Principal Compliance Engineer

About ZeroDrift
ZeroDrift is building the AI-native compliance enforcement infrastructure for enterprise communication. We
are the first platform that enforces compliance before an AI message is ever sent, fixing violations in real
time across every channel where AI speaks for the business. Everything goes out clean. Nothing dangerous
comes in.

As AI starts to communicate on behalf of entire organizations, the gap between what compliance requires
and what companies can actually enforce is widening fast. Every existing solution monitors after send, once
the risk is already out the door. ZeroDrift enforces compliance before send. Compliance enforcement did
not exist as a category. We created it.

We are backed by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and other world-class VCs, and built by a team from
Microsoft, Google, and Goldman Sachs, led by a repeat AI founder.

The role
You will own what ZeroDrift enforces.Our engine enforces compliance rules on every communication before it goes out. Your job is to define those rules. You will turn regulations, regulator guidance, and customer compliance policies into precise,tested, versioned rules the engine can enforce automatically. You will also design the AI detection logic that catches risky language and decides how it gets fixed.

This is a senior individual contributor role reporting to the CEO. Engineering owns the engine. You own what it knows. As we grow, you set the standard that every compliance engineer after you will follow.

What you'll do
• Own our compliance rule content end to end: coverage, accuracy, citations, severities, and fix language
• Encode new regulatory domains as the business expands
• Turn customer compliance manuals and firm policies into custom enforcement rules during onboarding
• Write and tune AI detection definitions, and work with our AI team to measure their accuracy
• Track regulatory changes across covered regimes and ship rule updates with clear changelogs
• Document the methodology for turning any rulebook into enforceable rules
• Be the compliance voice in customer implementations and sales conversations

What we're looking for
• 8+ years in compliance, regulatory, or policy roles at regulated firms, consultancies, law firms, or regulators
• You have turned regulatory text into a repeatable process: policies, review checklists, surveillance lexicons, or similar. Not just applied someone else's rules
• Experience with communications or marketing compliance. Working knowledge of the SEC Marketing Rule and FINRA 2210 is a strong plus
• Precise thinking. You can specify exactly when a rule should fire, what evidence it needs, and what the fix is
• Real fluency with AI tools and comfort with engineering workflows like Git and structured formats. We will train you on our stack
• Excellent writing. Rule descriptions and fix language are customer-facing product
• A builder​'s temperament: startup ambiguity, weekly shipping, high ownership

Nice to have
• Time at a regulator such as the SEC, FINRA, or a state agency, or at a regulatory consultancy
• Experience drafting firm compliance programs, not only applying them
• Prior work at a regtech, legaltech, or AI company

Compensation and benefits
• $180,000 to $200,000 base salary, depending on experience
• Performance bonus and meaningful early-stage equity
• Health, dental, and vision coverage
• Hybrid work from our New York office

ZeroDrift is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate candidates without regard to race, color, religion,
sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, disability, or any other protected