Hardware Security Architect, Principal

Role Overview

Own the hardware security architecture for Positron's AI accelerator platform, ensuring protection of customer models, user data, firmware, intellectual property, and secure operation throughout the product lifecycle. This role spans architecture through production deployment.

Key Responsibilities

Silicon Security Architecture

• Define the overall silicon security architecture for Positron's platform.
• Own secure boot, hardware root of trust, chain of trust, authenticated firmware, and measured boot.
• Own secure debug, secure manufacturing, fuse programming, key provisioning, and device identity.
• Own key ladders, anti-rollback protections, JTAG security, scan access control, and lifecycle states.

AI Asset Protection

• Protect customer models and weights through weight encryption and weight authentication.
• Secure data in motion via link encryption, PCIe security, CXL security, and on-chip fabric security.
• Own DRAM encryption, secure DMA, secure memory regions, and confidential computing techniques.

Threat Modeling & Security Reviews

• Perform architecture security reviews and develop attack models across the platform.
• Mitigate physical attacks, fault injection, side-channel attacks, replay attacks, firmware compromise, and supply-chain attacks.

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Partner with firmware, software, architecture, DFT, validation, manufacturing, and cloud security teams to embed security throughout the product lifecycle.

Industry Engagement

• Stay current with NIST, FIPS, CCA, RISC-V security, and Arm security standards, as well as emerging areas like post-quantum cryptography and confidential AI.

AI-Enabled Engineering

• Apply AI-assisted techniques for threat modeling, security verification, coverage analysis, and documentation.

Required Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience in hardware security architecture.
• Deep expertise in secure boot and hardware root of trust design.
• Strong cryptography and key management ability.
• Hands-on experience with secure manufacturing processes.
• A solid grasp of silicon bring-up in a security-critical context.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with AI accelerator platforms.
• Familiarity with HSMs and TPMs.
• Expert-level proficiency in TEE, CCA, and Arm TrustZone architectures.
• Experience with confidential computing, PCIe IDE, and CXL IDE.

Leveling & Scope

While this role is currently posted at a specific level, we are a growth-oriented organization and are open to hiring at a more senior level for the right candidate. Please note that this job description serves as a focused but generalized overview of the role; specific responsibilities and impact expectations will be tailored to the experience and seniority of the final hire.

What Success Looks Like

Success in this role looks like a security architecture deployed across the entire product family, strong protection of customer models, a secure manufacturing pipeline, and production-ready silicon security.

Why Join Us?

• Architect the security foundation for a new generation of AI inference accelerators from the ground up, with direct influence over how customer models and data are protected.
• Tackle some of the hardest problems in silicon security, from hardware root of trust through confidential computing, at a company building frontier AI infrastructure.

Compensation & Benefits

The base salary range for this role is $200,000 – $300,000.

Please note that the figures provided represent the base salary range only and do not include other elements of our total compensation package, equity, or comprehensive benefits.

At Positron AI, we value the unique expertise each candidate brings. While the range above reflects our typical expectation for the position, we reserve the flexibility to exceed this range for candidates whose specialized skills, significant experience, or unique qualifications fall outside the standard scope of the role. Final offers are determined based on a variety of factors, including internal equity, and individual impact.

Benefits & Perks

We want you to do your best work and feel confident that you and your family are taken care of. That means comprehensive coverage, real time to rest, and support for your future.

Health and wellness

• Fully company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance for you and your dependents
• Company-paid life and disability coverage, with voluntary options to add more
• Supplemental hospital, critical illness, and accident coverage available

Time off and flexibility

• Unlimited paid time off, so you can truly unplug and recharge
• 13 paid company holidays
• Remote-first culture with a company-provided computer and home office setup

Compensation and future

• Competitive salary and equity
• 401(k) with company matching, eligible from day one

Visa Support

This position is open to candidates currently authorized to work in the U.S. We cannot provide new visa sponsorship for this role but are open to facilitating H-1B visa transfers for eligible candidates.

Equal Opportunity Employer. If you're excited about the role but don't meet every bullet, we'd still love to hear from you.

About Positron AI

Positron AI is building next-generation AI inference accelerators designed from the ground up for low-latency, high-throughput large language model inference. Our first-generation ASIC, Asimov, is a cutting-edge accelerator targeting frontier AI workloads, with additional generations already underway.