Research Engineer

Galois, Inc.; United States; On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Galois, Inc. is seeking a Software Engineer/Researcher in the United States to advance programming language theory with formal verification and rigorous analysis.

You will apply formal methods to prove system properties and contribute to state-of-the-art research in safety- and security-critical software. The role requires hands-on software development, collaboration with clients, and developing tooling for reusable components across projects.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required in CS or equivalent.
• MS/PhD in CS or related field desirable but optional.
• Strong background in formal methods and programming languages.

Responsibilities

• Requirements gathering through client discussions to refine needs.
• Architect high-level descriptions and prototyping with assurance in mind.
• Implement designs and ensure robustness and usability.
• Apply formal verification using theorem provers, model checkers.
• Conduct system, unit, and regression testing and validation.
• Engage in R&D to explore cutting-edge tech for prototypes.
• Develop tooling and library code for internal use.

Skills

Formal methods

Programming languages

Haskell

Theorem proving

Model checking

Program analysis

Software engineering

Customer interaction

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS or equivalent

MS or PhD in CS or related field (desirable)

Tools

Haskell

Job description

Job Description

About Galois

Who We Are: From building digital engineering tools that make space exploration safer to verifying cryptographic libraries that protect some of the world’s most valuable data, Galois develops technology to guarantee the trustworthiness of systems where failure is unacceptable.

We are a community of researchers, engineers, and operations people dedicated to creating trustworthiness in critical systems in every functional area of the organization. Our unique organizational structure enables us to adapt to the needs of the innovative projects we deliver.

What We Do: We believe trustworthy systems are built on a formal mathematical foundation. Our researchers apply formal analysis techniques to the design and verification of critical software systems, allowing us to model, analyze, and mathematically prove that a system behaves exactly as intended under all circumstances. With clients including NASA, DARPA, AWS, and the DoW, we leverage our cutting-edge research to deliver high assurance solutions and tools that enhance security, reliability, and operational efficiency across sectors including aerospace & defense, healthcare, semiconductors, and fintech.

Research Engineers at Galois design and develop advanced technologies for safety- and security-critical systems, networks, and applications. Engineers work in small team settings and must successfully interact with clients, partners, and other employees in a highly cooperative, collaborative, and intellectually challenging environment.

Life at Galois: People are the foundation of Galois’s success. As an employee-owned company, we care not only about the technologies we develop, but also the path we take to create them. Galois operates under a highly collaborative organizational model that encourages leadership and teamwork and respects the individuals.

For more on our culture and organizational structure, visit Life at Galois.

About This Role

Galois is hiring a Software Engineer/Researcher to join our team! This role will primarily focus on advancing the state of the art in programming language theory research and implementation. Researchers in this role will use their expertise in Formal Methods and Programming Languages to conduct rigorous formal verification of software and systems, ensuring they meet the highest security standards.

Responsibilities

As a Research Engineer, you will have the following responsibilities:

• Requirements gathering: engaging the client in a series of discussions, where each iteration refines the needs of the client, and leads to the suggestion of means to meet those needs.
• Architecture and design: constructing high-level architectural descriptions of software systems, and constructing deeper program designs by fleshing out architecture prototypes. Architectures must be designed with assurance in mind, determining where and how formal methods are to be applied.
• Implementation: extending design prototypes through to a finished product, with care taken to ensure robustness and ease of use.
• Formal verification: use mechanical reasoning tools such as theorem provers and model checkers to demonstrate or analyze desired security and correctness properties of systems.
• Testing and validation: constructing and regularly conducting system, unit, and regression tests, and conducting semi-formal validation and verification.
• Technology research and development: conducting speculative research and development of cutting-edge technology, and incorporating that technology in product prototypes.
• Technical infrastructure development: developing (designing, implementing, and maintaining) tools to be used within Galois, and developing library code to be shared among projects.

Key Qualifications

• Education:
  • A minimum of a Bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent is required.
  • An MS or PhD in CS or a related field is desirable but optional.
• Required Technical Expertise:
  • A programming languages background and experience with formal methods.
  • Must have hands‑on experience developing software and applying formal verification techniques.
  • Familiarity with diverse formal methods, such as model checking, theorem proving, program analysis, and formal semantics of programming languages, and demonstrated expertise in at least one such area.
  • Experience in all aspects of software engineering practices.
  • Fluent in using semi-formal methods such as Haskell or other functional programming languages, including executable formal specifications.
• Required General Skills:
  • Must work well with customers, including building rap