Staff Applied Engineer

Drata; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 220,800 - 298,800; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock equity

100% employer-paid health premiums

401(k) plan

Parental Leave

Annual professional development stipends

Flexible vacation policy

Job summary

Drata is seeking an Applied AI Engineer in San Francisco, California to drive the effectiveness of AI systems through rigorous research and experimentation. You will optimize retrieval strategies and build evaluation frameworks, ensuring our AI delivers accurate results.

The role requires over 10 years of experience in applied research and proficiency in areas such as NLP and information retrieval. Drata offers a flexible vacation policy, comprehensive healthcare benefits, and stock equity.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in applied research, data science, or ML focusing on NLP, information retrieval, or knowledge systems.
• 2+ years of hands-on experience in production AI/ML systems.
• Strong foundation in retrieval and embedding models.
• Experience with RAG systems focusing on chunking.
• Proficiency in evaluation methodology with experience using A/B testing.

Responsibilities

• Design and evaluate information access and reasoning strategies.
• Prototype GenAI workflows over compliance objects.
• Build and maintain evaluation frameworks.
• Implement and tune ranking/re-ranking systems.
• Run experiments to validate hypotheses before production rollout.

Skills

Applied research

Data science

Machine Learning

Natural Language Processing (NLP)

Information retrieval

Knowledge systems

Python

Job description

Job Summary

Drata, at the vanguard of compliance software innovation and renowned for its commitment to trust and security across the internet, is on an ambitious path to redefine how AI and General AI technologies bolster compliance automation.

Drata is seeking an Applied AI Engineer to drive the quality and effectiveness of our AI systems through rigorous research, experimentation, and evaluation. In this role, you will optimize retrieval strategies, build evaluation frameworks, and establish the scientific foundation that enables our AI features to deliver accurate, trustworthy results.

This is a research-focused role emphasizing experimentation and rigor over production engineering. You'll work closely with AI Engineers handing off validated approaches for them to productionize while owning the quality metrics and evaluation systems that ensure our AI delivers on its promises.

Drata's compliance platform is document-heavy: VRM Agent, AIQA, Trust Agent, policy-to-control mappers, and regulatory summarization all depend on retrieving the right information from large document sets. Your work will directly impact how well our AI understands and navigates compliance artifacts.

What You’ll Do

• Design and evaluate information access + reasoning strategies across RAG, agents, and classic ML: chunking, embedding models, hybrid search, metadata filtering, structured retrieval, tool use, and multi-step workflows
• Prototype GenAI workflows (including agentic systems) that map and reason over compliance objects (controls risks requirements)
• Explore ML + probabilistic approaches where GenAI is not the best fit: classifiers, ranking models, graph/link prediction, calibration, and weak supervision
• 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

• 10+ 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 analysis
• Strong Python skills and comfort with notebook‑driven research workflows
• Experience communicating research findings to engineering teams and translating insights into actionable recommendations
• Bonus: Experience with compliance, legal, or document‑heavy domains
• Bonus: Publications or contributions in IR, NLP, or RAG evaluation

Your contributions at Drata will not only shape the future of compliance and security automation but also solidify our standing as an innovator in the space, driving forward our mission with cutting‑edge technology.

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 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: $220,800 - $298,800.

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.