Manager, Engineering - Okta Secures AI

Okta•San Francisco, CA

20h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Okta Secures AI Team The Okta Secures AI team is pioneering the future of AI agent governance at enterprise scale. As organizations rapidly deploy AI agents across their infrastructure, we're building the critical security layer that enables safe, controlled AI adoption. Our platform will secure billions of AI interactions monthly, protecting enterprises from shadow AI, credential exposure, and unintended agent behavior. At the heart of our architecture is a virtual MCP (Model Context Protocol) relay - an enterprise-grade gateway that acts as the identity-aware proxy between AI agents and corporate data sources. This innovative platform combines real-time threat detection, policy-based access enforcement, and comprehensive audit capabilities to give organizations the confidence to unleash AI's potential while maintaining security and compliance. We're not just building features - we're defining a new category of identity security for the AI era. Our work spans from developer-friendly integration tools in Auth0 to enterprise-scale admin controls in Okta, making AI security accessible to builders while giving IT and security teams the governance they need. The Engineering Manager Opportunity We're seeking an Engineering Manager to lead the team responsible for developing and operating an AI agent security platform. This is a rare opportunity to shape how enterprises secure their AI transformation from the ground up. As an Engineering Manager, you'll inspire and guide a team of talented backend, distributed systems, and security engineers building foundational infrastructure that bridges AI innovation and enterprise security. You'll tackle fascinating challenges at the intersection of identity, AI, and distributed systems - from implementing real-time agent behavior analysis to designing policy engines that enforce least-privilege access across dynamic AI workloads. This role offers exceptional visibility within Okta as AI security becomes central to our product strategy. You'll collaborate directly with product leadership, security architects, and AI/ML teams while building something entirely new. If you're energized by emerging technologies, thrive on complex technical problems, and want to protect enterprises from the next generation of security threats, this is your opportunity.

Requirements

7-8 years of experience in enterprise software development with a strong technical background in distributed systems, backend infrastructure, or security platforms.
At least 3 years of proven technical leadership/management experience building and scaling engineering teams.
Deep understanding of distributed systems architecture, API gateways, proxy systems, or service mesh technologies.
Previous experience developing multi-tenant SAAS applications with emphasis on security, reliability, and scale.
Solid grasp of AI/ML systems, LLM integration patterns, or agent architectures - you understand how modern AI applications work and what makes them different

Nice To Haves

Hands-on experience with identity and access management protocols (OAuth 2.0, OIDC, SAML) or authorization systems.
Familiarity with Model Context Protocol (MCP) or similar integration standards for AI-data connectivity.
Background in security monitoring, threat detection, or governance platforms - bonus if you've worked on SIEM, CASB, or zero-trust architectures.
Understanding of AI security challenges such as prompt injection, jailbreaking, data leakage, credential exposure through agents, or adversarial attacks.
Genuine passion for AI safety, responsible AI deployment, and the intersection of identity with emerging technologies.
Willingness to be a player-coach and dive into technical problems when needed.
Excellent communication skills to articulate complex security concepts to diverse audiences, from developers to CISOs.
Ability to thrive in high-autonomy, high-responsibility environments where you're helping define the playbook.

Responsibilities

Lead, motivate, and inspire the team to unleash their full potential, fostering a collaborative and high-performance culture focused on innovation in AI security.
Collaborate with Engineering Leaders, AI/ML teams, Security Architects, Product Managers, and cross-functional stakeholders to define the long-term vision and roadmap for the MCP relay platform and AI governance capabilities.
Foster an environment of technical excellence, security-first thinking, and operational reliability, empowering the team to build scalable infrastructure that protects enterprises at AI adoption velocity.
Actively engage in technical aspects, including contributing to distributed systems design, protocol implementation, and participating in design and code reviews.
Drive the recruitment and professional growth of team members, nurturing their careers in cutting-edge AI security and distributed infrastructure.
Facilitate agile project planning and execution across both developer-facing tools (Auth0) and enterprise admin platforms (Okta), ensuring timely delivery of integrated capabilities.
Champion a security-conscious development culture that anticipates AI-specific threats like prompt injection, credential leakage, and unauthorized data access.
Contribute to broader engineering initiatives that advance Okta's AI security strategy and support business objectives