Senior Software Engineer AI Governance

About the role

AI is changing how companies work but most enterprises still lack a clear way to govern it. Employees are using AI apps directly. Developers are routing code through agents. Business teams are connecting models to SaaS tools through Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. Companies are spending more on AI every month often without a reliable view into who is using what what data is leaving the company or which agents have access to sensitive systems.

The AI Governance team is building Ripplings answer to that problem.

This team sits at the intersection of identity access control model routing MCP security data protection spend management and auditability. The goal is to give companies one governed path for AI usage across employees agents models and business tools.

As a Senior Software Engineer on AI Governance you will help define and build a new product category. You will work on systems that make AI usage attributable policy-aware budget-aware and auditable at runtime. This is a high-ambiguity high-impact role for someone who wants to build foundational platform technology while staying close to a rapidly evolving customer problem.

What you will do

• Lead technical architecture for core AI governance systems including MCP access control model gateway policy runtime authorization audit pipelines and usage attribution
• Design distributed systems that enforce policy at the moment of use without adding unnecessary latency or operational fragility
• Build identity-aware controls that connect AI usage back to Ripplings org graph roles permissions apps devices and workforce data
• Own ambiguous product and technical problems across shadow AI detection agent permissions tool access spend attribution and data protection
• Partner with Product Security Legal IT and Engineering leaders to turn a new enterprise problem space into durable platform capabilities
• Set technical direction for a new team including architecture reviews design standards reliability expectations and long-term system boundaries
• Mentor senior engineers and raise the engineering bar for systems that must be secure observable and trusted by default.

What you will need

• 6 years of professional software engineering experience with a strong track record of technical leadership and org-wide impact
• Deep backend and distributed systems expertise including experience designing services with clear ownership strong reliability and well-defined interfaces
• High agency and bias toward shipping with the ability to turn ambiguous product ideas into narrow launches fast feedback loops and durable technical foundations
• AI-native engineering mindset with hands-on experience using AI tools to move faster and the judgment to know when correctness security and architecture need deeper human ownership
• Strong security and systems judgment especially around authorization identity data movement audit logs or policy enforcement
• Product sense for enterprise software including a bias toward customer-visible impact and operational simplicity
• Ability to communicate clearly with engineering and non-engineering stakeholders especially when navigating trade-offs across security usability and speed
• Familiarity with AI infrastructure LLM gateways MCP developer tools identity systems or data protection is a strong plus but not required

Additional Information

Rippling is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce and do not discriminate based on race religion color national origin ancestry physical disability mental disability medical condition genetic information marital status sex gender gender identity gender expression age sexual orientation veteran or military status or any other legally protected characteristics Rippling is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities who need assistance during the hiring process. To request a reasonable accommodation please email

Rippling highly values having employees working in-office to foster a collaborative work environment and company culture. For office-based employees (employees who live within a defined radius of a Rippling office) Rippling considers working in the office at least three days a week under current policy to be an essential function of the employees role.

Required Experience:

Senior IC