AI Systems Engineer Offensive Cybersecurity - Washington, D.C. - $160K-$250K

Location: Washington, D.C. (in-person, 5 days a week)

Compensation: $160,000 - $250,000 base, plus equity

Join a fast-growing defense technology company building AI-driven systems for one of the most consequential problems in software: cyber dominance.

What You'll Own

- 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, 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 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

What You'll Bring

- 2+ years of engineering experience

- Deep low-level systems experience, such as operating system internals, kernel work, runtime detection, or dynamic analysis

- A strong builder mindset, comfortable owning systems end-to-end and shipping production code where performance and correctness matter

- Extreme comfort with ambiguity and uncertainty

- Willingness to work in person in Washington, DC, 5 days a week (full relocation and housing assistance provided)

- Eligibility for security clearances and other requirements associated with US government work

Nice to Have

- Vulnerability research, CTF, or prior offensive security experience

- Prior experience as a founder or early engineer at a YC-backed company

- Engineering experience at a high-bar AI or defense technology company

- Open-source contributions to OS-level tooling

- Cyber or security startup engineering experience, especially in runtime detection, dynamic analysis, or operating system tooling

This is a chance to work on one of the most consequential and fastest-growing problems in software, alongside a small, highly technical team that includes founders and engineers from some of the most respected companies in AI and security.