Senior Software Engineer, AI Tooling, Information Security
Senior Software Engineer · Senior · Full Time
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Role
What you'll do.
Senior Software Engineer focused on AI tooling and information security at Airwallex, a global fintech leader protecting hundreds of billions in financial infrastructure. You'll architect and build sophisticated AI-powered security tools, manage containerized infrastructure at scale (Kubernetes clusters, serverless workloads, terabyte-scale log pipelines), and lead incident response automation across a regulated financial platform serving over 675,000 businesses. This role requires 5+ years of full-stack software engineering expertise with demonstrated proficiency in scripting languages (Python), systems programming (Go/C++), cloud infrastructure, and autonomous project delivery in high-growth environments.
Responsibilities
- Lead AI Tool Development: Architect and lead end-to-end development of AI-powered security tools and applications from conception through production deployment, ensuring alignment with information security objectives and business outcomes for a regulated financial platform.
- Build Scalable Security Infrastructure: Design and maintain production-grade infrastructure supporting internal tooling, including Kubernetes orchestration, serverless workloads, ETL data pipelines, and terabyte-scale log aggregation and analysis systems that protect hundreds of billions in financial transactions.
- Incident Response Engineering: Develop specialized tools and automation for threat hunting, vulnerability remediation, and continuous security scanning to accelerate incident response workflows and enhance the organization's security posture.
- Cross-Functional Security Automation: Partner with engineering and product teams to identify, design, and implement automation opportunities including patch management systems, API gateways, and protective services that materially reduce organizational and customer risk.
- Technical Leadership and Mentorship: Mentor software engineers across the team, establish coding standards and best practices, raise overall engineering bar through code reviews and architectural guidance, and foster a culture of continuous learning and technical excellence.
Qualifications
What we look for.
Technical
Scripting Language Proficiency
Production-level expertise with Python or similar scripting language for automation, tooling, and rapid prototyping in security contexts.
Systems Programming
Hands-on experience with Go, Rust, C, or C++ for building high-performance, low-level infrastructure components and security tools.
Cloud Infrastructure Expertise
Demonstrated proficiency with modern cloud platforms including Kubernetes orchestration, serverless computing (Lambda, Cloud Functions), managed services, and cloud-native architecture patterns.
Data Pipeline Architecture
Experience designing and implementing ETL pipelines, log aggregation systems, and event streaming architectures handling enterprise-scale data volumes.
Production Code Maturity
Proven track record shipping and maintaining production codebases in high-availability environments with strong emphasis on reliability, observability, and operational excellence.
Education
Computer Science Degree
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Security, cybersecurity, or closely related discipline providing foundational knowledge in algorithms, systems design, and security principles.
Experience
Senior Software Engineering
Minimum five years of professional software engineering experience, with substantial portion focused on infrastructure, backend systems, or information security domains.
Autonomous Project Ownership
Demonstrated ability to identify, scope, and execute complex projects independently with minimal supervision, delivering high-quality results on aggressive timelines.
High-Growth Technology Environment
Preferred experience scaling systems and engineering practices in fast-growing technology companies experiencing rapid infrastructure evolution and increased complexity.
Linux Systems Administration
Preferred hands-on experience maintaining, troubleshooting, and optimizing Linux operating systems in production environments.
Skills
Required
Python
Production-level proficiency for automation scripting, security tooling, and infrastructure-as-code implementations.
Go or C/C++
Systems-level programming for performance-critical components, security tools, and low-latency infrastructure.
Kubernetes
Advanced experience designing, deploying, and managing Kubernetes clusters in production environments with focus on security, scalability, and reliability.
Cloud Architecture
Deep knowledge of AWS, GCP, or Azure with proficiency in serverless computing, networking, security, and cost optimization.
System Design
Ability to architect scalable, secure, and maintainable systems handling high throughput and complex operational requirements.
Incident Response
Experience responding to security incidents, root cause analysis, and implementing systematic remediation and prevention measures.
Technical Communication
Exceptional ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical engineers and non-technical stakeholders across global teams.
Preferred
AI/ML Integration
Nice to haveHands-on experience integrating machine learning models and LLMs into production applications for security automation and threat detection.
Security Tooling
Nice to haveBackground building or maintaining security infrastructure including SIEM, log aggregation, vulnerability scanning, or threat intelligence platforms.
FinTech Infrastructure
Nice to haveExperience in financial services or payments industry with understanding of regulatory requirements, compliance, and high-availability financial infrastructure.
Open Source Contribution
Nice to haveActive participation in security-focused or infrastructure open source projects demonstrating commitment to community and technical depth.
Linux Administration
Nice to haveAdvanced Linux systems administration including kernel tuning, network configuration, and container runtime optimization.
Tech stack
Languages
Frameworks
Databases
Tools
Other
Compensation
Pay and benefits.
Base·USD 180,000 – 280,000
Equity·Stock options
Benefits
Equity Compensation
Meaningful stock options providing long-term wealth accumulation and ownership stake in Airwallex's success as a growing fintech leader.
Comprehensive Health Coverage
Medical, dental, and vision insurance coverage for you and dependents with competitive premium contributions reflecting company investment in employee wellbeing.
Professional Development Budget
Annual learning stipend for conferences, courses, certifications, and training to maintain cutting-edge expertise in security, AI, and infrastructure engineering.
Flexible Work Arrangements
Three-day per week office requirement in Sydney or Melbourne with flexibility for remote work, supporting work-life balance while maintaining collaboration.
Global Mobility
Access to Airwallex's 27 offices across 4 continents with opportunities for transfers, international rotations, and cross-functional experiences.
Parental Leave
Generous paid parental leave policies reflecting commitment to supporting employee families and long-term retention.
Mental Health Support
Employee assistance programs, mental health resources, and counseling services supporting holistic wellbeing in demanding technical roles.
Team Building and Social Events
Regular team outings, company-wide gatherings, and social events fostering community and connection across global organization.
Latest Technology
Access to current development tools, hardware, and software licenses enabling optimal developer experience and productivity.
Mentorship Programs
Structured mentorship opportunities with senior leaders and cross-functional collaboration fostering continuous growth and career advancement.
Process
Interview steps.
- 01
Initial Screening
Discussion with recruiting team to understand your background, career trajectory, motivation for information security and AI tooling specialization, and alignment with Airwallex's founder-level energy and first-principles thinking culture.
- 02
Technical Deep Dive Interview
Comprehensive conversation with senior engineers covering system architecture, infrastructure design decisions, Kubernetes experience, cloud platform expertise, and your approach to building reliable, secure systems at scale.
- 03
Coding Assessment
Practical coding exercise in your preferred language (Python, Go, or C++) focused on algorithm design, code quality, problem-solving approach, and ability to communicate your reasoning through infrastructure or security tool development scenarios.
- 04
Security and Infrastructure Systems Design
Whiteboard or collaborative design session discussing how you would architect a complex security infrastructure component, ETL pipeline, or AI tooling system, including trade-offs, scalability considerations, and operational excellence principles.
- 05
Leadership and Collaboration Round
Conversation with team leads and product engineering partners about your mentorship philosophy, cross-functional collaboration experience, how you raise engineering standards, and your approach to working with non-technical stakeholders.
- 06
Hiring Manager Conversation
Final discussion with hiring manager to explore long-term growth trajectory, learning philosophy, fit with team operating principles, and enthusiasm for building security infrastructure from first principles against real adversaries.
Full posting
Original listing.
About Airwallex
Airwallex is the AI-native financial operating system for a real-time, intelligent economy. More than 675,000 businesses, including McLaren Racing, Qantas, SHEIN, and TikTok, use us, directly or through our platform partners, to run their financial operations or build and monetize financial products of their own.
We started in Melbourne in 2015 to build the infrastructure global commerce runs on. We're the regulated backbone behind global payments: not by accident, but by design. A decade plus, 85+ licenses, and a financial infrastructure spanning North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.
We're co-headquartered in San Francisco and Singapore, with more than 2,300 people across 27 offices. We hire builders with founder-level energy, people who move fast with good judgment, dig in with real curiosity, and make calls from first principles rather than waiting to be told what to do. Read our operating principles to see it in full.
How you'll make impact
You’ll lead the development of AI tools and applications that improve how Airwallex protects its systems, data, and employees. You’ll build, monitor, and maintain the infrastructure behind internal tooling, including Kubernetes clusters, serverless workloads, ETL pipelines, and terabyte-scale log pipelines.
Lead the development of AI tools and applications from inception through implementation.
Build infrastructure that supports reliable internal tooling, including Kubernetes clusters, serverless workloads, ETL pipelines, and terabyte-scale log pipelines.
Support incident response by developing tools for threat hunting, remediation, and security scanning.
Partner with engineers and product engineering teams to identify automation opportunities and deliver security outcomes, including patching automation, gateways, and other services that reduce risk.
Mentor Software Engineers and help raise the engineering bar across the team.
You'll work from our Sydney or Melbourne office three days a week.
What we're looking for
Essentials
A bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Security, or a related field.
At least five years of relevant software engineering experience.
Experience working with production codebases.
Experience with at least one scripting language, such as Python, and one systems programming language, such as Go or C/C++.
Experience with modern cloud infrastructure, including data pipelines, serverless workloads, and Kubernetes.
A track record of working autonomously and delivering high-quality projects on time.
Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
The ability to investigate deeply and find the best solution to a problem.
Obsessive curiosity, with a willingness to ask questions, gather context, and keep learning.
Preferred
Experience working in a high-growth technology company.
Hands-on experience leveraging AI to build applications.
Experience maintaining Linux operating systems.
You'll thrive here if
You're comfortable owning the roadmap yourself.
You own the outcome and you don't wait for permission to fix what's broken.
You're comfortable making decisions with incomplete information and moving quickly anyway.
You communicate clearly and directly across cultures, and you're thoughtful about how context shifts meaning across borders.
Learn more about your team
InfoSec at Airwallex runs one of the most modern security teams in the world, protecting hundreds of thousands of customers and hundreds of billions of dollars. Our scale, funding, and industry make us a real target, so we skip the standard playbook of off-the-shelf tools and tiered SOC analysts and build almost everything ourselves, often with AI ahead of the rest of the industry. You'll go back to first principles constantly, because the off-the-shelf answer is rarely right for us, and we can build better than what already exists. If you want to build security from the ground up, against a real adversary, with people who are actually good at this, this is the team for you.
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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