Aqta builds signed, independently verifiable evidence of what AI systems actually do, so AI can be deployed where it matters most: regulated finance and healthcare. The gateway has been live since 21 April 2026, the spec and verifiers are open, and the team is small enough that what you build ships.
Why work here
- Real product, real stakes. A production system used in regulated industries, not a prototype waiting for product-market fit.
- Ownership from day one. A small team means you own meaningful work and see it in users’ hands, fast.
- Open by design. Our spec and verifiers are public, so your contributions are visible and verifiable by anyone.
- A thesis worth working on. Cryptographic proof of what AI did, so the people it serves never have to take it on trust.
Compensation
Internships and research roles are paid. Full-time roles are founding roles: meaningful equity and real ownership of what you build, a ground-floor stake in the receipts layer for AI, on a product that has been live in production since April. The earlier you join, the more of it is yours.
Open roles
Founding Engineer Intern
Work on the AqtaCore gateway with the team that built it: the FastAPI service that applies policy and signs a receipt for every AI decision in production today. Backend and infrastructure, with real ownership of the receipts pipeline: a live system, not toy code.
You
- Comfortable in Python, and you care that code reads as cleanly as it runs.
- You want to learn what production software under regulatory scrutiny looks like, on a live system.
- Bonus: an interest in cryptography, security, or how compliance shapes a product.
Frontend / Product Engineer Intern
Build the surface customers actually touch: the AqtaCore dashboard and evidence console in Next.js and TypeScript, with the team building the product. Turn signed receipts, chains, and audit trails into interfaces a compliance officer can read at a glance.
You
- Fluent in React and TypeScript, with an eye for clean, calm interfaces.
- You like turning complex data into something legible and fast.
- Bonus: Next.js, design systems, or data visualisation.
ZK / Cryptography Research Intern
Work on Aqta’s zero-knowledge privacy research: privacy-preserving receipts that prove a policy was applied without exposing the underlying prompt. You will turn cryptography papers into working prototypes against our open ATTESTATION-v1 spec and published verifiers.
You
- A strong maths or computer-science background, and curiosity about elliptic-curve cryptography and zero-knowledge proof systems.
- Familiarity with Groth16 or Schnorr proofs, or the hunger to get there fast. Rust, Python, or circom a plus.
- You like that the spec and verifiers are open, so your work is verifiable by anyone.
Security Engineer
Make AqtaCore hard to break for the people who depend on it most: banks and hospitals. Threat-model and harden the gateway and dashboard, own the authentication, tenant-isolation, and secrets boundaries, and keep the signing pipeline sound end to end. An adversarial mindset on a live system under regulatory scrutiny, not a checklist.
You
- You think like an attacker and build like an engineer, comfortable across application, API, and cloud security.
- You have shipped or audited security in a regulated or high-stakes setting, and you turn findings into fixes, not tickets.
- Bonus: cryptography, threat modelling, or first-hand experience with bank or healthcare security review.
Research Collaborator
Help us validate and extend our work on privacy-preserving, cross-customer threat intelligence for AI agents. Refine the cryptographic and distributed-systems design, evaluate a low-latency detection prototype, and co-author a paper with us. Supported by Enterprise Ireland.
You
- A strong background in cryptography, privacy-preserving ML, or distributed systems.
- Applied-research and technical-writing experience; able to work independently.
- Open to a short-term, part-time collaboration alongside your current role.
Research Assistant (Masters)
Support our applied research: literature review, prototype testing, and preparation of the technical report. Paid hourly, flexible around your studies.
You
- A Masters student in cryptography, privacy-preserving ML, distributed systems, or a related field.
- Careful, clear, and curious about the research.
Product / UX Designer
Shape how a trust product feels: the AqtaCore dashboard, the evidence console, and the marketing surfaces. Turn cryptographic receipts and audit trails into interfaces that are calm, legible, and credible to a compliance officer.
You
- A portfolio of clean, restrained product and interface design.
- You can make complex, technical data feel simple without dumbing it down.
- Bonus: design systems, data visualisation, or regulated/enterprise tools.
How we work
You would join a small founding team across engineering, cryptography, and commercial, with advisors in law, risk consulting, and security. Small enough that you work directly with the people building the product. We are Dublin-first and Ireland-based, and remote-friendly for exceptional candidates across the EU and Switzerland. We value clear thinking, readable code, and people who ask for what they need. We say what we mean and ship what we say.
How to apply
Tell us which role, why this, and link us to something you have built. No cover-letter theatre. We read everything. What we do with your details, and how long we keep them, is in our privacy notice for applicants.