Job Application for AI Research Engineer at Dropzone AI

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About Dropzone AI

Dropzone’s mission is to scale cybersecurity beyond human limits, and augment every single human security engineer/analyst with an army of AI security specialists. Humans alone cannot sufficiently protect our digital future, and AI augmentation is the only way for defenders to reclaim the high ground. We are an award winning company disrupting the $200B+ cybersecurity market.

Powered by Gen AI advancements, our technology offloads repetitive day-to-day work and frees human analysts to focus on real threats and higher-value projects. We are venture-backed, and our team has a rare blend of deep experience across cybersecurity, AI/ML, and SaaS product development. Join us if you want to be on the ground floor of using Gen AI to transform cyber defense. Learn more at www.dropzone.ai.

About the role

We are seeking a Senior to Principal-level AI Research Engineer to lead the design and development of next-generation agentic AI systems. This role sits at the intersection of research and production, with a strong emphasis on:

Agent architecture design
Harness and memory engineering
Robust evaluation and benchmarking of model and agent performance

You will work closely with product and engineering teams to translate cutting-edge research into scalable, real-world systems.

In this role, you will directly shape the core intelligence layer of Dropzone AI. Your work will define how our agents reason, remember, and improve over time, influencing both our product capabilities and the broader direction of applied AI systems.

What we're looking for

Someone who thinks in context/harness engineering, not just models
A learner who can follow latest research and test them in real-world deployment
Deep curiosity about how to convert non deterministic outputs from LLMs to consistent reliable outcomes and replicate expert human intuitions
Strong ownership mindset and ability to drive ambiguous problems to clarity

What you'll do

Agentic Architecture

Design and implement advanced multi-step reasoning agents (tool use, planning, reflection, self-improvement loops)
Develop frameworks for multi-agent coordination and task decomposition
Improve reliability, latency, and cost efficiency of agent execution

Memory Systems

Architect short-term and long-term memory subsystems (episodic, semantic, retrieval-based, hybrid)
Build mechanisms for context compression, retrieval, and grounding
Explore novel approaches to continual learning and state persistence

Evaluation & Reliability

Define and implement evaluation frameworks for agent performance (task success, reasoning quality, robustness)
Build automated eval pipelines (synthetic data, adversarial testing, regression testing)
Establish metrics and benchmarks for agent reliability in production

Research → Production

Translate latest community research ideas into production-grade systems
Run experiments, analyze results, and iterate quickly
Contribute to internal knowledge sharing and technical direction

Requirements

5+ years in software engineering, with at least 1+ year applying GenAI in production
Proven experience building or researching:
- Agent frameworks / tool-using LLMs
- Memory / retrieval systems (RAG, vector DBs, hybrid retrieval)
Expert Python developer
Familiar with openclaw and Claude Code harness architecture
Early-stage startup mindset. You thrive on ambiguity and move with lightspeed execution

Preferred

Experience with agent orchestration frameworks (LangGraph, AutoGen, custom systems)
Familiarity with AI safety guardrails, hallucination mitigation, and structured output enforcement
Experience designing LLM evals (offline + online, human-in-the-loop, synthetic data)
Publications or open-source contributions in relevant areas
Experience applying latest context/harness engineering techniques to customer facing products
Founder or early-stage (first 10 engineers) or experience in standing up a new technology bet within a more established company

Work Environment/Travel

We are a 100% remote company where you will work from your home with company-provided equipment to set you up for success. Semi-frequent travel to professional office settings and other events locally and nationally; some overnight travel expected.

Compensation

In the spirit of pay transparency, we are excited to share the base salary range below, exclusive of fringe benefits or potential bonuses. If you are hired at Dropzone your final base salary compensation will be determined based on factors such as geographic location, skills, education, and/or experience. In addition to those factors, we believe in the importance of pay equity and consider internal equity of our current team members as a part of any final offer. Please keep in mind that hiring at the maximum of the range would not be typical to allow for future and continued salary growth. We also offer a generous benefits package, including company paid health insurance, 401K Plan with employer match, Self-Managed PTO, parental leave, and more.

The pay range for this role is:

$200,000 - $250,000 USD

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Policy on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): At Dropzone, we require all job applicants to provide authentic, human-generated content throughout the entire application and interviewing process. The use of generative AI tools or AI assistance to create, draft, edit, or significantly modify application materials (including resumes, cover letters, writing and code samples, and answers to screening questions) or during any interview stage is strictly prohibited. This policy is in place to evaluate your non-AI-assisted communication skills, original thought, and genuine qualifications for the position. Acknowledgment and Agreement: By selecting "I Agree" below and submitting this application, I acknowledge that I have read and understood Dropzone's policy prohibiting the use of AI in the application and interviewing process. I attest that all materials submitted and all responses provided during the application and interview process are my own original work and were not generated or substantially assisted by any AI tool. I understand that if I have used AI in any part of the process, I am required to disclose the extent and nature of that use to Dropzone in advance. I further understand and agree that any failure to disclose the use of AI, or any violation of this policy, is a material misrepresentation and is grounds for immediate removal from consideration or, if hired, for immediate termination of employment, regardless of when the violation is discovered.

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AI Research Engineer

Agentic Architecture

Memory Systems

Evaluation & Reliability

Research → Production

Preferred

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