AI Security Resident

rand; United States; Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

RAND's Center on AI, Security, and Technology (CAST) seeks a Visiting AI Security Resident to lead cross-disciplinary projects addressing securing AI systems, threat modeling, and policy implications. You will manage complex, multi-year research and infrastructure initiatives and communicate findings to government and industry leaders.

The role emphasizes rigorous analysis, collaboration, and contributions to RAND's objective standards, with a nominally three-year appointment and potential

Qualifications

• Required: technical security engineering/engineering fields
• Technical management experience leading cross-functional teams and budgets
• Ability to develop rigorous threat models and identify vulnerabilities
• Excellent written and verbal communication for technical and non-technical audiences
• Ability to relate policy options to technical considerations
• Experience collaborating in multidisciplinary environments
• Fluency with MS Office suite

Responsibilities

• Lead complex projects spanning technical research, policy analysis, and infrastructure development
• Develop AI-specific threat models and security tools for AI cyber capability evaluation
• Identify critical areas for new security R&D and communicate findings to senior leadership
• Deliver quick-turnaround policy briefs and detailed written research products
• Contribute to RAND's objective, high-quality analytical work

Skills

Security engineering

Software engineering

Firmware engineering

Hardware engineering

Technical leadership

Python

Java

C/C++

Threat modeling

Policy analysis

Communication

Cross-functional collaboration

MS Office

Education

PhD in Computer Science or related

Master's degree with 3+ years experience

Bachelor's degree with 5+ years experience

Tools

MS Office

Job description

Job Type: Term (Fixed Term)

RAND's Center on AI, Security, and Technology (CAST) , part of the Global and Emerging Risks (GER) Division conducts cutting-edge research on transformative, high-impact technologies-including artificial intelligence and biotechnology-to shape policies that protect global security and advance the public good.

Overview

Your work will address key questions related to securing AI systems, understanding their cyber capabilities, and examining their policy implications. You will be responsible for leading complex projects that span technical research, policy analysis, and infrastructure development. For example, you might lead projects to develop AI-specific threat models, build software tools for AI cyber capability evaluations, or identify critical areas for new security R&D. Your work will inform analysis delivered to senior government and industry leaders.

You will communicate the results of your work to both technical and non-technical audiences through quick-turnaround policy briefs and detailed written research products. A recent example of one of our research products is the Securing AI Model Weights report, which explored protecting frontier AI models from theft and misuse.

This position is structured as a three-year appointment with options to renew and explore opportunities for longer-term employment at RAND thereafter.

RAND's reputation for excellence is built on our commitment to high-quality, rigorous analysis and objectivity. As a Visiting AI Security Resident, you'll maintain that excellence while engaging with some of the most pressing challenges of our time.

Qualifications

Required:

• Technical experience in security engineering, software engineering, firmware engineering, hardware engineering, or related fields
• Technical management experience, including leading cross-functional teams, managing project budgets, and mentoring and developing team members
• Demonstrated ability to successfully lead complex projects to completion
• Proficiency in Python, Java, C/C++, or other popular programming languages
• Ability to develop rigorous and comprehensive threat models and identify potential system vulnerabilities
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, tailored to technical and non-technical audiences
• Ability to reason about policy options given different technical considerations
• Ability to work effectively in a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment
• Fluency with MS Office suite

Preferred:

• Graduate of the Computer Network Operations Development Program (CNODP), Remote Interactive Operator Training (RIOT), Future Operator Readiness Growth and Enrichment (FORGE), or equivalent experience
• Experience with red team operations or offensive cyber capabilities development
• Understanding of advanced persistent threat (APT) tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) and experience with defending against them
• Ability to think creatively about offensive and/or defensive techniques and strategies, beyond compliance with existing regulations
• Familiarity with U.S. cybersecurity agencies, authorities, and policy development processes
• Experience working in or with government on cybersecurity policy
• Experience with advising non-technical stakeholders on security topics
• Familiarity with the AI/ML hardware stack (e.g., GPUs, TPUs, data center design)
• Familiarity with the AI/ML software stack (e.g., CUDA, PyTorch, TensorFlow, Ray)
• Experience working on AI research, ML model training, or model deployment
• Experience with securing AI systems

Education Requirements

RAND is hiring multiple Visiting AI Security Residents at associate, specialist, and expert levels of experience. Minimum education requirements at the associate level include:

• A PhD in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Cybersecurity, Information Security, Information Technology, Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Physics, Applied Physics, Engineering Physics, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Engineering and Public Policy, Technology and Policy, National Security Policy, Policy Analysis, Political Science, International Relations, or similar is required.
• OR A Master's degree in the fields listed above with at least 3 years of relevant professional experience, is required.
• OR A Bachelor's degree in the fields listed above with at least 5 years of relevant professional experience, is required.

Master's or PhD preferred.

Security Clearance

• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government clearance is preferred but not required.

Location

We are hiring for this position in San Francisco, CA, Washington, DC; Santa Monica, CA; Pittsburgh, PA; and Boston, MA. We offer a hybrid work arrangeme