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Salaried Exploit Development Jobs in Pittsburg, CA

Gather, curate and annotate large development and test data sets. * Work with domain experts to ... Exploit opportunities for automation using simulators, approval of algorithm generated annotations ...

Gather, curate and annotate large development and test data sets. * Work with domain experts to ... Exploit opportunities for automation using simulators, approval of algorithm generated annotations ...

AI Research Scientist

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$100K - $300K/yr

Stay at the cutting edge of developments in ML, program analysis, and formal methods - and help ... Experience in cybersecurity - knowledge of vulnerability classes, exploit techniques, or secure-by ...

Research Scientist

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$100 - $300/hr

Stay at the cutting edge of developments in ML, program analysis, and formal methods -- and help ... Experience in cybersecurity -- knowledge of vulnerability classes, exploit techniques, or secure-by ...

Backend Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$135 - $250/hr

Cybercriminals don't hack systems--they exploit people. Human errors drive 90% of security breaches ... The estimated salary range for this position is estimated to be $135,000 - $250,000/year. Total ...

Backend Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$135K - $250K/yr

Cybercriminals don't hack systems-they exploit people. Human errors drive 90% of security breaches ... The estimated salary range for this position is estimated to be $135,000 - $250,000/year. Total ...

AI Research Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$100 - $300/hr

Stay on top of cutting-edge developments in ML and program analysis, and propose incorporating them ... Experience in cybersecurity -- knowledge of vulnerability classes, exploit techniques, or ...

AI Research Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$100K - $300K/yr

Stay on top of cutting-edge developments in ML and program analysis, and propose incorporating them ... Experience in cybersecurity - knowledge of vulnerability classes, exploit techniques, or secure-by ...

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Salaried Exploit Development information

See Pittsburg, CA salary details

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How much do salaried exploit development jobs pay per hour?

As of Aug 20, 2026, the average hourly pay for salaried exploit development in Pittsburg, CA is $18.94, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $16.01 and $21.39 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a salaried exploit developer?

A Salaried Exploit Developer is a cybersecurity professional who is employed by an organization to research, identify, and develop software exploits—ways to take advantage of vulnerabilities in computer systems or applications. Unlike freelance or independent security researchers, salaried exploit developers work as part of a security team, often within penetration testing firms, defense contractors, or tech companies. Their work can involve both offensive (discovering vulnerabilities to test defenses) and defensive (helping to patch or mitigate vulnerabilities) tasks. These roles require strong programming skills, a deep understanding of operating systems, and knowledge of security protocols. Salaried Exploit Developers may also be involved in responsible disclosure of vulnerabilities to affected vendors.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a salaried exploit developer?

To thrive as a Salaried Exploit Developer, you need deep expertise in computer science, reverse engineering, vulnerability analysis, and low-level programming, often backed by a degree in computer science or related field. Familiarity with tools like IDA Pro, Ghidra, debuggers, and operating system internals is crucial, and certifications such as OSCP or OSCE can be advantageous. Creativity, persistence, and strong problem-solving abilities are standout soft skills in this role. These qualifications are essential for identifying, developing, and responsibly handling software exploits in a secure and ethical manner.

What are some typical challenges encountered by professionals in salaried exploit development roles?

Professionals in salaried exploit development roles often face challenges such as staying current with rapidly evolving security technologies and patch cycles. They must continuously research new vulnerabilities and develop creative solutions to bypass updated security mechanisms, which can be highly demanding. Collaborating closely with security analysts and other developers is essential to ensure responsible disclosure and risk management. Additionally, balancing project deadlines with the need for meticulous testing and documentation can be a significant challenge in this field.

What is the difference between Salaried Exploit Development vs Penetration Tester?

AspectSalaried Exploit DevelopmentPenetration Tester
CredentialsSecurity certifications, programming skillsSecurity certifications, testing experience
Work EnvironmentResearch labs, security firms, internal teamsClient sites, corporate environments, consulting firms
Industry UsageCybersecurity, offensive securityCybersecurity, vulnerability assessment

Salaried Exploit Developers focus on creating and testing exploits for security research or defensive purposes, often working in labs or R&D settings. Penetration Testers simulate attacks to identify vulnerabilities in client systems. While both roles require security knowledge and technical skills, Exploit Developers primarily develop exploits, whereas Penetration Testers perform assessments and reporting. Understanding these differences helps clarify career paths and employer expectations in cybersecurity.

What cities near Pittsburg, CA are hiring for Salaried Exploit Development jobs?

Cities near Pittsburg, CA with the most Salaried Exploit Development job openings:

Infographic showing various Salaried Exploit Development job openings in Pittsburg, CA as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% As Needed, 78% Full Time, 19% Part Time, and 2% Contract. Highlights an 92% Physical, 2% Hybrid, and 6% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $39,388 per year, or $18.9 per hour.

Platform Security Engineering, Operating Systems

Anthropic

San Francisco, CA • On-site

$320K - $405K/yr

Full-time

PTO

Re-posted 13 days ago


Job description

About Anthropic
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.
About the role
We're looking for an Operating Systems Security Engineer to harden and secure the OS layer of our infrastructure. You'll be responsible for designing and implementing OS-level security controls, from kernel hardening to runtime protection, ensuring our systems can withstand sophisticated attacks while maintaining the performance required for AI model training.
This is a hands-on role where you'll work with cutting-edge hardware and implement novel security solutions for environments that don't exist anywhere else in the world. You'll need to balance extreme security requirements with the operational needs of researchers training models at unprecedented scale.
Key responsibilities
  • Design and implement hardened OS configurations for AI workloads across diverse hardware platforms
  • Minimize attack surfaces by removing as many unnecessary components as possible from kernelspace and userspace
  • Develop kernel security policies using SELinux, AppArmor, and custom Linux Security Modules and runtime enforcement mechanisms
  • Implement and maintain full-disk encryption solutions for diverse storage systems
  • Build security infrastructure for AI systems, research environments, and production services
  • Create OS-level attestation and integrity monitoring systems
  • Apply security patches, develop patches for custom kernel modules, and kernel hardening configurations
  • Design secure boot processes and trusted execution environments
  • Work with container teams to ensure proper workload isolation at the kernel level
  • Design privilege separation and mandatory access control policies
  • Implement secure update mechanisms for OS components
  • Build tooling for security configuration management and compliance verification
  • Serve as a subject matter expert for OS security questions and designs
Minimum qualifications
  • Deep knowledge of Linux internals, including kernel subsystems and security frameworks (SELinux, AppArmor, seccomp, etc.)
  • Experience with kernel hardening techniques and exploit mitigation
  • Strong programming skills in C and systems programming languages
  • Experience with eBPF for security monitoring and enforcement
  • Understanding of virtualization and containerization security
  • Track record of identifying and fixing OS-level security vulnerabilities
  • Experience with security-focused Linux distributions
Preferred qualifications
  • 5+ years of experience in operating systems security or kernel development
  • Kernel development experience or contributions to Linux kernel
  • Experience with real-time or embedded operating systems
  • Knowledge of hardware security features and their OS integration
  • Experience with secure boot technologies
  • Experience with confidential computing and memory encryption technologies (SEV, TDX, SGX)
  • Background in vulnerability research, exploit development, or fuzzing
  • Experience with formal methods for OS verification
  • Knowledge of hardware security features and their OS integration (TPM, HSM, secure enclaves)

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-$405,000 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.