Position Details

• Employment: Full-Time
• Citizenship Requirement: U.S. Citizen or Green Card Holder
• Security Clearance: N/A
• Travel: To HQ as needed, on-site presence at client sites when required
• Compensation: Competitive Salary + Benefits Package

About Our RightSeat.AI

At RightSeat.AI, we are dedicated to transforming the future with advanced artificial intelligence. We assist companies in streamlining operations, enhancing customer experiences, and driving innovation. At RightSeat.AI, we promote a dynamic, inclusive work environment where every voice is valued. Whether you're starting your career or seeking new challenges, you'll have opportunities to grow, learn, and make a meaningful impact.

About Our Client

Our client is a Sequoia-backed cybersecurity startup developing a groundbreaking enterprise security platform purpose-built for the AI era.

Founded by entrepreneurs with multiple successful outcomes, the team brings deep expertise from leading security companies and has played key roles in the development of Microsoft's Security Copilot and Microsoft Defender. Their previous ventures have led to major industry acquisitions and the creation of widely adopted threat intelligence solutions.

Now, our client is building its core R&D team to shape the future of AI-native cybersecurity. This is a rare opportunity to help build a foundational company for the AI era, starting from day one.

Position Overview

AI Engineer Lead — Help Build the Future of Cybersecurity Intelligence

Our client is seeking an AI Engineer Lead to drive real-time, intent-aware intelligence at the edge. This role combines deep machine learning expertise with systems design and cybersecurity knowledge, focusing on innovation from research to deployment.

You will lead the architecture and implementation of AI across the product by fine-tuning advanced models, designing evaluation frameworks for security use cases, and deploying efficient AI on edge devices where speed and precision are crucial.

This hands-on position aims to enhance threat detection and response in live environments. You'll collaborate with engineering, product, and design teams to integrate AI as a core capability.

If you're passionate about creating secure, intelligent systems that empower everyday users, this is your chance to impact the future of cybersecurity.

Key Responsibilities

• As a key part of the founding R&D team, you'll work side by side with the company's founders, helping to shape our client's vision and drive its breakthrough technology to market.
• As a Cybersecurity AI Engineer Lead, you will drive the development and execution of the AI roadmap in collaboration with founders and cross-functional teams. You'll help define strategic priorities, ensuring the AI systems stay ahead of evolving threats.
• Your core responsibilities include fine-tuning and evaluating advanced models—such as those using SFT and RLHF—for cybersecurity-specific tasks. You'll adapt frontier and open-source models to real-world environments, balancing performance, safety, and interpretability.
• You'll lead the deployment of AI and classical ML models across edge and backend systems, optimizing for latency, accuracy, and resource constraints. A key focus will be building agentic systems that autonomously investigate and remediate threats, often running locally on endpoints.
• To support these systems, you'll architect real-time data pipelines that provide contextual visibility into endpoint activity. You'll also design benchmarks and experiments to rigorously evaluate model performance in noisy, high-stakes environments.
• Collaboration is essential—you'll work closely with engineering, product, and design teams to integrate AI seamlessly into the user experience. Additionally, you'll help establish foundational systems, standards, and best practices for scalable, secure AI development.

Required Qualifications

• Minimum 8 to 10 Years in Cloud and Software engineering best practices with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure, or other cloud Platforms)
• AI/ML Model Development & Deployment: 3–5 years of experience building, training, and deploying AI/ML models in production, particularly for real-time or security-focused environments.
• Advanced Model Fine-Tuning Techniques: Practical experience with SFT, RLHF, and similar methods for tuning large language models. Knowledgeable in prompt engineering, adapter tuning, and model alignment.
• Model Serving & Optimization: Proficient in deploying models to both cloud and edge platforms. Skilled in using ONNX, TensorRT, or Hugging Face Optimum to enhance inference performance.
• AI Frameworks & Libraries: Strong background in PyTorch, TensorFlow, Hugging Face Transformers, LangChain, and Scikit-learn. Able to integrate models into production APIs and pipelines.
• Cybersecurity & Endpoint Intelligence: In-depth understanding of cybersecurity fundamentals, threat detection, and endpoint telemetry. Experienced in building AI systems for analyzing and responding to endpoint activities.
• Programming & Automation: Proficient in Python for backend development and ML workflows. Familiar with FastAPI, Flask, Airflow, or Prefect for pipeline orchestration.
• Version Control & DevOps: Skilled in using Git, CI/CD, and infrastructure-as-code tools such as Terraform or CloudFormation. Experienced with automated testing and deployment.
• Experimentation & Evaluation: Adept at designing experiments and evaluating model performance in noisy or adversarial environments. Proficient with Weights & Biases, MLflow, or similar tools.
• AI Tooling & Daily Use: Regular user of platforms including OpenAI, Anthropic, Hugging Face, and Vertex AI. Capable of assessing tool performance and integration suitability.
• Security-Focused AI Thinking: Understands how to design interpretable, reliable AI systems that bolster security workflows and support high-stakes decision-making.

Preferred Attributes

• Previous startup experience is highly desirable and encouraged.
• Experience with adapter tuning, LoRA, or prompt engineering for LLMs
• Familiarity with ONNX, TensorRT, or quantization for edge model optimization
• Exposure to agentic frameworks (e.g., LangGraph, AutoGen) or autonomous AI systems
• Background in threat intelligence, MITRE ATT&CK, or endpoint telemetry analysis
• Proficiency with MLOps tools (e.g., MLflow, Weights & Biases) and orchestration frameworks like Airflow or Prefect

Why Work for Our Client

• Small, Impact-Driven Team. We operate without layers of hierarchy or formal titles. Every core R&D member owns their domain and is accountable to the team. Collaboration and shared responsibility are at the heart of how we work.
• Move Fast, Learn Faster. We prioritize rapid iteration—shipping code and features in days, not months. This speed fuels a tight feedback loop with our network of Global 2000 CISOs. Progress matters more than perfection.
• Urgency with Purpose. We recognize the rare opportunity to build a lasting company in the AI era—and we're moving with the urgency that moment demands.
• Talent Attracts Talent. We aim to build a team of exceptional people. You'll work alongside others who are just as driven, capable, and committed as you are.
• Low Ego, High Trust. We value humility, teamwork, and a drama-free environment. Collaboration beats showmanship—always.

Our Clients Benefits

At Our Client, team members enjoy a comprehensive benefits package that supports their well-being. As part of a Sequoia-backed startup, you can share in the company's long-term success. They offer health, dental, and vision coverage, along with flexible paid time off to promote a healthy work-life balance.

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement

RightSeat.AI is dedicated to fostering an inclusive and equitable workplace. We make employment decisions based on qualifications, merit, and business needs, without regard to race, religion, gender, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristics.