Head of Engineering

About the role

Zealot Labs builds AI systems that sit at the center of Western cyber operations, backed by tier-1 U.S. venture investors, with a team drawn from leading AI labs and defense technology companies. This is an early-stage, high-ownership team about to go live with close U.S. allies abroad.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical direction and execution of the engineering organization.
• Lead, grow, and manage a team of elite 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 the founders to translate strategic objectives into engineering reality.

Requirements

• 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 — earned through hands-on work, not 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.

Pay

$230K-260K + meaningful equity