Drata

Engineering

AppliedResearchEngineer

$145–196k San Francisco, California, United States FULL TIME Remote Friendly
Market Sentiment
HIGH DEMAND

Neural analysis suggests this role is
optimal for Mid candidates.

The Brief

“Applied Research Engineer at Drata. Skills: Information Retrieval, RAG, Evaluation, Applied Research. Design and evaluate information access + reasoning strategies. Prototype GenAI workflows”

What You'll Achieve.

Drive the quality and effectiveness of AI systems; Quantify improvements before production rollout

Industry & Context.

Engineering
Problems you'll solve

Debug failure modes; Build error taxonomies

What They're Looking For.

Must Have

3+ years of experience in applied research, data science, or ML with a focus on NLP, information retrieval, or knowledge systems, 1+ years of hands-on experience building or contributing to production AI/ML systems, 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 testing, statistical significance, Python skills and comfort with notebook-driven research workflows, Experience communicating research findings to engineering teams and translating insights into actionable improvements

Nice to Have

Experience with compliance, legal, or document-heavy domains, Publications or contributions in IR, NLP, or RAG evaluation

What You'll Do.

Design and evaluate information access + reasoning strategies

Prototype GenAI workflows

Explore ML + probabilistic approaches

Build and maintain evaluation frameworks

Implement and tune ranking/reranking systems

Run experiments to validate hypotheses

Collaborate with AI and Software Engineers

Stay current on applied research

How You'll Work.

Team & Collaboration

Collaborate with AI and Software Engineers to hand off validated approaches for productionization

Communication Scope

Communicating research findings to engineering teams

Full Job Description

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 where 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: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QidTdkGwKMY 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 https://drata.c

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