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Exploit Developer Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Senior Reverse Engineer

San Diego, CA · On-site

$134K - $184K/yr

STR is hiring a Senior Reverse Engineer who has a passion for research and analysis of ... Performing vulnerability weaponization, exploit development, payload development, and exploit ...

They are seeking a Senior Reverse Engineer to analyze vulnerabilities in cyber physical systems ... exploit mitigation on a variety of challenging targets • Documenting, demonstrating, and ...

Senior Reverse Engineer

San Diego, CA · On-site

$110K - $152K/yr

They are seeking a Senior Reverse Engineer who will be responsible for reverse engineering complex ... exploit mitigation on a variety of challenging targets • Documenting, demonstrating, and ...

STR is hiring a Principal Software Reverse Engineer who has a passion for research and analysis of ... exploit development, payload development, and exploit mitigation on a variety of challenging ...

Showing results 21-40

Exploit Developer information

See California salary details

$16

$52

$80

How much do exploit developer jobs pay per hour?

As of Sep 6, 2026, the average hourly pay for exploit developer in California is $52.15, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $39.86 and $63.80 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is an exploit developer?

An Exploit Developer is a cybersecurity professional who researches and develops exploits to identify security vulnerabilities in systems, applications, or networks. They analyze software and hardware for weaknesses, create proof-of-concept exploits, and work with security teams to patch vulnerabilities before malicious hackers can exploit them. This role requires deep knowledge of programming, reverse engineering, and security protocols. Some exploit developers work in ethical hacking or penetration testing, while others conduct research for security firms, government agencies, or cybersecurity vendors.

What skills and qualifications are needed to thrive as an exploit developer?

To thrive as an Exploit Developer, you need a strong background in computer science, reverse engineering, low-level programming (C/C++, Assembly), and vulnerability analysis. Familiarity with tools such as IDA Pro, Ghidra, Metasploit, and debuggers, along with relevant certifications like OSCP or GREM, is highly beneficial. Analytical thinking, persistence, excellent problem-solving, and clear documentation skills set outstanding professionals apart in this field. These abilities are essential for identifying and leveraging system weaknesses effectively and collaborating securely within advanced security teams.

What are common challenges faced by exploit developers, and how do teams typically address them?

Exploit Developers often encounter complex and evolving security architectures, which require continuous learning and adaptation to stay ahead of new safeguards and patch mechanisms. Collaborative troubleshooting, regular knowledge sharing, and working closely with security researchers and penetration testers are common approaches teams use to overcome obstacles. Many organizations foster a supportive environment, providing access to the latest research, tools, and test labs to encourage innovation and success. This collaborative and dynamic atmosphere helps Exploit Developers keep their skills sharp and deliver high-impact results.

What are the most commonly searched types of Exploit Developer jobs in California?

The most popular types of Exploit Developer jobs in California are:

What job categories do people searching Exploit Developer jobs in California look for?

The top searched job categories for Exploit Developer jobs in California are:

Infographic showing various Exploit Developer job openings in California as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 87% Full Time, and 13% Part Time. Highlights an 100% In-person job distribution, with an average salary of $108,466 per year, or $52.1 per hour.

Senior Offensive Security Engineer, Vulnerability Operations

Nvidia

Santa Clara, CA • On-site

$134K - $184K/yr

Full-time

Posted 3 days ago

New


Nvidia rating

9.6

Company rating: 9.6 out of 10

Based on 18 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

6th of 247 rated software companies


Job description

NVIDIA's Product Security organization is looking for a Senior Offensive Security Engineer to push the frontier of AI-driven offensive security. We already run language model agents that audit source code and attack live web applications at fleet scale. These include multi-agent orchestration, adversarial verification, exploit-confirmation harnesses, and sandboxed execution.

Your job is to make these agents meaningfully better attackers: new attack capabilities, new target classes, higher true-positive rates, and safer autonomy. This is a hands-on role for someone who is both a strong offensive security practitioner and a builder of agentic systems. Join us.

What you'll be doing: Crafting and building new red team agents: autonomous and semi-autonomous LLM agents that perform reconnaissance, hypothesis-driven exploitation, and evidence capture against NVIDIA-owned targets Extending our existing agent harnesses (multi-phase orchestration, parallel specialist subagents, judge/verifier stages, out-of-band callback infrastructure) across multiple agent runtimes and model providers Encoding real operator tradecraft into prompts, tools, and playbooks - web app exploitation, auth bypass, SSRF/deserialization chains, cloud and Kubernetes attack paths - so agents find what a skilled human would Building the verification layer: exploit-confirmation harnesses that prove findings are real before a human ever sees them, driving false-positive rates down Engineering the safety side of autonomy: sandboxing, scope enforcement, tool allowlists/blocklists, credential isolation, and prompt-injection defenses for agents operating with offensive capability Evaluating and benchmarking frontier models for offensive tasks; partnering with our human red team to turn their engagements into repeatable agent capabilities Mentoring engineers on the team and setting the technical bar for agentic offensive tooling What we need to see: Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience 12+ years in security engineering, with at least 4 years in offensive security: penetration testing, red teaming, exploit development, or vulnerability research Deep, hands-on exploitation skill in at least one domain (web application, cloud/Kubernetes, or systems/binary) - you can build and prove an exploit chain, not just run a scanner Strong software engineering ability in Python; you ship production code, not just PoCs Practical experience building with LLMs: agent frameworks, tool use/function calling, multi-agent orchestration, or coding agents (Claude Code, Codex CLI, or similar) Sound judgment about autonomous offensive tooling - scoping, authorization, and blast-radius thinking are second nature Respectful, responsible approach to offensive testing - we break things carefully and fix them fast Ways to stand out from the crowd: Published security research, CVEs, conference talks, or notable CTF results Certifications like OSWE, OSEP, OSCP, or GXPN Experience with SAST/DAST internals, fuzzing, or program analysis Experience red-teaming AI systems themselves (prompt injection, jailbreaks, model evaluation) or contributing to AI-security research Familiarity with Kubernetes/OpenShift, GitOps, and operating worker fleets at scale With competitive salaries and a generous benefits package, NVIDIA is widely considered to be one of the technology world's most desirable employers. We have some of the most forward-thinking and talented people in the world working for us and, due to unprecedented growth, our elite engineering teams are rapidly growing. If you're a creative and autonomous engineer with a real passion for technology, we want to hear from you.

Your base salary will be determined based on your location, experience, and the pay of employees in similar positions. The base salary range is 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 September 6, 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.


What Nvidia employees say

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Benefits

Hours and flexibility

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About Nvidia

Sourced by ZipRecruiter

NVIDIA has been transforming computer graphics, PC gaming, and accelerated computing for more than 25 years. It's a unique legacy of innovation that's fueled by great technology--and amazing people. Today, we're tapping into the unlimited potential of AI to define the next era of computing. An era in which our GPU acts as the brains of computers, robots, and self-driving cars that can understand the world. Doing what's never been done before takes vision, innovation, and the world's best talent.

Industry

Computer and electronic product manufacturing

Company size

10,000+ Employees

Headquarters location

Santa Clara, CA, US