Engineering Manager - AI Tools (Security)
Engineering Manager · Manager · Full Time
Opens Airwallex's application page
Role
What you'll do.
Engineering Manager role at Airwallex leading a team focused on AI-powered security tools and internal automation. The position involves managing engineers, building security tooling, and leveraging AI to protect $150B+ in payments and 150,000+ companies while working with terabyte-scale data pipelines and modern cloud infrastructure.
Responsibilities
- Team Leadership: Manage and lead a team of engineers, providing technical direction, setting clear goals, and ensuring high-quality, timely delivery of AI-powered security tooling
- Execution Management: Own team execution and delivery, including planning, prioritization, resourcing, and performance management while balancing hands-on technical leadership
- AI Tool Development: Lead the development of AI tools and applications for security purposes, from inception to implementation
- Incident Response: Support incident response efforts by building ad-hoc tools for threat hunting, remediation and security scanners
- Infrastructure Management: Build, monitor, and maintain underlying infrastructure, including Kubernetes clusters, serverless workloads, and ETL pipelines
- Automation Identification: Work with engineers to identify opportunities for automation and internal tooling development
- Cross-team Collaboration: Partner with product engineering teams to drive security outcomes including automation for patching and development of security gateways
- Mentorship: Mentor and help grow other Software Engineers in the team through career development and technical guidance
Qualifications
What we look for.
Technical
Programming Languages
Experience with at least one scripting language (Python) and one systems programming language (Go, C/C++)
Cloud Infrastructure
Experience with modern cloud infrastructure, including data pipelines, serverless workloads, and Kubernetes
Production Systems
Proven experience with production code bases and high-scale systems
AI/ML Experience
Hands-on experience with AI, specifically leveraging AI to build security applications
Linux Administration
Experience maintaining Linux operating systems and security hardening
Education
Bachelor's Degree
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Security, or related technical field
Experience
Software Engineering
8+ years of experience as a Software Engineer with progression to leadership roles
Team Leadership
Prior experience leading or managing software engineering teams, including mentorship, career development, and performance feedback
Strategic Planning
Proven ability to translate business and security goals into execution plans, aligning roadmap, timelines, and engineering capacity
Autonomous Delivery
Proven experience working autonomously on projects, delivering them to high quality and on time
High-growth Experience
Preferred experience working in a high-growth tech company environment
Skills
Required
Python Programming
Advanced scripting capabilities for AI tool development and automation
Systems Programming
Proficiency in Go or C/C++ for high-performance security applications
Cloud Architecture
Deep understanding of AWS, Kubernetes, and serverless architectures
Team Leadership
Proven track record managing engineering teams and driving technical delivery
Security Domain Knowledge
Understanding of cybersecurity principles, threat hunting, and incident response
Communication Skills
Excellent verbal and written communication with technical and non-technical stakeholders
Preferred
AI/ML Frameworks
Nice to haveExperience with TensorFlow, PyTorch, or similar machine learning frameworks
DevOps Tools
Nice to haveFamiliarity with Docker, Terraform, Jenkins for infrastructure automation
Data Engineering
Nice to haveExperience with ETL pipelines and processing terabyte-scale datasets
Fintech Experience
Nice to haveBackground in financial technology or payments industry
Startup Experience
Nice to havePrevious experience in high-growth startup environments
Linux Administration
Nice to haveSystem administration and security hardening experience
Tech stack
Languages
Frameworks
Databases
Tools
Other
Compensation
Pay and benefits.
Base·AUD 200,000 – 280,000
Equity·Stock options
Benefits
Equity Participation
Stock options and equity participation in a US$8B valued fintech unicorn
Global Career Opportunities
Access to 26+ offices worldwide and international career development paths
Professional Development
Accelerated learning opportunities in a high-growth fintech environment
Cutting-edge Technology
Work with latest AI, security, and cloud technologies at enterprise scale
Diverse Team Environment
Join 2,000+ innovative professionals from diverse backgrounds across the globe
Equal Opportunity
Inclusive workplace with equal opportunity employment and disability accommodation
Process
Interview steps.
- 01
Initial Screening
Phone or video call with talent acquisition team to discuss background, experience, and role alignment
- 02
Technical Leadership Interview
Discussion with engineering leadership covering team management philosophy, technical architecture decisions, and security domain knowledge
- 03
System Design Session
Whiteboard or collaborative session designing AI-powered security systems and discussing scalability, monitoring, and incident response
- 04
Behavioral Interview
Competency-based interview focusing on leadership scenarios, conflict resolution, and cultural fit with Airwallex values
- 05
Final Panel Interview
Meeting with senior engineering leaders and security team members to discuss strategic vision, team building, and long-term career goals
- 06
Reference Checks
Verification of previous management experience and technical accomplishments with former colleagues or supervisors
Full posting
Original listing.
About Airwallex
Airwallex is the only unified payments and financial platform for global businesses. Powered by our unique combination of proprietary infrastructure and software, we empower over 200,000 businesses worldwide – including Brex, Rippling, Navan, Qantas, SHEIN and many more – with fully integrated solutions to manage everything from business accounts, payments, spend management and treasury, to embedded finance at a global scale.
Proudly founded in Melbourne, we have a team of over 2,000 of the brightest and most innovative people in tech across 26 offices around the globe. Valued at US$8 billion and backed by world-leading investors including T. Rowe Price, Visa, Mastercard, Robinhood Ventures, Sequoia, Salesforce Ventures, DST Global, and Lone Pine Capital, Airwallex is leading the charge in building the global payments and financial platform of the future. If you’re ready to do the most ambitious work of your career, join us.
Attributes We Value
We hire successful builders with founder-like energy who want real impact, accelerated learning, and true ownership. You bring strong role-related expertise and sharp thinking, and you’re motivated by our mission and operating principles. You move fast with good judgment, dig deep with curiosity, and make decisions from first principles, balancing speed and rigor.
You're humble and collaborative; turn zero‑to‑one ideas into real products, and you “get stuff done” end-to-end. You use AI to work smarter and solve problems faster. Here, you’ll tackle complex, high‑visibility problems with exceptional teammates and grow your career as we build the future of global banking. If that sounds like you, let’s build what’s next.
What you’ll do
As an Engineering Manager working on internal AI tooling, you will be responsible for helping keep $150b+ in payments, 150,000 companies, and our thousands of employees safe.
You'll have the opportunity to partner with internal teams to help identify projects that can drive impact - like building internal automation tooling, owning our terabyte-scale log pipelines, and using AI to streamline how our team operates.
We're not tied to specific projects, languages, and technology - we rely on smart people diving deep to find the best solutions to hard problems. You'll also be mentoring junior team members and continuing to grow our world-class engineering team.
Responsibilities:
Manage and lead a team of engineers, providing technical direction, setting clear goals, and ensuring high-quality, timely delivery of AI-powered security tooling.
Own team execution and delivery, including planning, prioritization, resourcing, and performance management while balancing hands-on technical leadership.
Lead the development of AI tools and applications, from inception to implementation.
Support incident response efforts by building ad-hoc tools for threat hunting, remediation and scanners.
Build, monitor, and maintain underlying infrastructure, including Kubernetes clusters, serverless workloads, and ETL pipelines.
Sit with engineers to identify opportunities for automation and tooling development
Partner with product engineering teams to drive security outcomes - such as automation for patching, and development of gateways and other services to decrease risk.
Mentor and help grow other Software Engineers in the team.
Who you are
You have a passion for solving the complex challenges within a high-growth start-up.
You are self-motivated, a self starter, and able to learn new skills and dive deeper into existing skills.
Minimum qualifications:
Prior experience leading or managing software engineering teams, including mentorship, career development, and performance feedback.
Proven ability to translate business and security goals into execution plans, aligning roadmap, timelines, and engineering capacity.
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Security, or a related field.
8+ years of experience as a Software Engineer.
Experience with production code bases
Experience with at least one scripting language (e.g. Python) and one systems programming language (eg. Golang, C/C++)
Experience with modern cloud infrastructure, including data pipelines, serverless workloads, and Kubernetes
Proven experience working autonomously on projects - delivering them to a high quality and on time.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Ability to dive deep to find the best solution to a problem
Obsessive curiosity and a willingness to ask questions, gather context, and learn
Preferred qualifications:
Experience working in a high-growth tech company.
Hands on experience with AI - specifically leveraging AI to build applications
Experience maintaining Linux operating systems
Applicant Safety Policy: Fraud and Third-Party Recruiters
To protect you from recruitment scams, please be aware that Airwallex will not ask for bank details, sensitive ID numbers (i.e. passport), or any form of payment during the application or interview process. All official communication will come from an @airwallex.com email address. Please apply only through careers.airwallex.com or our official LinkedIn page.
Airwallex does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firms/recruiters. Airwallex will not pay any fees to search firms/recruiters if a candidate is submitted by a search firm/recruiter unless an agreement has been entered into with respect to specific open position(s). Search firms/recruiters submitting resumes to Airwallex on an unsolicited basis shall be deemed to accept this condition, regardless of any other provision to the contrary.
Equal opportunity
Airwallex is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and anyone seeking employment at Airwallex is considered based on merit, qualifications, competence and talent. We don’t regard color, religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, ancestry, citizenship, sex, marital or family status, disability, gender, or any other legally protected status when making our hiring decisions. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.
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