Drata · 2 days ago
Senior Applied AI Engineer
Hybrid - San Francisco
Full-time
Hybrid
Senior Level
$192K/yr - $237K/yr
5+ years expDrata is at the forefront of compliance software innovation, focusing on trust and security across the internet. They are seeking a Senior Applied AI Engineer to enhance the quality of their AI systems through research and experimentation, optimizing retrieval strategies and building evaluation frameworks to ensure accurate and trustworthy AI features.
ComplianceInformation TechnologySaaSSecuritySoftware
Responsibilities
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
Qualification
Required
5+ years of experience in applied research, data science, or ML engineering with focus on NLP or information retrieval
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
Preferred
Experience with compliance, legal, or document-heavy domains
Publications or contributions in IR, NLP, or RAG evaluation
Benefits
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.
Growth & Development: Generous annual stipends for both professional and personal development, empowering you to invest in your continued growth.
Time Off & Flexibility: We believe that to do your best work, you should get the time you need for rest, rejuvenation and recovery.
Company
Drata
Drata is a Trust Management Platform that automates compliance workflows, streamlines risk management, and continuous security assurance
501-1000 employees
H1B Sponsorship
Drata has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (1)
2024 (2)
2023 (1)
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageTotal Funding
$328.24MKey Investors
ICONIQ GrowthNotable CapitalCowboy Ventures
2022-12-07Series C· $200M
2021-11-08Series B· $100M
2021-06-23Series A· $25M
Leadership Team
Daniel Marashlian
Co-Founder & CTO
Troy Markowitz
Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer
Recent News
2025-11-29
2025-11-19
Company data provided by crunchbase