Head of Engineering LEADERSHIP CYBER R&D VR EMBEDDED WINDOWS Washington, DC / On Site →

Zealot Labs, Inc.; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 230,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Zealot Labs, Inc. in New York City is seeking a visionary Lead for Cyber R&D who will own the technical direction of the engineering organization.

You will lead, grow, and mentor a world-class team building AI-driven cyber capabilities and exploit tooling. You will set engineering standards, prioritize work, and drive architecture decisions from firmware emulation to effects delivery, working directly with founders to translate strategy into execution.

Qualifications

• Proven technical leadership in cyber R&D, vulnerability research, Windows internals research, embedded R&D, or implant development.
• Background in offensive security research at organizations like NSA, USCYBERCOM, or defense contractors with similar mandates.
• Ability to recruit, retain, and develop elite technical talent in a competitive market.
• Strong judgment on technical risk, prioritization, and resource allocation.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical direction and execution of Zealot's engineering organization.
• Lead, grow, and manage a team of world-class security researchers and engineers building AI-driven cyber capabilities.
• Set engineering standards, priorities, and culture across the company.
• Drive architecture decisions across the platform, from firmware emulation to exploitation to effects delivery.
• Work directly with founders to translate strategic objectives into engineering reality.
• Proven technical leadership in cyber R&D, vulnerability research, Windows internals research, embedded R&D, or implant development.
• Background in offensive security research at organizations like NSA, USCYBERCOM, or defense contractors with similar mandates.
• Deep technical credibility, your team respects you because you've done the work, not because of your title.
• Ability to recruit, retain, and develop elite technical talent in a competitive market.
• Strong judgment on technical risk, prioritization, and resource allocation.

Skills

Technical leadership

Cyber R&D

Vulnerability research

Windows internals

Embedded R&D

Offensive security

Team building

Job description

Zealot is deploying AI systems at the center of western cyber operations , backed by tier-1 US VCs and industry leaders. Our team includes alumni of Anthropic, xAI, and Anduril. Soon live with close U.S. allies abroad.

LEADERSHIP CYBER R&D VR EMBEDDED WINDOWS

Compensation 230K-260K + skin in the game equity

Location New York, NY On Site

Stage Early-stage startup backed by tier 1 investors. Small, growing team with exceptionally high ownership.

• + Own the technical direction and execution of Zealot's engineering organization.
• + Lead, grow, and manage a team of world-class security researchers and engineers building AI-driven cyber capabilities.
• + Set engineering standards, priorities, and culture across the company.
• + Drive architecture decisions across the platform, from firmware emulation to exploitation to effects delivery.
• + Work directly with founders to translate strategic objectives into engineering reality.
• + Proven technical leadership in cyber R&D, vulnerability research, Windows internals research, embedded R&D, or implant development.
• + Background in offensive security research at organizations like NSA, USCYBERCOM, or defense contractors with similar mandates.
• + Deep technical credibility, your team respects you because you've done the work, not because of your title.
• + Ability to recruit, retain, and develop elite technical talent in a competitive market.
• + Strong judgment on technical risk, prioritization, and resource allocation.

§ Nice to Have

• + Experience managing managers or team leaders, not just individual contributors.
• + Experience scaling an engineering org from early-stage to growth-stage.
• + Familiarity with AI/ML systems and how they integrate into offensive tooling.
• + Prior experience building and shipping offensive tools or platforms at scale.
• + Active security clearance or prior work in classified environments.
• + A technical leader who still thinks like a researcher.
• + Someone who builds teams that punch far above their weight.
• + Building something massive matters more to you than comfort, titles, or predictability.
• + You want to be early at a company that will change an industry, and you're ready to do what that actually takes.

Note to recruiting firms: We need someone with deep roots in cyber capabilities R&D who has also demonstrated they can lead and scale teams. The ideal candidate has built or led vulnerability research, exploit development, or implant engineering teams at government, military, or defense organizations. Management experience is important but secondary to technical credibility.

Ready?