AI Systems Engineer (Offensive Cyber)

AI / Systems Engineer (Offensive Cyber) Washington, D.C. (5 days a week in office) | Full relocation support About The Role A well-funded early-stage startup is building the systems behind AI-driven vulnerability research and exploit development. The team is small, technical, and moving fast. They are backed by tier-1 US investors and include alumni of frontier AI labs, elite US intelligence agencies, top Israeli intelligence units, and a defense tech unicorn. This is not a prompt engineering role. The work is close to the metal. You will own problems end to end, optimize for real hardware, and ship production systems where performance and correctness are not negotiable. The Team Is Hiring Two Adjacent Profiles • Vulnerability researchers with deep low-level systems chops and a CTF or exploitation background. • Systems engineers with strong low-level builder instincts, whether or not they have done formal vulnerability research. The non-negotiable is low-level systems fluency. Speed is the defining operating value. What You Will Own • Build production systems that conduct AI-driven vulnerability research and exploit development at scale • Work at the level of OS internals, kernel-level interfaces, and low-level performance optimization • Own problems end to end across architecture, implementation, and shipped production code • Partner directly with vulnerability researchers, security operators, and the broader engineering team to turn manual cyber operations into automated, repeatable systems • Help define the standards and operating cadence of a team that intends to set the bar for AI-native offensive cyber Must have • 2+ years of engineering experience. Exceptional new grads with demonstrated low-level systems work are also welcome to apply • Deep low-level systems experience. This means OS internals, kernel work, runtime detection, dynamic analysis, dynamic interception, or directly comparable work • Strong builder mindset. Comfortable owning systems end to end and shipping production code where performance and correctness matter • Genuine comfort with ambiguity and uncertainty. This is the most important cultural requirement • Willing to be in person in Washington, D.C. five days a week. Full relocation support provided. Tel Aviv office may be an option for the right candidate Nice to have • Vulnerability research, CTF, or prior offensive security experience • High ranking on ctftime.org or a comparable competitive platform • Published research or notable CVEs • Prior founder or early-engineer experience • Open source contributions to OS-level tooling • Engineering experience at a cyber or security startup, especially in runtime detection, dynamic analysis, or operating system tooling • Exposure to ML or AI systems work Who This Is For This role suits people who get excited rather than anxious at the prospect of jumping on a flight halfway around the world on short notice. The kind of engineer who wants to help build a generational company, not just join one.