Zealot — AI/Systems Engineer: Offensive Cybersecurity

Type: Full-time | On-site (Washington, D.C., 5 days/week) | Washington, D.C. Compensation: $160,000–$250,000 + 0.25%–0.75% equity Hiring count: 1 Visa sponsorship: None available Reports to: Not specified (intake led by "Oliver" — hiring manager / founder)

About Zealot

Zealot builds AI-driven systems that conduct end-to-end Cyber Network Operations for the U.S. and its allies — working toward cyber dominance for the West. The company is already live with a customer on a high-seven-figure contract and recently closed a round from Tier 1 VCs, including leadership at Palantir and other major defense and cyber investors. The ~15-person, almost entirely technical team spans the U.S., Europe, and Israel, with ~10 in person in Washington, D.C., and includes 4 ex-YC CTOs and engineers from xAI, Anthropic, and Scale.

Founded: 2025 | Team size: 11–50 (Seed) | Total funding: not disclosed Industry: Security / Offensive cyber Website: zealotlabs.com Office: Washington, D.C.

Why Candidates Should Join

• Consequential mission: End-to-end AI-driven Cyber Network Operations for the U.S. and its allies.
• Traction + backing: Live with a customer on a high-seven-figure contract; Tier 1 VCs including Palantir leadership.
• Caliber of team: ~15 technical people, 4 ex-YC CTOs, engineers from xAI, Anthropic, and Scale.
• Market: Offensive cyber is a $60B+ market growing toward $100B+; Zealot aims to be the first offensive-cyber company to go public.

Intake Call Summary

• Intake was delivered as a video (not transcribed). The hiring-manager signals attributed to "Oliver" are captured verbatim in Green/Red Flags below.
• The non-negotiable is low-level systems fluency (OS internals, kernel, runtime). Speed is the team's defining operating value.
• Two adjacent target profiles: vulnerability researchers with deep low-level chops + CTF/exploitation backgrounds, and systems engineers with strong low-level builder instincts (formal vuln research not required).
• Founder-mode operating bar; comfort with ambiguity is the most important cultural requirement named.

The Role

Build the systems behind AI-driven vulnerability research and exploit development. This is not a prompt-engineering role — the work is close to the metal: owning problems end-to-end, optimizing for real hardware, and shipping production systems where performance and correctness matter.

What You'll Be Doing

• Build production systems that conduct AI-driven vulnerability research and exploit development at scale
• Work close to the metal: operating system internals, kernel-level interfaces, 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 engineering team to convert 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

Tech stack: Low-level systems — OS internals, kernel, runtime detection, dynamic analysis / dynamic interception; AI/ML systems work

Requirements

• Low-level systems (OS, kernel, runtime), non-negotiable
• 2+ years engineering experience
• Strong builder, ships production code
• Comfort with ambiguity and uncertainty
• Cyber or top AI startup background preferred
• DC in-person, full relocation provided

Green Flags

• Low-level systems engineering depth, kernel, runtime detection, dynamic analysis, OS internals, or open-source contributions to OS-level tooling. This is the single highest signal Oliver named.
• Vulnerability research or CTF background. Many of the strongest candidates have been doing this since age 12 ("hacking their Xbox to get extra Overwatch currency" was Oliver's exact framing).
• Prior YC company as founder or early engineer. The team includes 4 ex-YC CTOs and the founder-mode operating bar is the calibration point.
• Engineering experience at xAI, Anthropic, Scale, Palantir, Andúril, or comparable top AI / defense tech companies.
• Cyber startup background at companies like Bionic, Island, Oxide, Talon, Dream Security, Margin Security, or low-level groups at Palo Alto Networks (Windows R&D, EDR, non-API).

Red Flags

• "Open to work" banner on LinkedIn. Oliver flagged this directly.
• Long tenure at large, stable companies (with the exception of low-level security research groups). Suggests comfort with boring work for stability, opposite of the Zealot operating bar.
• "Thought leader" framing in profile or bio. Cultural anti-pattern Oliver named directly.
• API-level or applications-level engineering only, with no low-level depth. The role explicitly requires close-to-the-metal experience.
• Cisco background. Oliver named this as a culture mismatch even though the skill set could overlap.

Role Details

Salary$160,000–$250,000Equity0.25%–0.75%On-site policyIn person in Washington, D.C., 5 days/week; full relocation + housing assistanceVisa sponsorshipNone availableEmployment typeFull-timeLocationWashington, D.C.

Screening Questions

• None specified on the Contrario role page.

Interview Process

Stage 1 — Pending Approval — Candidates awaiting initial approval. Stage 2 — Intro Call Stage 3 — Technical Interview Stage 4 — Technical #2 Stage 5 — Offer Extended Stage 6 — Hired — Candidate accepts and starts.

Ideal Companies & Backgrounds

Named on the role page (Ideal Companies): Palo Alto Networks, Island, Oxiyen, Talon, Dreamsecurity Co Also named in Green Flags: Bionic, Oxide, Margin Security; top AI / defense backgrounds — xAI, Anthropic, Scale, Palantir, Andúril

Ideal Candidate Profiles

For reference only — Contrario marks these "DO NOT CONTACT." Do not source these specific profiles.

• Or Gany
• Swan Beaujard
• Nohé Hinniger-Foray
• Bary Levy
• Daniel Winkler
• Daniel Sikorskiy

(Each card shows a LinkedIn button, but no LinkedIn URLs were present in the captured HTML — names only.)

Rejected Candidate Feedback

• None present on the role page.