Security Architect

Applied Intuition Applied Intuition · Robotics · Sunnyvale, CA · Cybersecurity

This role focuses on designing and implementing cybersecurity architectures for automotive systems, ensuring compliance with ISO/SAE 21434 and UN Regulations 155/156. It involves threat analysis, risk assessments, and designing hardware-rooted security controls. While it mentions developing security requirements for AI/ML systems, the core function is security architecture for automotive platforms, not building AI/ML models themselves.

What you'd actually do

  1. Develop cybersecurity architectures compliant with ISO/SAE 21434 engineering requirements and UN R155 Cybersecurity Management System (CSMS) mandates across all vehicle lifecycle phases (concept, development, production, operation, decommissioning)
  2. Implement UN R156-compliant Software Update Management Systems (SUMS) with secure OTA update mechanisms, cryptographic verification, and version control for automotive ECUs
  3. Conduct threat analysis and risk assessments (TARA) per ISO 21434 Annex C requirements, addressing 69 attack vectors identified in UN R155 Annex 5
  4. Design hardware-rooted security controls for automotive SoCs including secure boot, hardware security modules (HSM), and TEE implementations
  5. Collaborate with suppliers to ensure Tier 1/Tier 2 component security meets ISO 21434 supply chain requirements and UN R155 post-production obligations

Skills

Required

  • 7+ years of hands-on experience designing and deploying security solutions for embedded automotive systems
  • Automotive communication protocol security (CAN bus hardening, Ethernet intrusion detection)
  • Cryptographic engineering for resource-constrained environments (ECC optimization, post-quantum crypto prototyping)
  • Embedded debug tools (JTAG, UART, Trace32)
  • Vehicle network analysis (Vector CANoe, Wireshark dissectors for SOME/IP)
  • ECU flashing and diagnostic tools (ODX/PDX scripting, UDS exploit development)
  • Systems programming skills in C/C++/Rust for bare-metal and RTOS environments
  • Secure over-the-air update implementations
  • Real-time intrusion detection systems for vehicle networks
  • Threat modeling for complex automotive architectures
  • Security code reviews for safety-critical embedded software
  • Mentoring junior engineers in secure coding practices
  • AUTOSAR Classic/Adaptive security components

Nice to have

  • Contributions to open-source automotive security projects (e.g., OpenXC, SavvyCAN)
  • Autonomous vehicle sensor security (LiDAR/Camera spoofing countermeasures)
  • Hardware security evaluation (glitching, fault injection, TEMPEST)
  • Development of vehicle-specific penetration testing rigs (CAN bus injectors, ECU emulators)
  • Public research on automotive vulnerabilities (CVEs, conference presentations, whitepapers)
  • Secure boot implementation and hardware-rooted trust chains (HSM provisioning, TEE architectures)
  • Reverse engineering and vulnerability research on automotive firmware (ARM Cortex-M/R, QNX, AUTOSAR)
  • Hardware security module integration
  • CI/CD pipelines for ECU software with SBOM generation
  • Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) security testing

What the JD emphasized

  • ISO/SAE 21434
  • UN Regulations 155/156
  • automotive cybersecurity
  • secure development lifecycle (SDL)
  • regulatory requirements