Staff Product Security AI Engineer

The Company

PayPal has been revolutionizing commerce globally for more than 25 years. Creating innovative experiences that make moving money, selling, and shopping simple, personalized, and secure, PayPal empowers consumers and businesses in approximately 200 markets to join and thrive in the global economy.

We operate a global, two-sided network at scale that connects hundreds of millions of merchants and consumers. We help merchants and consumers connect, transact, and complete payments, whether they are online or in person. PayPal is more than a connection to third-party payment networks. We provide proprietary payment solutions accepted by merchants that enable the completion of payments on our platform on behalf of our customers.

We offer our customers the flexibility to use their accounts to purchase and receive payments for goods and services, as well as the ability to transfer and withdraw funds. We enable consumers to exchange funds more safely with merchants using a variety of funding sources, which may include a bank account, a PayPal or Venmo account balance, PayPal and Venmo branded credit products, a credit card, a debit card, certain cryptocurrencies, or other stored value products such as gift cards, and eligible credit card rewards. Our PayPal, Venmo, and Xoom products also make it safer and simpler for friends and family to transfer funds to each other. We offer merchants an end-to-end payments solution that provides authorization and settlement capabilities, as well as instant access to funds and payouts. We also help merchants connect with their customers, process exchanges and returns, and manage risk. We enable consumers to engage in cross-border shopping and merchants to extend their global reach while reducing the complexity and friction involved in enabling cross-border trade.

Our beliefs are the foundation for how we conduct business every day. We live each day guided by our core values of Inclusion, Innovation, Collaboration, and Wellness. Together, our values ensure that we work together as one global team with our customers at the center of everything we do - and they push us to ensure we take care of ourselves, each other, and our communities.

Job Summary:

As a Staff Product Security Engineer, AI Security at PayPal, you'll help protect 439M active accounts and $1.8T in annual payment volume by leading technical work across three areas: securing AI-assisted software development, protecting AI-enabled products and agentic systems, and applying AI to improve vulnerability detection and remediation. You'll partner with Security Architecture, engineering, product, and platform teams to turn AI security requirements into scalable controls and enforcement across PayPal's products and business units.

This is a hands-on IC role with cross-organizational scope: you'll help set technical direction, lead delivery, and mentor engineers while staying involved in architecture reviews, control design, and implementation. Your work will reduce exploitable vulnerabilities from AI-assisted development and misuse by AI-enabled systems, while improving PayPal's ability to detect, validate, and remediate vulnerabilities at scale.

Job Description:

Essential Responsibilities:

• Leverage specialized security expertise to identify and resolve complex security issues, recommending best practices and determining new approaches that have an impact on broader security operations, while aligning security strategies with business priorities
• Partner across teams and key stakeholders to drive security initiatives, leading and solutioning complex projects and programs to strengthen overall security posture.
• Apply advanced analytical skills and sound judgment to solve security challenges, considering diverse perspectives and innovative solutions. Stay current with industry trends and emerging technologies, understanding their security implications to the company’s context.
• Directly contribute to improvements within the security domain and occasionally beyond, ensuring decisions lead to meaningful enhancements in security practices.
• Leverage relationships across teams, both within and outside of security, to influence initiatives and integrate feedback into security processes.

Minimum Qualifications:

• 5+ years relevant experience and a Bachelor’s degree OR Any equivalent combination of education and experience.

Additional Responsibilities & Preferred Qualifications:

• Hands-on familiarity with application security tools (SAST, DAST, SCA, WAF, Burp Suite).
• Strong programming experience in at least one language such as Ruby, Java, Python, JavaScript, or Swift.
• Hands-on experience with at least one major cloud vendor (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Strong understanding of authentication and authorization protocols (OAuth 2.0, SAML).
• Familiarity with security considerations for AI/LLM development tools, AI-assisted coding, or model and tool supply chains.

• Experience with GCP, complemented by hands-on expertise with Kubernetes, Terraform, and other cloud-native technologies.
• Ability to work independently and collaborate with software, platform, and security teams, with clear written and verbal communication of technical findings and tradeoffs.

Additional Responsibilities:

• Build and operate scanning and guardrail capabilities across source control, CI/CD, package ecosystems, and developer platforms.

• Tune SAST, SCA, and supply chain controls; investigate gaps and false positives and improve remediation guidance.

• Write and review code, APIs, detection rules, and automation that process findings and enforce security policy.

• Partner with developers, platform engineers, and security teams to troubleshoot integrations and deliver practical improvements.

• Evaluate new technical surfaces, including AI/LLM tools, and help define appropriate security controls.

• Use metrics and feedback to improve reliability, coverage, performance, adoption, and remediation outcomes.

Subsidiary:

PayPal

Travel Percent:

0

-

The base pay for this role will depend on where you work and the relevant experience and expertise you bring. The expected range of pay for this role by location is:

Primary Location | Pay Range:

Austin, Texas: ($160,500.00 - $238,700.00 Annually)

Additional Location(s) | Pay Range:

Chicago, Illinois: ($160,500.00 - $238,700.00 Annually) Scottsdale, Arizona: ($152,500.00 - $226,600.00 Annually) Additional compensation for this role may include an annual performance bonus, equity, or other incentive compensation, as applicable.

PayPal does not charge candidates any fees for courses, applications, resume reviews, interviews, background checks, or onboarding. When making an application directly, we will never ask you to share passwords, one-time passcodes (OTP), or verification codes. Any such request is a red flag and likely part of a scam. All communication regarding your application will come from official PayPal email domains. If you suspect fraudulent activity, please report it immediately. To learn more about how to identify and avoid recruitment fraud please visit https://careers.pypl.com/contact-us.

For the majority of employees, PayPal's balanced hybrid work model offers 3 days in the office for effective in-person collaboration and 2 days at your choice of either the PayPal office or your home workspace, ensuring that you equally have the benefits and conveniences of both locations.

Our Benefits:

At PayPal, we’re committed to building an equitable and inclusive global economy. And we can’t do this without our most important asset-you. That’s why we offer comprehensive, choice-based programs, to support all aspects of personal wellbeing-physical, emotional, and financial-delivering meaningful value where it matters most. We strive to create a flexible, balanced work culture with a holistic approach to benefits, including generous paid time off, healthcare coverage for you and your family, and resources to create financial security and support your mental health.

Who We Are:

Click Here to learn more about our culture and community.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

PayPal provides equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. In addition, PayPal will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities. If you are unable to submit an application because of incompatible assistive technology or a disability, please contact us at [email protected].

Belonging at PayPal:

Our employees are central to advancing our mission, and we strive to create an environment where everyone can do their best work with a sense of purpose and belonging. Belonging at PayPal means creating a workplace with a sense of acceptance and security where all employees feel included and valued. We are proud to have a diverse workforce reflective of the merchants, consumers, and communities that we serve, and we continue to take tangible actions to cultivate inclusivity and belonging at PayPal.

Any general requests for consideration of your skills, please Join our Talent Community.

We know the confidence gap and imposter syndrome can get in the way of meeting spectacular candidates. Please don’t hesitate to apply.