common vulnerability classes.
Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to work effectively across technical and business teams.
Ability and willingness to work a flexible schedule, including occasional late-night deployments, production support activities, incident response efforts, maintenance events, and on-call responsibilities as business needs require.
Demonstrated ability to rapidly learn, adopt, and effectively utilize new technologies, tools, frameworks, and platforms in a fast-paced engineering environment.
Strong commitment to continuous learning and professional development across software engineering, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and cloud technologies.
Experience building and deploying enterprise AI applications or agentic AI systems in production environments.
Background in application security, cybersecurity engineering, penetration testing, red teaming, vulnerability management, or DevSecOps.
Hands-on experience identifying and mitigating AI security risks such as prompt injection, data leakage, model manipulation, and agent misuse.

Benefits/Other Compensation

Medical, Dental, Life Insurance, 401K.

Why Hays?
You will be working with a professional recruiter who has intimate knowledge of the industry and market trends. Your Hays recruiter will lead you through a thorough screening process in order to understand your skills, experience, needs, and drivers. You will also get support on resume writing, interview tips, and career planning, so when there's a position you really want, you're fully prepared to get it.

Nervous about an upcoming interview? Unsure how to write a new resume?

Visit the Hays Career Advice section to learn top tips to help you stand out from the crowd when job hunting.

Hays is committed to building a thriving culture of diversity that embraces people with different backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences. We believe that the more inclusive we are, the better we serve our candidates, clients, and employees. We are an equal employment opportunity employer, and we comply with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, creed, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), age, national origin or ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, marital status, genetic information, HIV-positive status, as well as any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. One of Hays' guiding principles is 'do the right thing'.
We also believe that actions speak louder than words.
In that regard, we train our staff on ensuring inclusivity throughout the entire recruitment process and counsel our clients on these principles. If you have any questions about Hays or any of our processes, please contact us.

In accordance with applicable federal, state, and local law protecting qualified individuals with known disabilities, Hays will attempt to reasonably accommodate those individuals unless doing so would create an undue hardship on the company. Any qualified applicant or consultant with a disability who requires accommodation in order to perform the essential functions of the job should call or text .

Drug testing may be required; please contact a recruiter for more information.

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