Principal Security Engineer

About the role

Rippling is looking for a Principal Security Engineer to tackle some of the most complex, cross-cutting security challenges across our technical ecosystem. Reporting directly to the CSO, you will lead high-impact initiatives that span security, AI, infrastructure, identity, developer experience, internal tooling, and third-party SaaS systems.
This is a deeply technical, hands-on role for an engineer who can move between architecture and implementation. You will take ambiguous security problems that cross organizational and technical boundaries, develop a cohesive technical strategy, and work alongside engineering teams to build and ship the solution.
"We’re looking for someone who has designed and delivered large-scale systems, can influence technical direction across multiple teams, and still wants to build. You’ll help redefine and implement parts of Rippling’s security program to take advantage of AI and agentic systems, applying these technologies to security controls, automation, and decision-making in ways that weren’t previously possible."
Replace RBAC for internal system access with a minimal privilege, JIT system using real-time agentic inspection of raw data from the employee graph, system alerts, incidents, customer requests, and support tickets
Integrate this JIT access control system into all third-party tools (e.g. SAAS applications) used by Rippling, and working with the product team to enable this for Rippling customers as well
Design and build robust inter-service isolation and sandboxing, as well as AuthN/Z to manage product attack surface, 0-day blast radius, and limit lateral movement

This role is based in San Francisco.

About the Team

Security at Rippling is responsible for protecting a platform that sits at the center of how companies manage their workforce, systems, and data. Our work touches nearly every part of Rippling's technical environment and requires close partnership with teams across Engineering, Infrastructure, Developer Experience, IT, and Product.

As a Principal Security Engineer, you will operate horizontally across these organizations rather than within a narrow security domain. You will identify systemic problems, bring together stakeholders with different requirements and priorities, and drive technical programs from initial architecture through implementation.

The team values engineers who combine strong technical judgment with urgency, ownership, and a bias toward action.

What you will do
Lead the architecture and implementation of complex security initiatives spanning multiple engineering teams and technical domains.
Incorporate the use of agentic AI technologies into security capabilities within both product and infrastructure technologies
Help business leaders understand and navigate risk tradeoffs to ensure Rippling is making well informed security decisions.
Design scalable security systems across areas such as identity and access management, cloud infrastructure, internal tooling, developer infrastructure, and third-party SaaS.
Translate ambiguous or fragmented security problems into clear technical architectures, roadmaps, and executable engineering plans.
Rationalize requirements and technical roadmaps across three or more teams into cohesive systems and long-term solutions.
Partner with senior engineers and engineering leaders across Security, Infrastructure, Developer Experience, IT, and Product to drive alignment on critical technical decisions.
Build prototypes, write production code, and remain hands-on throughout the lifecycle of the systems you design.
Identify architectural weaknesses and systemic security risks before they become incidents, then drive durable engineering solutions.
Establish technical patterns and frameworks that improve security while allowing engineering teams to continue moving quickly.
Raise the technical bar across the security organization through design reviews, mentorship, and influence across engine