Principal Incubation Engineer

Every day, the world gets more digital thanks to tens of millions of developers building the future faster than ever. But with exponential growth comes exponential risk, as outnumbered security teams struggle to secure mountains of code. This is where Snyk (pronounced “sneak”) comes in. Snyk is a developer security platform that makes it easy for development teams to find, prioritize, and fix security vulnerabilities in code, dependencies, containers, and cloud infrastructure — and do it all right from the start. Snyk is on a mission to make the world a more secure place by empowering developers to develop fast and stay secure.

Joining Snyk means embracing our core values: One Team, Care Deeply, Customer Centric, and Forward Thinking. As a member of our team, you’ll have the opportunity to thrive in a dynamic environment where fostering collaboration, leading with empathy, driving business impact, and inspiring trust are at the heart of everything we do.

Our Opportunity

Are you a visionary and experienced backend engineer with deep expertise in the LLM/AI ecosystem, passionate about building transformative products from the ground up? Do you thrive in high-autonomy environments, innovating like a startup with the resources of a global leader?

Snyk’s Incubation Accelerator is seeking a Principal Incubation Engineer to lead the technical execution of our core LLM/AI features and backend infrastructure for groundbreaking new products in the security space. You will shape the technical direction of our innovative product in the rapidly growing LLM security space, leveraging your knowledge of LLMs, backend

You'll spend your time:

• Driving the design, development, and deployment of core AI/LLM features and underlying backend infrastructure (Python preferred for AI related work).
• Providing technical leadership and guidance to the engineering team, focusing on LLM/AI and backend best practices.
• Define best practices in the emerging field of LLM Security, whilst building a cutting edge product from the ground up. 
• Leveraging deep expertise in the LLM ecosystem (MCP, Ollama, HuggingFace, etc), prompt engineering, and security.
• Design and implement backend solutions utilizing vector databases and cloud infrastructure (AWS/GCP/Azure).
• Leading backend development efforts, ensuring scalability, reliability, and security.
• Collaborating closely with product management, UX designers, and other engineers.
• Partnering and collaborating with a team of acquired and VC backed CEOs and CTOs driving innovation.

What you'll need:

• 10+ years of relevant backend software engineering experience, with a strong focus on machine learning, AI and more recently LLM and generative AI technologies.
• Deep expertise in the LLM ecosystem, prompt engineering, vibe coding, and security considerations.
• Strong understanding of vector databases and AI, data, and cloud infrastructure (AWS/GCP/Azure).
• Extensive experience in backend development (Python preferred).
• Proven track record of building and deploying scalable backend applications from scratch.
• Experience working in startups with ambiguity and rapid prototyping.
• Builder mentality with a passion for creating new things.
• Strong technical fundamentals and engineering/design principles.

We'd be lucky if you have: 

• Worked within an early stage Start-up, or been a Co-Founder / Founding Engineer.
• Have experience working within the Security space.

#LI-TF1

We care deeply about the warm, inclusive environment we’ve created and we value diversity – we welcome applications from those typically underrepresented in tech. If you like the sound of this role but are not totally sure whether you’re the right person, do apply anyway!

About Snyk

Snyk is committed to creating an inclusive and engaging environment where our employees can thrive as we rally behind our common mission to make the digital world a safer place. From Snyk employee resource groups, to global benefits that help our employees prioritize their health, wellness, financial security, and a work/life blend, we aim to support our employees along their entire journeys here at Snyk.

Benefits & Programs

Prioritize health, wellness, financial security, and life balance with programs tailored to your location and role.

• Flexible working hours, work-from home allowances, in-office perks, and time off for learning and self development
• Generous vacation and wellness time off, country-specific holidays, and 100% paid parental leave for all caregivers
• Health benefits, employee assistance plans, and annual wellness allowance
• Country-specific life insurance, disability benefits, and retirement/pension programs, plus mobile phone and education allowances