[Hiring] Principal Software Engineer @Mend.io

Role Description

Mend.io is looking for a hands-on Principal Software Engineer (Individual Contributor) to join our Mend AI team, a group building the next generation of application security solutions for AI powered software.

• Take end to end ownership of systems.
• Design solid architectures from scratch.
• Influence both technological decisions and product direction.
• Write effective, thread-safe code and build reliable systems in a complex engineering environment.
• Work on an innovative solution in AI application security, focused on protecting codebases and systems in the AI era.
• Detect and secure AI/ML components in applications, addressing emerging risks such as data leakage and prompt injection.
• Independently own and drive innovative projects from research to production.
• Leverage AI agents across the development lifecycle.
• Operate in a new and evolving space where standards are still being defined.
• Take initiative, make decisions, and turn ideas into working solutions quickly.
• Work in a fast evolving domain where problems are not fully defined.
• Leverage AI agents across all stages of development: research, design, coding, and testing.
• Build hybrid solutions that combine classical algorithms with AI capabilities in a practical, cost-effective way.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of backend software engineering experience.
• 3+ years in a hands-on technical leadership role (Principal / Tech Lead / Architect).
• Strong experience building systems end to end from scratch in a product environment.
• Strong hands-on experience with a modern programming language (Go preferred; experience with Java or Python is also valuable).
• Strong product mindset and ability to connect technical decisions to business impact.
• Proven ability to own and drive initiatives independently in ambiguous environments.
• Experience building or working on systems that integrate AI/LLM based capabilities into real world applications.
• Hands-on experience using AI agents throughout the development lifecycle.
• Solid understanding of cloud environments and modern development practices (AWS/GCP/Azure).
• Strong communication skills and ability to collaborate effectively with senior stakeholders.

Requirements

• Hands-on experience developing, tuning, or customizing LLM based solutions (beyond using out of the box APIs).
• Familiarity with AI security challenges (e.g., prompt injection, model leakage, adversarial attacks).
• Experience with machine learning workflows (training, deployment, inference).
• Experience with tools such as LangChain, Hugging Face, or OpenAI SDKs.
• Background in application security, cloud security, or DevSecOps.

Benefits

• Collaborative and empowering workplace.
• Encouragement to apply even if not meeting every requirement.
• Commitment to respect, trust, and growth.
• Learning and flexibility to empower people to do their best work.