CyberSecurity AI Engineer
Nelnet · Centennial, CO
$115,000–$155,000from the description
Jul 14, 2026
Centennial, CO
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
This role sits at the intersection of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, focused on securing AI/ML systems throughout their lifecycle — from model development and deployment to monitoring and incident response. Day-to-day work involves building detection tooling for AI-specific threats, conducting threat modeling and security testing on LLMs and related infrastructure, and shaping governance policies and risk frameworks. It suits a security engineer with hands-on AI/ML experience and a background in risk management or DevSecOps.
Mid level · 3+ years · Lincoln, NE · Full-time
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Roughly 5 people in the Lincoln, NE area plausibly meet what this posting asks for (information security analysts). range 1–9
Applicant volume Moderate — A normal amount of company. The rare requirements below are what will separate a shortlisted application from the rest.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $79,909 (middle half $78,019–$100,962). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (8)
The role sits at the intersection of information security and AI/ML engineering — the primary day-to-day work is securing AI/ML systems (monitoring, threat modeling, detection, governance), which maps most naturally to 15-1212 Information Security Analysts. However, the expectation to build automated tools, write detection code, and develop security prototypes introduces a meaningful software-development component, making 15-1252 a credible runner-up.
The JD states '3 to 5 years of experience in cybersecurity, security engineering, or risk management' — the overall years minimum is set to 3 (the stated minimum of the range).
The degree requirement is phrased as 'knowledge equivalent to completing a Bachelor's degree,' which explicitly accepts equivalent experience in lieu of a formal degree — treated as no hard degree gate.
Hands-on experience with LLMs (Anthropic Claude, OpenAI, or open-source models) and AI/ML platforms (SageMaker, Azure ML, Vertex AI) is listed in the Experience section but framed as descriptive context rather than a firm gate; however, given the role's core focus, LLMs are treated as required. The specific platforms (SageMaker, Azure ML, Vertex AI) are listed as illustrative examples and marked preferred.
Adversarial machine learning and DevSecOps/SDLC experience are explicitly called out as 'preferred' or 'a plus' in the Experience section.
PyTorch, TensorFlow, Hugging Face, and specific LLM names (GPT, LLaMA, Claude) appear under the 'Wants' (preferred) section.
The job location is inferred as Lincoln, NE based on Nelnet's headquarters; no explicit city is stated in the posting. Remote status is unspecified — marked false as no remote option is indicated.
No visa sponsorship is available; candidates must already be authorized to work in the US.
Read the full posting
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