Location: Preference for Boston area (Hybrid/Flexible)
Reports to: CTO
About Root
Root helps companies secure containerized software without disrupting workflows or requiring extensive retooling. We embed into existing CI/CD pipelines and registries to automatically remediate vulnerabilities —not just detect them. Our core technology powers deep, in-place security for open source and container ecosystems.
At the center of this is Patch Platoon : our agentic system that performs patch research and backport generation for open source libraries. Patch Platoon explores public advisories, source code, and changelogs to autonomously generate and test security patches , providing practical fixes even where upstream patches don’t yet exist.
About the Role
We’re looking for a hands-on and strategic Research Team Lead to drive Root’s agentic security research efforts. This role blends applied security research , AI/agentic system development , and software engineering —with a focus on turning innovation into production-level capabilities inside Patch Platoon and Root's broader platform.
You will build and lead a small, high-impact research team working on vulnerability detection, patch synthesis, and backport generation for real-world open source packages across ecosystems like Python, Go, Java, and C/C++. You’ll collaborate closely with Engineering, Product, and the CTO to convert research into reliable product functionality and cutting-edge automation.
Responsibilities
- Build and lead Root’s research team focused on containerized and open source environments.
- Direct the evolution of Patch Platoon —designing workflows that allow AI agents to discover, synthesize, and validate security patches autonomously.
- Drive research into emerging threats, vulnerability patterns, and patch strategies across OSS ecosystems.
- Develop PoCs, patch candidates, and validation harnesses that integrate directly into Root’s remediation pipeline.
- Partner with Engineering to translate research into stable, repeatable capabilities embedded in the Root platform.
- Represent Root’s thought leadership in the security community through blogs, CVE disclosures, conference talks, and OSS contributions.
- Maintain strong feedback loops between real-world threat intelligence and Root’s remediation engine.
Requirements
- 5+ years of experience in security research, vulnerability analysis, reverse engineering, or patch development.
- Deep understanding of Linux internals, container technologies (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes), and cloud-native architectures.
- Strong familiarity with open source ecosystems and package managers (e.g., pip, npm, apt, go mod).
- Hands-on experience building and debugging agentic systems , LLM-based workflows, or autonomous security tools.
- Proficiency in scripting and systems programming languages (e.g., Python, Go, C/C++).
- Demonstrated experience converting research into deployable, product-grade solutions.
- Experience mentoring or leading research-focused technical teams.
- Excellent collaboration and communication skills across technical and product stakeholders.
- Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, research-heavy startup environment.
Nice to Have
- Experience building patch generators, diff analyzers, or backporting automation.
- Familiarity with software supply chain risks, CI/CD pipeline security, or SBOM/VEX tooling.
- Publications, CVEs, or talks at security conferences (e.g., Black Hat, DEF CON, Usenix, FIRST).
- Familiarity with open source security tooling (e.g., Trivy, Syft, osv-scanner).
- Based in the Boston area (or willing to travel occasionally to HQ).
Why Join Root?
- Shape the future of container and OSS vulnerability remediation through AI-powered automation.
- Help evolve the industry’s first production-grade agentic patch research and remediation system .
- Work closely with experienced founders and CTO in a high-trust, low-ego environment.
- Influence Root’s research and technical culture from the ground up.
- Competitive salary, early-stage equity, and full benefits package.
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