Principal Security Researcher - Microsoft Defender

Microsoft • Il, IL

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About The Position

Security is a top priority for our customers in a world full of digital threats, evolving regulations, and complex environments. At Microsoft Security, we aim to make the world safer by delivering end-to-end, simplified security solutions that protect users, customers, and developers across platforms on a global scale. Join our Israeli research team and contribute to one of Microsoft’s most advanced and innovative security solutions—Microsoft Security Exposure Management. Our mission is to help enterprises counter cyber threats by strengthening their security posture across their entire environment – Identities, Devices, Cloud and Applications. Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

Requirements

• At least 10 years of experience in security research.
• Proficiency in developing with either C++, C#, Java or Python.
• Experience leading a feature from design through to production delivery (design, coding, testing, deployment).
• Strong cross-group collaboration and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role.
• Ability to meet Microsoft, customer, and/or government security screening requirements.

Nice To Haves

• B.Sc. or M.Sc. in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or equivalent practical experience (e.g., service in elite technology unit in IDF).
• Offensive security research experience.
• Experience in data analysis and data-driven research.
• Industry-recognized author of security research papers, blogs, or books.

Responsibilities

• Conduct in-depth analysis and research security controls, attackers’ techniques and anomalous patterns.
• Explore massive amounts of data to come up with new security posture insights.
• Build and evaluate AI-for-Research-Productivity and AI-in-Production agentic workflows.
• Work together with the different engineering teams to develop the code to support the research findings.
• Collaborate with multiple product teams to design cutting-edge sensors, implement discovery & detection logics and validate their effectiveness using a data-driven approach.
• Collaborate with product, engineering and research teams across the Microsoft threat protection suite to come up and implement innovative ideas into the product.

Benefits

• Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft background and Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal
• Education Level: Associate degree