Applied AI Engineer

Drata; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 145,200 - 196,400; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock equity

Health insurance

401(k) plan

Flexible vacation policy

Generous annual stipends

Job summary

Drata is looking for an Applied Research Engineer to enhance AI system effectiveness through rigorous research and experimentation. You'll collaborate with engineers to implement validated methods into production systems while focusing on information retrieval and reasoning strategies.

The role demands 3+ years in applied research, proficiency in Python, and experience with AI/ML systems. The salary range is competitive, offering from $145,200 to $196,400, and includes comprehensive health benefits, equity, and professional development perks.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in applied research, data science, or ML focusing on NLP.
• 1+ years of hands-on experience building production AI/ML systems.
• Strong foundation in information retrieval and dense retrieval.

Responsibilities

• Design and evaluate information access & reasoning strategies.
• Prototype GenAI workflows mapping compliance objects.
• Run experiments to validate hypotheses before production.

Skills

Applied research

Data science

Machine learning

Natural language processing (NLP)

Information retrieval

Python

Job description

Our Mission & Values

At Drata, we help companies earn and keep the trust of their users, customers, partners, and prospects. We’re the proof layer that shows great companies deserve the trust they aim to build.

We live our values every day. Built on Trust means consistency is everything. Act with Integrity by always doing the right thing. Being Customer-Obsessed keeps the people we serve at the center of our work. Competitive Fire drives us to push ourselves harder than anyone else. Diversity brings unique perspectives that lead to better solutions. Automation First ensures we save time and money by making efficiency a priority.

Our Culture & Work Style

At Drata, we’re not just building software — we’re building a mindset. Everything we do springs from:

• Be a Driver (Owner‑Operator Mentality): Own your work. Improve relentlessly. Deliver results.
• Move at Drata Speed (Precision & Velocity): Fast decisions. Quick learning. Immediate impact.
• Stay Mission-Driven (Customer‑Obsessed): Challenge assumptions. Deliver value. Stay hungry.

We pair that high‑velocity culture with a thoughtful hybrid model because we believe flexibility and collaboration both matter. That’s why, in the Bay, we come together in‑office Tuesday through Thursday for our high‑impact collaboration days where teams align, strategize, and innovate. Mondays and Fridays are flexible, giving you space for focused work, balance, and autonomy.

If you thrive when you’re empowered, energized, and working with smart, mission‑driven people, you’ll feel at home here.

Why Join The Drata Team?

• See the Speed: Watch our CEO, Adam Markowitz, discuss the hyper‑growth journey, from $0 to $100M ARR in just four years.
• Hear the Voice of the Team: Explore the "Life at Drata" page for employee testimonials on our collaborative environment and growth opportunities available.
• Experience the Impact: See why we are consistently recognized on Fortune's Best Workplaces lists.
• Connect with Us on Socials: LinkedIn – follow us for company updates, employee stories, and career news.

Job Summary

Drata is seeking an Applied Research Engineer to drive the quality and effectiveness of our AI systems through rigorous experimentation, evaluation, and applied research. This is a research‑focused role emphasizing experimentation and rigor over production engineering. You’ll own the science behind how Drata’s AI products retrieve, reason, and respond — and you’ll work closely with AI and Software Engineers to turn validated approaches into production‑ready systems. Drata’s compliance platform is document‑heavy: VRM Agent, AIQA, Trust Agent, policy‑to‑control mappers, and more all depend on high‑quality information retrieval and reasoning.

What You'll Do

• Design and evaluate information access & reasoning strategies across RAG, agents, and classic ML: chunking, embedding models, hybrid search, metadata filtering, semantic routing.
• Prototype GenAI workflows (including agentic systems) that map and reason over compliance objects (controls risks requirements evidence).
• Explore ML & probabilistic approaches where GenAI is not the best fit: classifiers, ranking models, graph/link prediction, calibration, and structured prediction.
• Build and maintain evaluation frameworks: golden datasets, automated quality metrics, regression detection.
• Implement and tune ranking/reranking systems: cross‑encoders, LLM‑based rerankers, learning‑to‑rank, custom scoring functions.
• Run experiments to validate hypotheses and quantify improvements before production rollout.
• Debug failure modes and build error taxonomies across retrieval, reasoning, and generation.
• Collaborate with AI and Software Engineers to hand off validated approaches for productionization.
• Stay current on applied research in RAG, agents, LLM evaluation, and relevance modeling; bring innovations into the product.

What You'll Bring

• 3+ years of experience in applied research, data science, or ML with a focus on NLP, information retrieval, or knowledge systems.
• 1+ years of hands‑on experience building or contributing to production AI/ML systems.
• Strong foundation in information retrieval: dense and sparse retrieval, embedding models, search relevance.
• Experience with RAG systems: chunking strategies, vector databases, retrieval optimization.
• Proficiency in evaluation methodology: metrics design, golden dataset creation, A/B testing, statistical significance.
• Strong Python skills and comfort with notebook‑driven research workflows.
• Experience communicating research findings to engineering teams and translating insights into actionable improvements.
• Bonus: Experience with compliance, legal, or document‑heavy domains.
• Bonus: Publications or contributions in IR, NLP, or RAG evaluation.

How We Support You

• Shared Success: We provide stock equity to ensure that as the company grows, you share directly in that success.
• Health & Wellness: Up to 100% employer‑paid premiums for medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and their dependents, along with comprehensive wellness benefits and healthcare concierge services.
• Financial Well‑being: A comprehensive suite of financial benefits, including a 401(k) plan, company‑paid life and disability insurance, tax‑advantaged spending accounts, and a range of discounted voluntary offerings.
• Family Support: A paid Parental Leave policy after six months of employment; access to fertility and family‑building benefits and dedicated leave specialists.
• Growth & Development: Generous annual stipends for both professional and personal development, and access to a wide range of internal learning opportunities.
• Time Off & Flexibility: A flexible vacation policy, paid holidays, and other perks to recharge.

This role will receive a competitive base salary, benefits, and stock, typically in the form of Restricted Stock Units (RSUs). The applicable salary range for this role is: $145,200 - $196,400.

A variety of factors are considered when determining someone’s leveling and compensation—including a candidate’s professional background and experience. These ranges may be modified in the future and final offer amounts may vary from the amounts listed above.