Machine Learning Security Research Fellow
Trail of Bits
full-time
Posted on:
Location Type: Remote
Location: Remote • 🇺🇸 United States
Visit company websiteSalary
💰 $100,000 - $120,000 per year
Job Level
Mid-LevelSenior
Tech Stack
PythonPyTorchTensorflow
About the role
- Pursue your own AI/ML security research interests with support from Trail of Bits' research team, with opportunities to publish findings and present at leading conferences.
- Gain hands-on experience evaluating the security of state-of-the-art AI/ML systems deployed by top AI organizations, working on problems that represent the cutting edge of AI/ML security.
- Design and implement new attack methodologies, defensive techniques, and evaluation frameworks for adversarial AI/ML scenarios including model poisoning, adversarial examples, jailbreaks, and data extraction.
- Build and release AI/ML security tools and frameworks that benefit the broader research community, with support for open-source contribution as a core fellowship objective.
- Work alongside Trail of Bits' security research team, gaining exposure to security engineering practices while maintaining focus on research excellence.
- Produce publishable research, technical blog posts, and open-source tools that advance the state of AI/ML security understanding—with explicit support for academic publication.
Requirements
- Currently pursuing or recently completed (within 2 years) a PhD in machine learning, computer science, statistics, or related field, with strong research credentials.
- Track record of high-quality research through publications, preprints, workshop papers, or significant open-source contributions that demonstrate deep AI/ML expertise.
- Strong hands-on experience with modern AI/ML frameworks (PyTorch, JAX, TensorFlow), foundation models, and the full AI/ML research workflow including experimentation, training, and evaluation.
- Demonstrated ability to think adversarially about systems, identify edge cases, or explore failure modes—even without formal security training. Interest in adversarial AI/ML, robustness, or AI safety highly valued.
- Proficient in Python and comfortable with systems programming. Experience implementing research prototypes and experimental frameworks.
- Self-directed researcher capable of defining research questions, designing experiments, and driving projects to completion with minimal supervision.
- Can explain complex technical concepts clearly to diverse audiences and synthesize research findings into actionable insights.
Benefits
- Competitive salary complemented by performance-based bonuses.
- Fully company-paid insurance packages, including health, dental, vision, disability, and life.
- A solid 401(k) plan with a 5% match of your base salary.
- 20 days of paid vacation with flexibility for more, adhering to jurisdictional regulations.
- 4 months of parental leave to cherish the arrival of new family members.
- Our team is global and remote-first. However, if you are interested in moving to NYC, we offer $10,000 in relocation assistance to support your transition.
- $1,000 Working-from-Home stipend to create a comfortable and productive home office.
- Annual $750 Learning & Development stipend for continuous personal and professional growth.
- Company-sponsored all-team celebrations, including travel and accommodation, to foster community and recognize achievements.
- Philanthropic contribution matching up to $2,000 annually.
Applicant Tracking System Keywords
Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.
Hard skills
machine learningadversarial AImodel poisoningadversarial examplesdata extractionPythonAI/ML frameworksexperimentationtrainingevaluation
Soft skills
self-directed researchclear communicationsynthesizing research findingsproblem-solvingcritical thinking