Oath Technologies - Formal Methods Research Engineer

About Oath Technologies

Oath Technologies is a new research organization building tools for oversight of advanced AIs. As AIs become more powerful, it will become more difficult to understand and monitor their behavior. Oath is building oversight tools based on formal verification: rather than monitor AIs directly, humans define unambiguous rules, and AIs must provide trustworthy mathematical evidence of compliance. In this way, Oath will help keep humans safe and in control as AI advances.

Oath is a Focused Research Organization (FRO) incubated and fiscally sponsored by Convergent Research. Convergent has incubated 12 FROs spanning mathematics, astrophysics, neuroscience, climate, biology, and AI, including the Lean FRO (formal mathematics and verification) and E11 Bio (whole-brain circuit mapping). Oath is led by CEO Dr. Mike Dodds, and is based in Berkeley, CA.

Role Summary

Primary Responsibilities

• Contribute directly to Oath's research goals: building tools, applying them to real systems, and iterating based on what works.
• Help scale Oath's tools to large, long-running experiments intended to map the frontiers of AI oversight capabilities.
• Take deep ownership of problems, from framing the question, to overcoming obstacles, to delivering a working solution.
• Collaborate closely with a small, high-context team, including significant use of AI agents as part of the day-to-day workflow.
• Help set technical direction as the team and its workstreams grow, not just execute someone else's plan.
• Document your work and reasoning so it doesn't stay trapped in one person's head.

Qualifications

• Experience building formal methods tools for use in production environments.
• Direct experience with proof assistants (Lean, Coq, Isabelle), SMT solvers, or related tools.
• Background in programming language theory, or in taking formal methods from research into deployed systems.
• Experience working in research and/or engineering teams delivering ambitious results.
• An ability to learn quickly, build quickly, and pivot when necessary.
• Experience using coding agents or other AI tools for ambitious technical projects.
• Knowledge of AI risks generally, and alignment with Oath's mission to counter AI risks.
• A broad enthusiasm for deeply technical topics, and a passion for ideas.

Our Benefits Include:

• Health, vision, and dental insurance
• Generous time off + paid holidays
• Company-paid life and AD&D, with voluntary supplemental options
• Company 401(k) match up to 6%

We are committed to creating an inclusive and diverse workplace where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. We believe in hiring individuals based on their unique talents—not on race, color, religion, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law or our company policies. We are more than a proud Equal Employment Opportunity employer. Our goal is to foster a healthy, safe, and respectful environment where all employees are valued and treated with dignity. Harassment of any kind is not tolerated here.