Research Staff Member, Horizon3

• This is a senior/principal-level role for someone passionate about building real-world AI systems that can reason, act, and scale in adversarial environments
• PhD or MS (with equivalent experience) in AI, Computer Science, or a related field
• Strong publication or patent record in areas such as large language models, reinforcement learning, agentic AI, or graph-based learning
• Proven experience applying modern AI research to real-world systems
• Fluency with modern AI tooling (e.g., PyTorch, Hugging Face, LangChain, OpenAI APIs)
• Strong programming skills in Python and familiarity with production-level ML/AI systems
• Deep understanding of LLM-based architectures, fine-tuning techniques, and prompt engineering
• Experience working with structured knowledge (e.g., graphs, knowledge bases, ontologies)
• Familiarity with adversarial ML, secure AI development, or cybersecurity applications of AI is a plus
• Operate with a “hacker mindset” and scientific curiosity
• Thrive in ambiguous problem spaces and take initiative to explore and drive results
• Communicate clearly with both technical and non-technical audiences
• Collaborate effectively in cross-functional teams
• Prioritize impact and execution without sacrificing rigor

Desirable

• We’re looking for a Research Staff Member (Applied AI) to join our growing team of world-class engineers and security researchers in the San Francisco Bay Area
• As a Research Staff Member (RSM) at Horizon3 focused on applied AI, you’ll turn cutting-edge research into real-world impact
• Your mission: develop, prototype, and productionize AI systems that enhance our autonomous pentesting platform—powering reasoning, decision-making, and security insights at scale
• You’ll work on everything from agentic workflows and LLM reasoning to reinforcement learning and graph algorithms, bridging the gap between theory and battlefield-tested cyber capabilities
• This is where deep research meets operational relevance
• You'll design, prototype, and deploy AI-driven features that power autonomous offensive security operations
• Lead the development of agentic AI systems capable of planning and executing multi-step cyber operations
• Explore and implement reinforcement learning, graph algorithms, and LLM-based reasoning in high-stakes, adversarial contexts
• Translate academic research and new AI advances into production-ready capabilities within our platform
• Collaborate with engineering and security teams to integrate AI models into scalable, high-performance systems
• Conduct novel research with a focus on operational viability and performance
• Contribute to a culture of technical excellence through code reviews, technical mentorship, and knowledge sharing
• Present and publish research findings internally and externally, where appropriate