Software Engineer / Research Engineer (backend/general)

XBOW

84d

About The Position

Build the future of offensive security with XBOW. Attackers are already using AI to move faster than defenders can react—we’re creating the platform that puts security ahead in the arms race. Our AI-powered system autonomously discovers, validates, and even exploits vulnerabilities, giving organizations proof-backed results in hours instead of weeks. Founded by Oege de Moor, creator of GitHub Copilot, and backed by Sequoia, Altimeter, and other leading investors, XBOW is applying cutting-edge AI to one of the world’s most urgent problems. In just over a year, our AI, built by a world-class AI team and legendary security researchers — has uncovered thousands of real-world zero-days across the software billions rely on, and achieved the #1 ranking on HackerOne’s global leaderboard. We’re a team of builders, hackers, and researchers who thrive on solving problems others think are impossible. If you want to push the boundaries of AI, reshape how security is done, and join the group defining this new era of defense — we’d love to talk.

Requirements

• Experience building and operating scalable, distributed systems
• Comfort working in a fast-moving, early-stage environment
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to work with incomplete information
• Familiarity with AWS or similar cloud platforms
• Comfortable working with infrastructure as code (e.g., Terraform or CDK)
• Eager to learn new tools, languages, and technologies as needed
• A thoughtful communicator who values clarity and simplicity
• Comfort working in a fast-paced, early-stage startup environment

Nice To Haves

• Experience with event-driven architectures, message queues, or async workflows
• Experience designing and optimizing relational databases (we use Postgres)
• Background in systems programming, networking, or performance tuning
• Experience with hybrid deployments (cloud + on-prem)
• Experience working in an early stage startup
• Prior experience building security products or products for technical users

Responsibilities

• Design and build distributed backend systems that scale reliably and securely
• Work in TypeScript, Kotlin and Go (and pick them up quickly if you haven’t used them before)
• Deploy and operate services in AWS and other cloud providers
• Own problems end-to-end—from design through deployment to production support
• Navigate ambiguity and help define how we build as much as what we build
• Collaborate closely with teammates across the stack, including AI researchers, Security researchers and frontend engineers

Benefits

• Competitive salary and a generous equity package
• Shape your role, lead the function, and grow with the company
• Tackle technically complex challenges and play a pivotal role in the growth of our business
• Work alongside an amazing team and some of the world’s experts

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Number of Employees: 11-50 employees