Sr Principal AI Security Architect

About Northern Trust:

Northern Trust, a Fortune 500 company, is a globally recognized, award-winning financial institution that has been in continuous operation since 1889.  

Northern Trust is proud to provide innovative financial services and guidance to the world’s most successful individuals, families, and institutions by remaining true to our enduring principles of service, expertise, and integrity. With more than 130 years of financial experience and over 22,000 partners, we serve the world’s most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service.

As artificial intelligence transforms the financial services sector, the need for robust and forward-looking security architecture has never been more critical. We are seeking a Principal AI Security Architect to lead the secure design, integration, and governance of AI systems across the enterprise.

This role is responsible for defining AI security strategies that span internal LLM deployments, Microsoft Copilot, and managed third-party AI platforms provided by SaaS providers and other counterparties. You will drive architecture, risk governance, and security enforcement for AI adoption across the organization—balancing innovation with regulatory, operational, and reputational risk.

The successful candidate will serve as a trusted advisor to Security & Technology Leadership, internal governance boards, and senior business stakeholders to ensure AI is adopted securely, accountably, and in alignment with industry-leading standards.

Key Responsibilities

Enterprise AI Security Architecture
- Define and enforce enterprise-wide AI security architecture patterns across:
  - First-party AI/LLM deployments
  - Microsoft Copilot and GitHub Copilot
  - Azure OpenAI and plugin architectures
  - Third-party managed AI platforms (e.g., Workday, ServiceNow, Solytics, and other integrated AI services)
- Ensure AI systems and plugins are securely integrated with Microsoft 365, Entra ID, Defender suite, Purview, and Azure services.
- Architect Model Context Protocol (MCP) patterns for safe containerized deployments:
  - Secure pod-to-pod communication via microsegmentation
  - API gateway authentication and rate limiting
  - Container image integrity validation
  - Grounding data access policy enforcement
  - Centralized monitoring and logging for auditability

AI Governance & Risk Management
- Develop and maintain enterprise-wide AI security policy frameworks
- Partner with Data Protection, Legal, Procurement, and Business Units
- Design and implement policy-as-code and workflow-based governance controls

Threat Modeling, Detection & Mitigation
- Build and maintain AI-specific threat models
- Design AI-aware detection and response strategies
- Support red teaming, abuse case development, and adversarial testing

Integration with Microsoft and Third-Party Ecosystems
- Enable seamless and secure integration of Microsoft and third-party AI platforms
- Ensure data classification and DLP enforcement using Microsoft Purview
- Ensure AI interactions respect network boundaries

Controls Alignment & Regulatory Compliance
- Map AI-specific controls to CRI v2.1, NIST AI RMF, and OWASP Top 10 for LLMs
- Enforce end-to-end controls across the AI lifecycle
- Implement controls to protect confidentiality, integrity, and availability

Executive Influence & Cross-Functional Leadership
- Act as a recognized authority on AI security
- Advise Security Leadership, Technology Leadership, and governance boards
- Present AI security strategy and posture to stakeholders
- Mentor security architects, engineers, and data scientists

Qualifications

Required:
- 10+ years in enterprise security architecture or engineering
- Expertise in Microsoft security ecosystem
- Strong scripting and query experience with PowerShell, KQL
- Experience securing AI pipelines and plugin-based architectures
- Proven leadership in AI-specific threat modeling and risk treatment
- Familiarity with model lifecycle governance
- Regulatory alignment: CRI v2.1, NIST AI RMF, OWASP LLM Top 10, FFIEC, GDPR, Basel III

Desired:
- Experience with a Global Systemically Important Bank (G-SIB)
- Experience with Solytics, Snowflake integrations, or other third-party platforms
- Knowledge of shadow principal, token abuse, and adversary tactics
- Recognition as an industry expert

Salary Range:

$164,600 - 288,000 USD

Salary range is a good faith estimate of base pay. Northern Trust provides a comprehensive benefits package including retirement benefits (401k and pension), health a