Head of Engineering

Zealot (zealotlabs.com) builds AI systems that find zero-days, emulate target devices, and develop working exploits for U.S. defense and intelligence customers. We are backed by tier-1 U.S. venture firms and industry leaders, with a team that includes alumni of Anthropic, xAI, NSA, USCYBERCOM and Anduril.

Zealot is looking for a Head of Engineering to lead and scale the engineering organization that turns frontier AI and offensive-security research into dependable production systems and customer capability. You will work closely with the founders, AI researchers, vulnerability researchers, product leaders, and customers to translate ambiguous technical challenges into a clear engineering roadmap and exceptional execution.

What You’ll Do

• Own engineering execution, delivery, prioritization, and operating rhythm across the company.

• Recruit, manage, coach, and develop a high-caliber engineering team.

• Set the technical direction for architecture, infrastructure, reliability, security, and developer velocity.

• Turn research prototypes and novel capabilities into robust, maintainable production systems.

• Stay close to the work through design reviews, technical tradeoffs, incidents, and delivery risks.

• Build effective interfaces between engineering, research, product, and customer-facing teams.

• Establish a culture of high standards, speed, ownership, and intellectual honesty.

What We’re Looking For

• 6+ years of professional software engineering experience.

• Meaningful engineering-management experience, including hiring, coaching, performance management, prioritization, and delivery accountability.

• A record of designing, launching, and operating complex production software systems.

• Strong judgment across backend systems, distributed systems, infrastructure, reliability, and architecture.

• Experience working effectively with founders, researchers, product teams, and customers in ambiguous environments.

• A hands-on, high-ownership leadership style and comfort operating in an early-stage company.

*Open to relocation to NYC

Preferred, but Not Required

• Experience in cybersecurity, defense, intelligence, or another mission-critical technical domain.

• Experience with Python, C/C++, Linux, virtualization, containers, cloud infrastructure, distributed systems, or AI workflows.

• Experience taking research-intensive or technically uncertain work from prototype to production.

• Prior leadership experience in a fast-growing startup.

Why Zealot

This is a rare opportunity to build the engineering organization behind a technically ambitious company working at the intersection of AI, offensive security, and national security. You will have direct influence over the company’s systems, team, operating culture, and long-term technical direction.