Associate AI Red Team Engineer

Carnegie Mellon University

Hours: Full time
Where: Pittsburgh, PA
Posted: Sep 2

As an AI Red Team Engineer on the AI Security team, you will play a central role in adversary emulation exercises and capability development for our mission partners. Due to our unique position within the TA Directorate, the systems we red-team fall outside the realm of 'traditional' enterprise red teaming. Our targets are commonly AI-enabled platforms used within national security contexts.

But this isn't a "make the LLM say the bad thing" type of AI red team. We operate across multiple domains, meaning that our red teamers are expected to be experts in offensive cyber in addition to AI security. If you are experienced with offensive cyber tradecraft and have an interest in breaking into AI, this could be a good fit. Most of our red teamers are actively taking graduate-level technical courses at CMU and/or pursuing technical certifications.

What you'd do

Red team real-world AI-enabled systems (both the model and the hardware/software/network that it runs on) in support of national security objectives.
Develop new tactics, techniques, and procedures for attacking AI-enabled systems and related software in order to better prepare defenders for real-world threats.
Write tools in Python, PowerShell, C, and BASH to enable red team operations.
Represent the CERT technical portfolio of work and operations; communicate with external mission partners and internal collaborators in concert with CERT directorates and teams.

What they want

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or a relevant technical discipline with three (3) years of relevant work experience; or a MS in Computer Science or a relevant technical discipline with one (1) year of relevant work experience; or a PhD in Computer Science or other relevant technical discipline.
Other educational backgrounds of a technical nature with experience as described may be considered.
You have previous penetration testing, red teaming, or exploit development experience.
You have previous hands-on experience with at least one command and control framework (e.g., Cobalt Strike, Sliver).
You have experience programming/scripting in Python, C, and BASH (without the assistance of AI) and are willing to learn PowerShell.
You have experience with reverse engineering tools (e.g. NSA Ghidra, IDA Pro).
You are able to read code and quickly spot basic vulnerabilities without the assistance of AI or fuzzing.
You are very familiar with TCP/IP and all layers of the OSI model. You have experience using Wireshark and can explain how common network protocols work.
You have experience in assessing the security of both Linux and Windows systems. Experience with mobile (e.g., Android) and other operations systems is also appreciated.
You have at least one of the following relevant certifications: OSCP, CPTS, FORGE/RIOT, eJPT, CBBH, BSCP, PNPT, GRTP, GPEN.
Applicants without these certifications will still be considered if equivalent experience is clearly demonstrated during technical interviews.
You have excellent communication skills (oral and written), particularly regarding technical communications with non-experts.

About Carnegie Mellon University

SEI conducts research and development in software engineering, systems engineering, cybersecurity, and many other areas of computing, working to introduce private-sector innovations into government. The SEI works closely with defense and government organizations, industry, and academia to continually improve software-intensive systems.

Starts: 2026-08-18