Sr. Staff Security Researcher
About The Position
Our Mission At Palo Alto Networks®, we’re united by a shared mission—to protect our digital way of life. We thrive at the intersection of innovation and impact, solving real-world problems with cutting-edge technology and bold thinking. Here, everyone has a voice, and every idea counts. If you’re ready to do the most meaningful work of your career alongside people who are just as passionate as you are, you’re in the right place. Who We Are In order to be the cybersecurity partner of choice, we must trailblaze the path and shape the future of our industry. This is something our employees work at each day and is defined by our values: Disruption, Collaboration, Execution, Integrity, and Inclusion. We weave AI into the fabric of everything we do and use it to augment the impact every individual can have. If you are passionate about solving real-world problems and ideating beside the best and the brightest, we invite you to join us! We believe collaboration thrives in person. That’s why most of our teams work from the office full time, with flexibility when it’s needed. This model supports real-time problem-solving, stronger relationships, and the kind of precision that drives great outcomes. Job Summary Job Summary We are seeking a passionate and self-driven Sr. Staff Researcher to join our Cloud-Delivered Security Services team. In this role, you will be pivotal in developing and refining the security content that powers our next-generation products. You will build and optimize automation systems to process real-time data, collaborate with experienced researchers to analyze emerging threats, and contribute directly to the detection and prevention of malware and other digital threats.
Requirements
- PhD with 3-5 years of experience
- Basic understanding of malware types (e.g., Spyware, Ransomware, Exploits) and popular vulnerabilities (e.g., command injection, buffer overflow).
- Strong familiarity with key network protocols such as HTTP, SMTP, and FTP.
- Proficiency in at least one programming language, such as Python or Go.
Nice To Haves
- Experience with ML/GenAI techniques (e.g., anomaly detection, deep learning, NLP) and tools (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch, Scikit-Learn).
- Practical exposure to malware analysis and Capture-the-Flag (CTF) exercises.
- Hands-on experience with traffic analysis tools (e.g., Wireshark, tcpdump) and reverse engineering tools.
Responsibilities
- Design, build, and optimize automation systems for real-time data collection and processing to support threat detection.
- Apply advanced AI/ML methods, including anomaly detection and deep learning, to analyze real network traffic for threat detection and mitigation.
- Conduct in-depth research on network security countermeasures to identify and mitigate sophisticated cyber attacks.
- Proactively collaborate with fellow security researchers to analyze adversarial activities and implement robust, proactive protections.
- Continuously learn and apply knowledge of next-generation firewalls and their role in modern network security.
- Translate threat research findings into tangible security solutions and protections within our product ecosystem.
Benefits
- The offered compensation may also include restricted stock units and a bonus.
- A description of our employee benefits may be found here.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
Ph.D. or professional degree
