Security Operations Engineer

Overview

Applications deadline: We are conducting interviews actively and aim to fill this role as soon as we find someone suitable.

THE OPPORTUNITY

We are looking for a founding Security Engineer to build operational security at Apollo Research from the ground up. You will thrive in this role if you are service-oriented and trusted by non-security people; can execute quickly and make pragmatic trade-offs under pressure; and have deep hands-on experience with modern security tooling like MDM, EDR, and identity management. This role sits within our Operations team and reports to the COO. You will work closely with our CISO, who handles certification, threat modelling, and stakeholder relationships with AI labs; and our engineering team, who own infrastructure-as-code and secure software architecture.

Responsibilities

• Own the deployment and operation of Apollo's security tooling.
• Select, implement, and manage controls including EDR/MDR, SIEM, vulnerability management, Kandji (MDM), and email protection.
• Establish backup and disaster recovery processes.
• Establish and manage IT systems across the organization.
• Administer Google Workspace, define RBAC/IAM policies, and configure identity management.
• Build smooth onboarding and offboarding processes that set employees up securely from day one.
• Define and enforce policies for how Apollo uses AI tools.
• Manage which models and tools we access, how API keys are provisioned and rotated, and what data can be sent where.
• Balance security requirements with researcher productivity.
• Champion Apollo’s security culture.
• Be the trusted point of contact for security questions, run company-wide training and phishing exercises, and turn employee concerns into clear guidance.
• Support incident response when issues arise.
• Support Apollo's compliance efforts.
• Work with the CISO to implement required controls for ISO 27001, SOC 2, and additional frameworks, in order to maintain the trust of our frontier AI lab partners.

Key Requirements

• 3+ years experience in IT security, security operations, or a related role.
• Hands-on experience with MDM tools (Kandji, Jamf, or similar).
• Experience administering Google Workspace.
• Familiarity with security controls: EDR/MDR, SIEM, identity management, email security.
• Experience defining and implementing security policies.
• Strong communication skills. You will be the face of security for employees.

Nice to Have

• Experience with cloud security (AWS IAM, CSPM tools).
• Ability to review code for security issues (Python, Terraform).
• Experience with compliance frameworks (ISO 27001, SOC 2).
• Background in incident response or security operations centres.
• Interest in AI safety.

We want to emphasise that people who feel they don’t fulfil all of these characteristics but think they would be a good fit for the position nonetheless are strongly encouraged to apply. We believe that excellent candidates can come from a variety of backgrounds and are excited to give you opportunities to shine.

Representative Projects

• Establish a smooth security onboarding process so new employees are set up securely and consistently from day one.
• Implement core security controls including MDR/EDR, enhanced email protection, and improved vulnerability management.
• Build out LLM access governance with clear policies on which models can be used, how keys are managed, and what data can be sent where.
• Run the first company-wide security training, including phishing exercises, and establish a regular cadence.

Benefits

• This role offers market competitive salary, equity, and competitive benefits.
• Salary: £70,000 - £105,000.
• Flexible work hours and schedule.
• Unlimited vacation.
• Unlimited sick leave.
• Lunch, dinner, and snacks provided for all employees on workdays.
• Paid work trips, including staff retreats, business trips, and relevant conferences.
• A yearly $1,000 (USD) professional development budget.

Logistics

• Time Allocation: Full-time.
• Location: The office is in London, and the building is shared with the London Initiative for Safe AI (LISA) offices. This is an in-person role.
• Work Visas: We can sponsor UK visas.

About the Team

You will join the Operations team and work closely with our fractional CISO on security strategy and compliance. You will also interact regularly with the engineering team who handle infrastructure and secure software development.

About Apollo

The capabilities of current AI systems are evolving at a rapid pace. While these advancements offer tremendous opportunities, they also present significant risks, such as the potential for deliberate misuse or the deployment of sophisticated yet misaligned models. At Apollo Research, our primary concern lies with deceptive alignment, a phenomenon where a model appears to be aligned but is, in fact, misaligned and capable of evading human oversight. We work on the detection of scheming, the science of scheming, and scheming mitigations. We closely work with multiple frontier AI companies to test their models before deployment or collaborate on scheming mitigations. At Apollo, we aim for a culture that emphasizes truth-seeking, being goal-oriented, giving and receiving constructive feedback, and being friendly and helpful.

If you are interested in more details about what it’s like working at Apollo, you can find more information here.

Equality Statement: Apollo Research is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We value diversity and are committed to providing equal opportunities to all, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.

Our Interview Process

Please complete the application form with your CV. The provision of a cover letter is optional but not necessary. Please also feel free to share links to relevant work samples. Our multi-stage process includes a screening interview, a take-home test (approx. 2 hours), 3 technical interviews, and a final interview with the CEO. The technical interviews will be closely related to tasks the candidate would do on the job.