Staff Security Engineer

💰 $195K–$246K salary range

Median: $218K  ·  Based on 159 public job postings  ·  Updated July 1, 2026

---

This senior security leadership role is pivotal in safeguarding the intellectual property and user data within AI-native products, directly addressing the unique security challenges posed by large language models and machine learning pipelines. Compensation for Staff Security Engineers at AI startups typically ranges from $217K to $262K, with a median of $236K, derived from an analysis of 45 recent job postings. Professionals commanding top salaries demonstrate expertise in securing ML lifecycles, developing adversarial robustness for AI models, and implementing robust prompt injection mitigations. This role requires a deep technical understanding to proactively identify and neutralize emerging threats specific to AI systems, ensuring the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of cutting-edge AI technologies and their underlying infrastructure.

📊 Salary breakdown

Staff Security Engineer salary by location

• All locations: $218K median ($195K–$246K typical range)
• San Francisco: $246K median, $219K–$300K range (+13% vs. national)
• Seattle: $246K median, $232K–$261K range (+13% vs. national)
• Remote: $208K median, $183K–$349K range (-5% vs. national)
• New York: $245K median, $213K–$463K range (+13% vs. national)
• Boston: $227K median, $182K–$265K range (+4% vs. national)
• Denver: $204K median, $194K–$214K range (-7% vs. national)
• Dallas: $222K median, $222K–$222K range (+2% vs. national)

Highest paying companies

San Francisco

• Aurora Innovation: $246K median
• Crusoe: $235K median
• Gusto: $210K median

Seattle

• Aurora Innovation: $246K median
• DigitalOcean: $227K median

Based on companies with 3+ active postings. Median of publicly advertised salary range.

What's typically included

• Health insurance: 74% of postings
• Equity (RSU/options): 78% of postings
• Flexible PTO: 59% of postings
• Parental leave: 23% of postings
• Learning/education budget: 23% of postings
• Visa sponsorship: 2% of postings

Typical experience required: 8–10 years.

Security salaries by seniority

• Security Engineer: $150K
• Security Engineering Manager: $169K
• Senior Security Engineer: $177K
• Security Lead: $180K
• Staff Security Engineer: $218K
• Head of Security / CISO: $230K

What does a Staff Security Engineer do?

Staff Security Engineers are security engineers and analysts who protect infrastructure, data, and applications. This benchmark reflects Staff-level base compensation at high-growth and AI-native companies.

Common questions

What is the average Staff Security Engineer salary at an AI startup?
The median pay is $218K, with a typical range of $195K–$246K, based on 159 public job postings collected in 2025–2026.

How does Staff Security Engineer pay compare in San Francisco vs. remote?
San Francisco roles pay a median of $246K, while fully-remote roles pay $208K.

Where does this salary data come from?
It is aggregated from public job postings on company career pages — no private placement or client data. We require a minimum of 15 postings per role.

Methodology

Figures are the midpoint of each posting's advertised USD salary range, aggregated from 159 public job postings (2025–2026). The range shown is the 25th–75th percentile; the median is the 50th percentile. Equity is separate and not included; where a posting's range reflects on-target earnings (OTE) for commission roles, that is included in the midpoint. Roles require at least 15 postings to be published. Last refreshed July 1, 2026.

Hiring Staff Security Engineers? RFS recruiters specialize in Security placements at AI-native and high-growth startups. Talk to an RFS recruiter →

Are you a Staff Security Engineer? See open Staff Security Engineer roles →