Senior Research Scientist, AI-Enabled Secure Systems
At a glance
Senior AI Research role at NVIDIA. US, MA, Westford · full-time.
In listing AI Research salary
aimlroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Set research priorities and guide projects that apply AI to secure system design, implementation, analysis and verification
- Build models, agents and tools for security specifications, threat analysis, design exploration, code and hardware generation, and proof work
- Pair AI with program analysis, formal checks, symbolic reasoning and testing to deliver results that can be checked
- Prototype complete approaches on real hardware and software, evaluating security, correctness, scale, speed and researcher productivity
- Work with research, product and engineering teams, publish findings, mentor researchers and interns, and move results toward practical tools
What you bring
- A doctorate in computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering or a related discipline, or equivalent research experience
- At least six years of relevant work and a strong research record shown through publications, open-source systems, patents or comparable contributions
- Deep knowledge in one or more areas such as formal methods, program analysis, systems security or another listed field
- Experience leading cross-disciplinary research with unclear starting points and giving technical guidance to others
- Strong implementation and experimental ability using C, C++ or Python, or another listed tool
Who this fits
This senior research role suits someone who can lead open-ended research and connect foundational work to engineering and product needs. It includes mentoring researchers and interns alongside individual technical research.
From the employer
We are looking for a Senior Research Scientist to lead research on using AI to design, analyze, implement, and verify secure computer systems. The work spans hardware architectures, firmware, operating systems, runtimes, compilers, libraries, and applications, combining advances in generative AI and agents with program analysis, formal methods, synthesis, computer architecture, and software engineering.
The goal is to make security a property that can be designed and verified from the outset rather than added after deployment. You will create AI-enabled techniques that help researchers and engineers express security requirements, explore designs, identify flaws, generate secure implementations, construct or check proofs, and produce trustworthy hardware and software artifacts at practical scale. NVIDIA is a leader in accelerated computing and AI systems. This role offers the opportunity to set research direction, influence future platforms, and translate foundational advances into practical capabilities in collaboration with research, product, and engineering teams.
What you'll be doing:
- Define a high-impact research agenda and lead projects in AI-enabled secure system design, implementation, analysis, and verification.
- Develop models, agents, and tools for security requirements and specification, threat modeling, architecture exploration, secure code and hardware generation, program analysis, synthesis, and proof construction.
- Combine AI techniques with static and dynamic analysis, formal verification, symbolic reasoning, testing, and domain-specific security knowledge to produce reliable and machine-checkable results.
- Build end-to-end prototypes and evaluate them on realistic hardware and software systems, measuring security, correctness, scalability, performance, and human productivity.
- Collaborate across hardware, software, AI, research, and product teams; publish original research; mentor researchers and interns; and translate advances into practical developer and design capabilities.
What we need to see:
- A Ph.D. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent research experience.
- 6+ years of relevant experience, with an established record of research excellence demonstrated through influential publications, open-source systems, patents, technology transfer, or substantial research collaborations.
- Deep expertise in one or more relevant areas such as formal methods, program analysis, programming languages, software or hardware security, computer architecture, compilers, AI for code, or automated reasoning and synthesis.
- Experience defining and leading ambiguous, multi-disciplinary research projects and providing technical mentorship.
- Strong implementation and experimental skills in C, C++, Python, hardware description languages, theorem provers, analysis frameworks, or relevant AI/ML tooling.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to connect foundational research with real engineering and product needs.
We are looking for a creative, collaborative, and self-directed researcher who wants to use AI to change how secure computer systems are conceived, built, and verified.
Your base salary will be determined based on your location, experience, and other objective job-related factors. The expected base salary ranges for this position are:224,000 USD – 356,500 USD for Level 5; and 272,000 USD – 431,250 USD for Level 6.
You will also be eligible for equity and benefits.
Applications for this job will be accepted at least until November 3, 2026.This posting is for an existing vacancy.
NVIDIA uses AI tools in its recruiting processes.
NVIDIA is committed to fostering an inclusive work environment and proud to be an equal opportunity employer. As we highly value diversity in our current and future employees, we do not discriminate (including in our hiring and promotion practices) on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status or any other characteristic protected by law.