AI Security Researcher

AI Security Researcher

Location: Remote (Mexico) | Employment Type: Full-Time

About the Opportunity

A fast-growing cybersecurity company, backed by leading venture capital investors, is seeking a founding AI Security Researcher to build and lead its AI Security Research program from the ground up. The company helps enterprises adopt AI tools safely by protecting sensitive data in real-time.

As organizations accelerate their adoption of generative and agentic AI, the security landscape is shifting faster than ever before. This role offers an exceptional opportunity to shape the emerging field of AI security from the ground up—defining the research agenda, uncovering real-world security risks in AI tools and platforms, and helping shape how enterprises can adopt AI safely.

This position blends hands-on technical research with public thought leadership—from identifying vulnerabilities in emerging AI systems to creating guides, publishing insights, and representing the company at major industry events.

Compensation

Monthly Salary Range: $120,000 – $225,000 MXN (gross)

In addition to competitive base compensation, this role includes meaningful equity participation, providing a direct stake in the company\'s success.

What You\'ll Do

Lead AI Security Research: Design and drive a greenfield research program focused on securing the use of AI systems and tools.

Thought Leadership: Develop practitioner guides and actionable content on securing AI technologies (e.g., "How to Secure ChatGPT Enterprise").

Public Engagement: Represent the company at industry conferences (e.g., RSA, BlackHat, DEFCON) through talks, panels, and research presentations.

Threat Intelligence: Research emerging AI threats and threat actors, assessing their impact on customers and the broader ecosystem.

Internal Subject Matter Expertise: Partner with Product Security to identify and mitigate AI-related risks across the company\'s products and infrastructure.

Success Metrics (6–12 Months)

Within your first year, you will be expected to:

• Design, build, and operate a dedicated AI security research environment, enabling safe testing of generative and agentic AI systems and reproducible research workflows.

• Publish and present original research at a major security or AI conference (e.g., Black Hat USA, DEF CON, BSides, or equivalent) that offers actionable insights for practitioners and security leaders.

• Establish a consistent content pipeline, producing high-quality research write-ups, blogs, demos, or practitioner guides that clearly explain risks, attack paths, and defensive strategies.

• Develop a recognizable external presence, securing initial press coverage or analyst mentions that highlight the company\'s leadership in AI security.

• Contribute research that shapes internal product direction, informing detection capabilities, product security priorities, or policy decisions based on real-world risk findings.

Required Qualifications

Technical Foundation: 3–5 years of experience in cybersecurity or applied ML/AI security research, with a strong interest in how AI systems fail and can be attacked.

AI Security Expertise: Hands-on experience assessing or red-teaming LLMs, generative AI tools, or AI-integrated SaaS products. Familiarity with adversarial ML, model extraction, prompt injection, or data poisoning is essential.

Security Research Skills: Proven ability to design and execute independent research—identifying vulnerabilities, publishing technical findings, and proposing mitigations.

Communication & Storytelling: Excellent written and verbal skills for translating complex research into accessible content—whether blog posts, practitioner guides, or conference talks. Strong English proficiency required.

Public Presence: A demonstrated interest or track record in presenting or contributing to security or AI conferences (e.g., Black Hat, DEF CON, RSA).

Ideal Candidate Profile

You may be an excellent fit if you:

• Are comfortable figuring things out from scratch and don\'t wait for detailed instructions to start making progress.

• Are naturally curious—you like to dig into how AI systems actually work and break, and you keep up with new developments because you find them genuinely interesting.

• Enjoy solving hard, undefined problems and can turn ideas into experiments or results quickly.

• Work well with others, share what you learn, and help teammates succeed.

• Take pride in clear, honest communication—whether explaining a technical finding or giving feedback.

• Get energy from teaching others, writing, or speaking publicly about your work.

• Care about impact more than titles or process—you want to enable others to use AI securely.

NIST NICE Framework Alignment

This role maps to multiple NICE Workforce Framework for Cybersecurity (NIST SP 800-181r1) work roles:

PRIMARY WORK ROLE Work Role: Technology Research and Development Work Role ID: SP-TRD-001 Category: Securely Provision (SP) Description: Conducts software and systems engineering and software systems research to develop new capabilities with fully integrated cybersecurity. Conducts comprehensive technology research to evaluate potential vulnerabilities in cyberspace systems.

SECONDARY WORK ROLES Work Role: Vulnerability Assessment Work Role ID: PR-VAM-001 Category: Protect and Defend (PR) Description: Assesses systems and networks to identify deviations from acceptable configurations, enclave policy, or local policy. Measures effectiveness of defense-in-depth architecture against known vulnerabilities.

Work Role: Threat Analysis Work Role ID: AN-TWA-001 Category: Analyze (AN) Description: Collects, processes, analyzes, and disseminates cybersecurity threat assessments. Develops cybersecurity indicators to maintain awareness of the status of the highly dynamic operating environment.

RELEVANT TASK AREAS

• Conduct vulnerability assessments on AI systems and emerging technologies
• Research and evaluate potential vulnerabilities in cyberspace systems
• Develop threat models for generative and agentic AI platforms
• Produce technical findings and propose mitigations
• Develop cybersecurity threat assessments and indicators
• Create documentation and training materials for practitioners

RELEVANT KNOWLEDGE AREAS

• Knowledge of adversarial machine learning techniques
• Knowledge of vulnerability information dissemination sources
• Knowledge of system and application security threats and vulnerabilities
• Knowledge of emerging technology security implications
• Knowledge of threat intelligence methodologies

RELEVANT SKILL AREAS

• Skill in conducting vulnerability scans and identifying vulnerabilities
• Skill in developing technical reports and documentation
• Skill in presenting technical information to diverse audiences
• Skill in conducting independent security research
• Skill in evaluating emerging technologies for security risks

Reference: NIST Special Publication 800-181 Revision 1 Source:

Benefits

• Competitive Compensation: Strong base salary plus meaningful equity participation.

• Remote-First: This role is fully remote for candidates based in Mexico.

• International Collaboration: Work with a small, passionate global team that values transparency, creativity, and learning.

• Professional Development: Opportunity to build a recognized profile in the emerging AI security space.

• Global Offsites: Annual team gatherings in international locations.

• Culture: Join a team that prioritizes impact over process and supports growth through collaboration and honest feedback.

Company Values

Flourish in the Unknown: We embrace new, unfamiliar situations that require initiative and rapid decision-making. We orient ourselves quickly and deliver results with minimal guidance.

Never Full: We never hesitate to take on challenges to assist those in need. We hunger for opportunities to learn and do more.

Perfect Harmony: We have a genuine willingness to assist and support one another to create cohesion and unity. We foster success through collaboration and honest sharing of feedback and ideas, enabling everyone to grow and produce their best work.

Note: The application instructions have been removed. The recruiter note has been removed. The equal opportunity statement from the original posting is retained below for compliance: Nearshore Cyber is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity in its workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.