Senior Applied AI Engineer

Careers at Drata; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 166,900 - 225,900; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

100% employer-paid health coverage

401(k) plan

Flexible vacation policy

Job summary

Drata is seeking a Senior Applied Research Engineer in San Francisco to enhance the quality of our AI systems through rigorous experimentation and applied research. This hybrid role requires working closely with AI and Software Engineers to create production-ready systems based on validated research findings.

The ideal candidate will have over 5 years of experience in applied research or ML focused on NLP and information retrieval, contributing to innovative projects in a collaborative environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in applied research, data science, or ML focused on NLP.
• 2+ years contributing to production AI/ML systems.
• Strong foundation in information retrieval and search relevance.

Responsibilities

• Design and evaluate information access and reasoning strategies.
• Prototype GenAI workflows for compliance object reasoning.
• Collaborate with AI and Software Engineers for productionization.

Skills

Applied research experience

Data science

Machine Learning (ML)

Natural Language Processing (NLP)

Information retrieval

Python programming

Education

Master's or PhD in a related field

Tools

RAG systems

Vector databases

Statistical analysis software

Job description

# Senior Applied Research EngineerHybrid - San FranciscoApply**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** 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?**The best way to understand the Driver’s Mindset is to see it in action. We’re an award-winning, mission-driven team of **600+ people worldwide**, united by a culture that values trust, speed, and continuous growth.* 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 our "Life at Drata" page for employee testimonials on our collaborative and the 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 a Senior 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:*** 5+ years of experience in applied research, data science, or ML with a focus on NLP, information retrieval, or knowledge systems* 2+ 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:**At Drata, our people are our strongest advantage—and we prove it with support that exceeds industry standards. Our total rewards package is designed to power your well-being, accelerate your growth, and keep your work-life balance thriving.Explore how we invest in your Life at Drata.* **Shared Success**: We provide stock equity to ensure that as the company grows, you share directly in that success. Equity gives every employee a sense of ownership and the opportunity to celebrate our wins together—because your contributions don’t just support our progress; they help drive our collective 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 designed to support your needs beyond traditional insurance.* **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** to help you customize and strengthen your overall financial position.* **Family Support:** We want to support you in life's most important moments, so we offer a paid Parental Leave policy, after six months of employment. Employees also receive access to **Kindbody fertility and family-building benefits** and dedicated leave specialists who help guide you through the entire process.* **Growth & Development:** Generous annual stipends for both professional and personal development, empowering you to invest in your continued growth. You’ll also have access to a wide range of internal learning opportunities, ensuring you can build new skills, deepen your expertise, and advance your career with confidence.* **Time Off & Flexibility:** We believe that to do your best work, you should get the time you need for rest, rejuvenation and recovery. Drata offers 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: $166,900 - $225,900.**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.*