Staff Research Engineer, Innovation - Office of the CTO

Who is Tenable? Tenable® is the Exposure Management company. Over 40,000 organizations around the globe rely on Tenable to understand and reduce cyber risk. Our global employees support 65 percent of the Fortune 500, 50 percent of the Global 2000, and large government agencies. Come be part of our journey! What makes Tenable such a great place to work? Ask a member of our team and they’ll answer, “Our people!” We work together to build and innovate best-in-class cybersecurity solutions for our customers; all while creating a culture of belonging, respect, and excellence where we can be our best selves. When you’re part of our #OneTenable team, you can expect to partner with some of the most talented and passionate people in the industry, and have the support and resources you need to do work that truly matters. We deliver results that exceed expectations and we win together! About the Team: This position is part of Tenable’s global CTO group . We are building a world-class team of cybersecurity and AI researchers and engineers to take Tenable into the future of AI. The CTO group operates across all product groups and organizations within Tenable. Our mission is to research, invent, and prototype next-generation AI-driven security capabilities, then work closely with product and engineering teams to turn those innovations into real-world defenses. We move fast, embrace experimentation, and operate at the frontier where advanced AI systems meet enterprise infrastructure. Your Opportunity: As a Staff AI Engineer in Tenable’s global CTO group, you will play a central role in building the next generation of AI-powered security capabilities across Tenable’s product portfolio. This role is focused on rapid prototyping, experimentation, and innovation , turning emerging ideas into working product features that can scale across multiple products and technology stacks. You will design and build AI-driven systems end-to-end, from agent-based workflows and model integrations to backend services, data pipelines, and product-facing capabilities. You will work closely with product, engineering, and research teams across the company to explore new use cases, validate ideas quickly, and bring impactful AI features into production. This role is ideal for an experienced AI engineer who enjoys moving fast, working across boundaries, and building real production systems , not just experiments. Your work will directly influence how AI is embedded across Tenable’s platforms and how customers experience secure AI at enterprise scale. What You Will Need: 8 or more years of professional experience in software engineering, with significant hands-on experience in AI engineering or applied machine learning. Strong expertise in building AI-powered systems, including LLM-based applications, agents, and orchestration workflows. Proven experience integrating and operating AI and ML models in production environments. Proficiency in multiple programming languages, including Python and at least one of the following: .NET, Go, or similar backend languages. Experience working across diverse technology stacks and product architectures. Solid understanding of backend system design, APIs, and distributed systems. Strong experience with databases, including data modeling, performance considerations, and working with both relational and non-relational systems. Practical experience with DevOps practices, including CI/CD pipelines, containerization, and cloud-based deployment. Comfort working in cloud environments and modern infrastructure platforms. Ability to rapidly prototype, iterate, and evolve ideas into production-ready features. Strong ownership mindset, curiosity, and ability to collaborate across teams. Nice to Have: Experience designing and building AI agents for real-world workflows. Hands-on experience training, fine-tuning, or evaluating machine learning models. Familiarity with MLOps practices and model lifecycle management. Experience working in security…