Principal Researcher (Unit 42)

Palo Alto Networks • Santa clara, CA

22h • $162,700 - $263,150 • Remote

About The Position

Job Summary As a Principal Threat Intelligence Researcher on the Unit 42 CTI Services Delivery Team, you will play a critical role in creating timely, relevant, and actionable threat insights for our customers. You will be responsible for understanding customer intelligence needs and developing tailored intelligence that augments their existing capabilities, ultimately driving their business and security outcomes.

Requirements

• Minimum of 7 years of experience in the cyber threat intelligence (CTI) field, including threat research, analytic production, and client-facing delivery.
• Strong knowledge of cyber threat actors, noteworthy attacks, and the ability to quickly recognize shifts or deviations from threat activity baselines.
• Demonstrated ability to contextualize cyber events, identify historical patterns, and provide tailored defensive recommendations.
• Exceptional writing and presentation skills with experience communicating complex threat intelligence to diverse audiences, including C-suite executives.
• Proven ability to operate under short-fuse deadlines, manage concurrent tasks, and thrive in complex and sometimes ambiguous situations.

Nice To Haves

• Deep experience with cyber threat intelligence frameworks (e.g., MITRE ATT&CK) and advanced analytical techniques.
• Experience presenting at major CTI or cyber threat research conferences.
• History of triaging and modeling open-source data and telemetry, with a preference for experience using graph-based analysis tools (e.g., Synapse).
• Experience with prompt engineering and leveraging AI capabilities to support the development of intelligence products.

Responsibilities

• Deliver fused intelligence insights and custom-tailored content to clients, focusing on relevant cyber threat activities, trends, and shifts in the threat landscape.
• Provide tailored research and analysis for client-based Requests for Information (RFIs), leveraging Palo Alto Networks' unique data and cross-company capabilities.
• Create and maintain detailed cyber threat profiles for clients, identifying top threats and providing tailored defensive recommendations based on their unique operational footprint.
• Develop structured intelligence on adversary trends, motivations, and targeting patterns to support rapid intelligence production for unfolding cyber events.
• Represent Unit 42 as an industry expert by delivering presentations at conferences, participating in public speaking engagements, and authoring influential thought leadership.
• Proactively collaborate with colleagues, sharing expertise and best practices to enhance team capabilities and mentor others in technical and strategic research.
• Integrate and develop AI/ML solutions across the intelligence lifecycle to improve analytic workflows, reduce research toil, and accelerate report creation.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal
• Education Level: No Education Listed
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees