Padmi
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Protocol Nine

AI engineering · backend development

AI Lead

San Francisco Bay Area · HybridPosted 7 days ago
Machine learningStaff+Full Time
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Design & Train Small Language Models (SLMs)

  • Build domain-specific models optimized for latency, cost, and controllability
  • Fine-tune models on security datasets (logs, network traffic, code, policies)
  • Develop techniques for distillation, quantization, and efficient inference

Build AI-Native Security Systems

  • Architect models that reason about intent in security contexts

Develop detection systems for threats across:

  • Network traffic
  • Application behavior
  • Integrate models into real-time decision pipelines (e.g., firewall, policy engine)

Agentic AI & Decision Systems

  • Design multi-agent systems for continuous monitoring, analysis, and response
  • Implement feedback loops between detection, reasoning, and enforcement layers
  • Ensure reliability, explainability, and controllability of autonomous systems

Model Infrastructure & Deployment

  • Optimize models for edge + distributed environments
  • Build evaluation frameworks for adversarial robustness and false positives
  • Work closely with engineering to productionize models (APIs, pipelines, scaling)

Security Research & Innovation

  • Stay ahead of emerging threats (e.g., AI-generated attacks, supply chain risks)
  • Experiment with novel approaches (e.g., semantic code analysis, intent verification)
  • Contribute to technical strategy and product direction

What We’re Looking For

Core Requirements

5+ years in machine learning / AI engineering (or equivalent depth)

Hands-on experience training or fine-tuning small or specialized language models

Strong understanding of:

  • Transformer architectures
  • Model optimization (quantization, pruning, distillation)
  • Evaluation and benchmarking

Cybersecurity Experience

Experience in at least one area:

  • Network security / firewalls
  • Endpoint or cloud security
  • Application security or code analysis

Familiarity with:

  • Threat detection systems
  • Logs, telemetry, and security data pipelines
  • Adversarial attack vectors

Systems & Engineering

  • Strong programming skills (Python + ML frameworks like PyTorch/JAX)
  • Experience deploying models in production environments
  • Understanding of distributed systems and real-time inference constraints

Nice to Have

Experience with edge AI or low-latency systems

  • Familiarity with agent frameworks / multi-agent systems
  • Contributions to open-source ML or security projects

Compensation

  • Competitive salary + equity
  • Early-stage ownership and high impact
  • Opportunity to define a new category in security

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Req ID: R1

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AI Lead at Protocol Nine · Padmi