Research Staff Member - Applied AI

Get to Know Us

Horizon3.ai is a fast-growing, remote cybersecurity company dedicated to the mission of enabling organizations to proactively find, fix, and verify exploitable attack vectors before criminals can exploit them. Our flagship product, the NodeZero™ platform, delivers production-safe autonomous pentests and other key assessment operations that scale across the largest internal, external, cloud, and hybrid cloud environments. NodeZero has been adopted by organizations of all sizes, from small educational institutions to government agencies and Global 100 enterprises. It is used by ITOps/SecOps teams, consulting pentesters, and MSSPs and MSPs.

We are a fusion of former U.S. Special Operations cyber operators, startup engineers, and formerly frustrated cybersecurity practitioners. We're committed to helping solve our common security problems: ineffective security tools, false positives resulting in alert fatigue, blind spots, “checkbox” security culture, cybersecurity skills shortage, and the long lead time and expense of hiring outside consultants. Collectively, we are a team of learn-it-alls, committed to a culture of respect, collaboration, ownership, and results.

What We’re Looking For

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. 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.

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.

Essential Functions

• 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
  

Qualifications

• 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
  

Desired/Nice to Have

While not required, any of the following would elevate your application:

• Experience in autonomous agents, multi-agent systems, or reinforcement learning in adversarial settings

• Previous work integrating AI into offensive or defensive security tooling

• Familiarity with attack graph generation, pathfinding, or decision planning under uncertainty

• Contributions to open-source AI or cybersecurity projects

• Participation in red teaming or AI-based simulation environments

• Understanding of ML observability, model robustness, and bias mitigation
  

Expectations

• 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

Perks of Horizon3.ai

• Inclusive Team: We value diversity and promote an inclusive culture where everyone can thrive.

• Growth Opportunities: Be part of a dynamic and growing team with numerous career development opportunities.

• Innovative Culture: Work in a collaborative environment that encourages creativity and out-of-the-box thinking.

• Remote Work: We are a 100% remote company. Enjoy the convenience and work-life balance that comes with remote work.

• Competitive Compensation: We offer competitive salary and benefits, including health, vision & dental care for you and your family, a flexible vacation policy, and generous parental leave.
  

You Belong Here

Horizon3 is not just an equal opportunity employer—we are a community that values diversity, equity, and inclusion as fundamental principles of our culture and success. We are dedicated to fostering a workplace where everyone feels welcome and respected, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, or any other legally protected status by law.

Our commitment to diversity and inclusion means we strive to attract, develop, and retain a workforce that reflects the varied communities we serve. We believe that diverse perspectives drive innovation and strengthen our ability to create cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions. At Horizon3, every team member is valued and supported in an environment that encourages personal and professional growth.

We welcome candidates from all backgrounds and experiences, and we encourage all qualified individuals to apply. Come be a part of Horizon3, where your unique contributions are recognized, and your potential is limitless.

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice..