---
title: 'Member of Technical Staff (Secure Intelligence Institute) at Perplexity'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/member-of-technical-staff-secure-intelligence-institute-perplexity-san-francisco-q3g6c298fqjp'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-06'
---

# Member of Technical Staff (Secure Intelligence Institute) at Perplexity

- **Company:** [Perplexity](https://feeny.ai/companies/perplexity)
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA
- **Compensation:** $220k–$405k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Posted:** 2026-08-27
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-06
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/perplexity/32a36cae-ad73-4198-9354-a72b141ff055

## Job description

Perplexity is seeking energetic researchers and engineers to join our Secure Intelligence Institute (SII), Perplexity's flagship research center for advancing security, privacy, and trust in frontier intelligence. SII’s goals are to advance frontier AI security research, translate those advances into concrete improvements in Perplexity's systems, and share knowledge and resources that strengthen the broader AI ecosystem.

As a member of SII, you'll conduct original and impactful research on improving the security and privacy of frontier intelligence systems. Your goal will be to conduct research that is not only rigorous in theory, but practical enough to improve the systems people rely on every day. This work will be informed by the realities of operating general-purpose AI systems used by millions of people and thousands of enterprises, and you'll be expected to translate both your own research and advances from the broader community to practical improvements that protect and defend Perplexity's users.

## RESPONSIBILITIES

- Develop threat models for emerging attack surfaces in AI-native products, including browser, search, and autonomous agents.
- Identify and analyze security and privacy threats across AI systems, infrastructure, and user-facing products.
- Develop novel defenses, mitigations, and detection mechanisms for security and privacy in AI-native products.
- Build security evaluation frameworks, benchmarks, and datasets to measure the effectiveness of different defense mechanisms.
- Partner with Perplexity’s Security Engineering team to translate state of the art research into shipped security features and hardened system architectures.
- Collaborate with top-tier academic and industry researchers in SII's external research network.
- Publish findings at premier venues and contribute to the broader security research community.

## QUALIFICATIONS

- Hold a PhD (or equivalent research experience) in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field, with a primary focus on security and/or privacy.
- Experience publishing at top security conferences (IEEE S&P, USENIX Security, ACM CCS, NDSS) demonstrating original, impactful research contributions.
- Deep expertise in one or more of: security of agentic systems, systems security, web and applications security, program analysis, and software security.
- Proficiency in Python (bonus points for TypeScript, Go, and/or Rust).
- Ability to operate with high independence, willing to dive in and take ownership, and comfortable in a fast-paced environment where research directly informs product.
- Clear and concise communcation, translating complex attack narratives into actionable insights for engineering and leadership.

## About Perplexity

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Perplexity builds an AI-powered answer engine that delivers accurate, real-time answers to any question, serving curious minds and professionals who demand precision and speed.
- **Entity Type**: Private (total funding $1.7B across 16 rounds)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2022
- **Founders**: Aravind Srinivas, Denis Yarats, Johnny Ho, Andy Konwinski

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: AI-powered search and knowledge retrieval, Software Development
- **Target customers**: B2C (general users), B2B (enterprise API customers), and power users seeking reliable information
- **Mission**: “AI for people who expect more – more accuracy, more agency, more signal, less noise.”

## Products & Services
- **Perplexity AI (Free Tier)**: Real-time conversational search engine that synthesizes web results with citations, accessible via web and mobile app. *Type*: SaaS
- **Perplexity Pro**: Subscription offering enhanced features such as advanced AI models, multimodal search, and increased usage limits. *Type*: SaaS (subscription)
- **Perplexity API Platform**: Enables developers to integrate Perplexity’s search and reasoning capabilities into their own applications. *Type*: API
- **Perplexity Browser Extension**: Brings AI-powered search directly into the browser for quick answers without leaving the page. *Type*: Browser extension

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available in provided sources (prior reports indicate ~$9B valuation as of 2024, but not confirmed in this data set)
- **Key Metric**: Total funding $1.7B (16 rounds); annual revenue ~$50M (LinkedIn estimate)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not explicitly listed in provided search results; widely known investors include IVP, NEA, Jeff Bezos, and others (not sourced here)
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount grew 11.3% YoY to 1,152 employees; operates in 54 countries; LinkedIn followers grew 131.8% yearly to >1.6M; active hiring across 48+ open roles including AI Research, Engineering, and Go-to-Market teams

## Competitive Advantages
- **Real-time, cited answers**: Unlike traditional chatbots, Perplexity grounds answers in live web results with transparent sources, building trust and accuracy.
- **Multimodal and agentic capabilities**: Continuously pushes frontier research (e.g., query-aware context compression, agents for knowledge work) that differentiates from generic LLM interfaces.
- **Vertical integration from research to product**: In-house AI research team tackles open problems unique to Perplexity’s scale, enabling fast iteration on novel methods.
- **Strong brand and user base**: Rapid consumer adoption with millions of monthly active users and high engagement.

## Strategic Focus
- **Pushing the frontier of search**: Evolving from retrieval services to code generation, agents, and full autonomy in knowledge work.
- **Expanding enterprise and API revenue**: Growing B2B footprint with API platform and enterprise solutions.
- **Global hiring and office expansion**: Offices in San Francisco, Palo Alto, New York, Austin, Washington D.C., London, Berlin, and Belgrade, with “4 days in office” hybrid model.
- **Investing in AI research**: Dedicated research division (Perplexity Research) exploring reasoning, agents, and systems to redefine how people navigate the internet.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture & Environment**: “Thoughtful support” culture with emphasis on craftsmanship, ownership, entrepreneurship, scholarship, and partnership. Hybrid schedule (4 days in-office) based on location.
- **Perks**: Daily catered meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner in office), office snacks, ride home program, commuter benefits, home office reimbursement, fitness classes, gym memberships.
- **Compensation & Benefits**: Competitive salary and equity packages; retirement plans with company match; flexible PTO; holiday shutdown between Christmas and New Year; 12 weeks paid bonding leave; comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.
- **Relocation & Visa Support**: Relocation assistance and visa/green card sponsorship for eligible roles. Partners with immigration firm to support the process.
- **Engineering Excellence**: “Technical assessment for relevant roles”; values hands-on contribution, broad skill sets, and merit-based evaluation. Frequent Tech Talks and exposure to greenfield AI research problems.

## Sources
1. [perplexity.ai/hub/careers](https://www.perplexity.ai/hub/careers)
2. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/perplexity](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/perplexity)
3. [perplexity.ai](https://www.perplexity.ai/)
4. [linkedin.com/company/perplexity-ai](https://www.linkedin.com/company/perplexity-ai)
5. [research.perplexity.ai](https://research.perplexity.ai/)

## Other roles at Perplexity

- [Member of Technical Staff (Software Engineer, Infrastructure)](https://feeny.ai/job/member-of-technical-staff-software-engineer-infrastructure-perplexity-san-phdw5wsw1ys9) — San Francisco, CA
- [Virtual Events Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/virtual-events-manager-perplexity-san-francisco-9z3wjardvdqq) — San Francisco, CA
- [Field Marketing Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/field-marketing-manager-perplexity-san-francisco-3dfbnq1x8c0j) — San Francisco, CA
- [Product Manager, SMB Growth](https://feeny.ai/job/product-manager-smb-growth-perplexity-san-francisco-kd2qx39ttej6) — San Francisco, CA
- [Product Manager, Mobile Apps](https://feeny.ai/job/product-manager-mobile-apps-perplexity-san-francisco-v9491j337kha) — San Francisco, CA
- [Product Manager, AI Capabilities](https://feeny.ai/job/product-manager-ai-capabilities-perplexity-san-francisco-n1xpbf9crx7x) — San Francisco, CA
- [Product Manager, Growth](https://feeny.ai/job/product-manager-growth-perplexity-san-francisco-bfyfj56nx1hk) — San Francisco, CA
- [Product Manager, Core Experience](https://feeny.ai/job/product-manager-core-experience-perplexity-new-york-mm01d1n10g8h) — New York, NY
- [Motion Designer](https://feeny.ai/job/motion-designer-perplexity-new-york-k6wvzd3d4mam) — New York, NY
- [Brand Designer, Growth](https://feeny.ai/job/brand-designer-growth-perplexity-san-francisco-75m10qjkqy8a) — San Francisco, CA