Research Engineer / Scientist, Frontier Red Team (Cyber)

Anthropic's mission is to create reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems. We want AI to be safe and beneficial for our users and for society as a whole. Our team is a quickly growing group of committed researchers, engineers, policy experts, and business leaders working together to build beneficial AI systems. The Frontier Red Team (FRT) is a small, focused technical research team within Anthropic's Policy organization. Our goal is to make the entire world safer in an era of advanced AI by understanding what these systems can do and building the defenses that matter. In 2026, we're focused on researching and ensuring safety with self-improving, highly autonomous AI systems, especially ones related to cyberphysical capabilities. See our previous related work on exploits, partnering with Mozilla, and zero days. This is early-stage, high-conviction research with the potential for outsized impact -- Glasswing is one example. Note: We are exclusively hiring in SF. We support relocation, but all hires must relocate before starting. In the last year, we've seen compelling signs that LLMs and agents are increasingly capable of novel cyber capabilities. We think 2026 will be the year where models reach expert-level, even superhuman, in several cybersecurity domains. This is a novel and massive threat surface. As a Research Scientist on FRT focusing on cyber, you'll build the tools and frameworks needed to defend the world against advanced AI-enabled cyber threats. Senior candidates will have the opportunity to shape and grow Anthropic's cyberdefense research program, working with Security, Safeguards, Policy, and other partner teams. This work sits at the intersection of AI capabilities research, cybersecurity, and policy--what we learn directly shapes how Anthropic and the world prepare for AI-enabled cyber threats. This is applied research with real-world stakes. Your work will inform decisions at the highest levels of the company, contribute to demonstrations that shape policy discourse, and build the technical defenses that we will need for a future of increasingly powerful AI systems. What You'll Do Develop systems, tools, and frameworks for AI-empowered cybersecurity, such as autonomous vulnerability discovery and remediation, malware detection and management, network hardening, and pentesting Design and run experiments to elicit and evaluate autonomous AI cyber capabilities in realistic scenarios Design and build infrastructure for evaluating and enabling AI systems to operate in security environments Translate technical findings into compelling demonstrations and artifacts that inform policymakers and the public Collaborate with external experts in cybersecurity, national security, and AI safety to scope and validate research directions Senior candidates will also set research strategy, define what problems are worth solving, own the technical roadmap, and manage relationships with cross-functional partners Sample Projects Building frameworks and tools that enable AI models to autonomously find and patch vulnerabilities Running purple-team simulations where AI defenders compete against AI attackers in network environments Pointing autonomous AI systems at real-world security challenges (bug bounties, CTFs etc.) to characterize risks, defensive potential, and compare to human experts Building demonstrations of frontier AI cyber capabilities for policy stakeholders You May Be a Good Fit If You Have deep expertise in cybersecurity or security research Are driven to find solutions to complex, high-stakes problems Have experience doing technical research with LLM-based agents or autonomous systems Have strong software engineering skills, particularly in Python Can own entire problems end-to-end, including both technical and non-technical components Design and run experiments quickly, iterating fast toward useful results Thrive in collaborative environments Care deeply about AI safety and want your work to have real-world impact on how humanity navigates advanced AI Are comfortable working on sensitive projects that require discretion and integrity Have proven ability to lead cross-functional security initiatives and navigate complex organizational dynamics Strong Candidates May Also Have Experience with offensive security research, vulnerability research, or exploit development Research or professional experience applying LLMs to security problems Track record in competitive CTFs, bug bounties, or other security-related competitions Experience building security tools or automation Track record of building demos or prototypes that communicate complex technical ideas Experience working with external stakeholders (policymakers, government, researchers) Familiarity with AI safety research and threat modeling for advanced AI systems The annual compensation range for this role is listed below. For sales roles, the range provided is the role's On Target Earnings ("OTE") range, meaning that the range includes both the sales commissions/sales bonuses target and annual base salary for the role. Annual Salary: $320,000 - $485,000 USD Logistics Minimum education: Bachelor's degree or an equivalent combination of education, training, and/or experience Required field of study: A field relevant to the role as demonstrated through coursework, training, or professional experience Minimum years of experience: Years of experience required will correlate with the internal job level requirements for the position Location-based hybrid policy: Currently, we expect all staff to be in one of our offices at least 25% of the time. However, some roles may require more time in our offices. Visa sponsorship: We do sponsor visas! However, we aren't able to successfully sponsor visas for every role and every candidate. But if we make you an offer, we will make every reasonable effort to get you a visa, and we retain an immigration lawyer to help with this. We encourage you to apply even if you do not believe you meet every single qualification. Not all strong candidates will meet every single qualification as listed. Research shows that people who identify as being from underrepresented groups are more prone to experiencing imposter syndrome and doubting the strength of their candidacy, so we urge you not to exclude yourself prematurely and to submit an application if you're interested in this work. We think AI systems like the ones we're building have enormous social and ethical implications. We think this makes representation even more important, and we strive to include a range of diverse perspectives on our team. Your safety matters to us. To protect yourself from potential scams, remember that Anthropic recruiters only contact you from @anthropic.com email addresses. In some cases, we may partner with vetted recruiting agencies who will identify themselves as working on behalf of Anthropic. Be cautious of emails from other domains. Legitimate Anthropic recruiters will never ask for money, fees, or banking information before your first day. If you're ever unsure about a communication, don't click any links--visit anthropic.com/careers directly for confirmed position openings. How we're different We believe that the highest-impact AI research will be big science. At Anthropic we work as a single cohesive team on just a few large-scale research efforts. And we value impact -- advancing our long-term goals of steerable, trustworthy AI -- rather than work on smaller and more specific puzzles. We view AI research as an empirical science, which has as much in common with physics and biology as with traditional efforts in computer science. We're an extremely collaborative group, and we host frequent research discussions to ensure that we are pursuing the highest-impact work at any given time. As such, we greatly value communication skills. The easiest way to understand our research directions is to read our recent research. This research continues many of the directions our team worked on prior to Anthropic, including: GPT-3, Circuit-Based Interpretability, Multimodal Neurons, Scaling Laws, AI & Compute, Concrete Problems in AI Safety, and Learning from Human Preferences. Come work with us! Anthropic is a public benefit corporation headquartered in San Francisco. We offer competitive compensation and benefits, optional equity donation matching, generous vacation and parental leave, flexible working hours, and a lovely office space in which to collaborate with colleagues. Guidance on Candidates' AI Usage: Learn about our policy for using AI in our application process Create a Job Alert Interested in building your career at Anthropic? Get future opportunities sent straight to your email. Create alert Apply for this job * indicates a required field First Name* Last Name* Email* Phone Country Phone Resume/CV AttachAttach Dropbox Google Drive Enter manuallyEnter manually Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf * * * (Optional) Personal Preferences How do you pronounce your name? Website Are you open to working in-person in one of our offices 25% of the time?* Select... When is the earliest you would want to start working with us? Do you have any deadlines or timeline considerations we should be aware of? AI Policy for Application* Select... We believe that AI will have a transformative impact on the world, and we're seeking exceptional candidates who collaborate thoughtfully with Claude to realize this vision. At the same time, we want to understand your unique skills, expertise, and perspective through our hiring process. We invite you to review our AI partnership guidelines for candidates and confirm your understanding by selecting "Yes." Why Anthropic?* Why do you want to work at Anthropic? (We value this response highly - great answers are often 200-400 words.) Given your understanding of our team's priorities, what are three projects you'd be excited about working on at Anthropic that are aligned with those priorities? (1-2 sentences each)* As models are getting increasingly powerful, what do you believe are the most pressing problems at the intersection of cybersecurity and frontier AI models? * Do you require visa sponsorship? * Select... Will you now or will you in the future require employment visa sponsorship to work in the country in which the job you're applying for is located? * Select... Additional Information Add a cover letter or anything else you want to share. LinkedIn Profile Please ensure to provide either your LinkedIn profile or Resume, we require at least one of the two. Are you open to relocation for this role? * Select... What is the address from which you plan on working? If you would need to relocate, please type "relocating". Have you ever interviewed at Anthropic before?* Select... Voluntary Self-Identification For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file. As set forth in Anthropic's Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law. Gender Select... Are you Hispanic/Latino? Select... Race & Ethnicity Definitions If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows: A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability. A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service. An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense. An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985. Veteran Status Select... Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability Form CC-305 Page 1 of 1 OMB Control Number 1250-0005 Expires 04/30/2026 Why are you being asked to complete this form? We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years. Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp. How do you know if you have a disability? A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your "major life activities." If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to: Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally) Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS Blind or low vision Cancer (past or present) Cardiovascular or heart disease Celiac disease Cerebral palsy Deaf or serious difficulty hearing Diabetes Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders Epilepsy or other seizure disorder Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome Intellectual or developmental disability Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD Missing limbs or partially missing limbs Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis (MS) Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities Partial or complete paralysis (any cause) Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema Short stature (dwarfism) Traumatic brain injury Disability Status Select... PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete. Submit application Powered by Greenhouse