§What You'll Do
- Build production systems for AI-driven vulnerability discovery, controlled proof-of-concept validation, and remediation testing.
- 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 with vulnerability researchers and security engineers to automate authorized red team assessments and turn findings into actionable remediation.
- Help define the standards and evaluation methods for AI red teaming, including scope enforcement, reproducibility, and remediation validation.
§Requirements
- 2+ years of engineering experience. Open to exceptional new grads with demonstrated low-level systems work.
- Deep low-level systems experience: operating system internals, kernel work, runtime detection, dynamic analysis, dynamic interception, or comparable. This is non-negotiable.
- Strong builder mindset. Comfortable owning systems end-to-end and shipping production code where performance and correctness matter.
- Comfort with ambiguity and uncertainty. The most important cultural requirement.
- Willing to be in person in London 5 days per week. Full relocation support provided.
- Able to meet applicable vetting, security clearance, and customer requirements for government work in the UK and Europe.
§Nice to Have
- Vulnerability research, CTF, or prior security research experience.
- Prior YC company as founder or early engineer.
- Engineering experience at xAI, Anthropic, Scale, Palantir, or similar high-bar AI companies.
- Open-source contributions to OS-level tooling.
- Cyber or security startup engineering experience, especially runtime detection, dynamic analysis, or operating system tooling.
- Exposure to ML/AI systems work.
§You Are
- A low-level systems builder first. The non-negotiable is fluency close to the metal; speed is the team's defining operating value.
- Comfortable owning problems end-to-end, optimizing for real hardware, and shipping production systems where performance and correctness matter.
- Building something massive matters more to you than comfort, titles, or predictability.
- You want to be early at a company that will change an industry, and you're ready to do what that actually takes.
Ready?
Apply for AI / Systems Engineer, Security Research
Email team@zealotlabs.com with a resume and a paragraph on what you want to build with us.
Apply now