Principal Consultant, DFIR, Reactive Services (Unit 42) - Weekend Shift

Palo Alto Networks • Santa Clara, CA

15h • Remote

About The Position

As a Principal Consultant for our reactive services, you will serve as a client-facing leader in critical cybersecurity incidents. You will manage incident response engagements from start to finish, working directly with key stakeholders to investigate breaches, provide expert guidance, and deliver actionable recommendations for long-term remediation. This role is pivotal in helping clients recover from attacks and strengthen their security posture.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in Information Security, Computer Science, Digital Forensics, Cyber Security, or a related field, or equivalent military experience.
• 6+ years of direct incident response or digital forensics consulting experience.
• Proficiency with host-based forensics, data breach response, and forensic tools such as EnCase, FTK, X-Ways, SIFT, Splunk, Volatility, or WireShark.
• Demonstrated experience managing the full lifecycle of a technical consulting engagement.
• Ability to travel as needed to meet business demands, averaging approximately 20%.

Nice To Haves

• Experience leading complex, multi-faceted engagements, from initial scoping to technical execution and client interfacing.
• Strong leadership skills with experience in mentoring or managing team members.
• Proven ability to establish credibility and executive presence with senior-level client stakeholders.
• Public-facing contributions to the cybersecurity community, such as public speaking, conference presentations, or publications.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage complex incident response engagements, including scoping work, guiding clients through forensic investigations, and containing security incidents.
• Perform reactive incident response functions, including host-based analysis of Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X systems to identify Indicators of Compromise (IOCs).
• Investigate data breaches by leveraging advanced digital forensics tools (e.g., EnCase, FTK, X-Ways, SIFT, Splunk) to determine the source and scope of compromises.
• Examine and analyze firewall, web, database, and other log sources to identify evidence of threat actor activity.
• Collaborate with clients and internal teams to provide strategic guidance and recommendations for long-term remediation and security posture improvement.
• Develop and produce high-quality, client-facing deliverables, including detailed reports and executive summaries.
• Provide mentorship and guidance to junior team members on incident response and forensics best practices, empowering others to develop their skills.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees