Sr. Principal Threat Researcher (Unit 42)

Company Description

Our Mission

At Palo Alto Networks® everything starts and ends with our mission:

Being the cybersecurity partner of choice, protecting our digital way of life.

Our vision is a world where each day is safer and more secure than the one before. We are a company built on the foundation of challenging and disrupting the way things are done, and we’re looking for innovators who are as committed to shaping the future of cybersecurity as we are.

Who We Are

We take our mission of protecting the digital way of life seriously. We are relentless in protecting our customers and we believe that the unique ideas of every member of our team contributes to our collective success. Our values were crowdsourced by employees and are brought to life through each of us everyday - from disruptive innovation and collaboration, to execution. From showing up for each other with integrity to creating an environment where we all feel included.

As a member of our team, you will be shaping the future of cybersecurity. We work fast, value ongoing learning, and we respect each employee as a unique individual. Knowing we all have different needs, our development and personal wellbeing programs are designed to give you choice in how you are supported. This includes our FLEXBenefits wellbeing spending account with over 1,000 eligible items selected by employees, our mental and financial health resources, and our personalized learning opportunities - just to name a few!

Job Description

Your Career

We are seeking a Senior Principal Threat Researcher for our Unit 42 Threat Intelligence team to become part of the Research Analysis Division team. This team plays a critical role in hunting for threats and conducting cutting-edge threat research, delivering actionable threat intelligence and response capabilities that empower our customers and internal stakeholders to stay ahead of the evolving threat landscape.

Your Impact

• As a Senior Principal Threat researcher in the Research Analysis Division Team, your primary responsibilities will include:

• Act as a Threat Research Subject Matter Expert: provide guidance and support to the team on threat hunting and research activities. This includes identifying knowledge gaps, troubleshooting technical challenges, developing innovative solutions, and mentoring team members in overcoming their own obstacles.

• Drive continuous improvement in threat research capabilities: proactively evaluate existing tooling, identify gaps and areas for enhancement, develop and prototype innovative solutions, and lead/support the team in implementing and scaling these solutions.

• Drive cross-organizational collaboration: by actively engaging with other research teams and departments, building strong partnerships to achieve shared goals, and mentoring the growth of threat researchers.

• Lead and enhance threat hunting operations: collaborating with cross-functional teams, exploring new data sources, and mentoring team members in executing workflows and solving complex challenges.

• Deliver actionable threat intelligence to Incident Response and Product teams by effectively hunting, enriching, tracking, storing, and disseminating high-quality threat information that informs security decisions and responses.

• Coordinating with External Engagement Team: Work closely with the external engagement team to create and/or contribute to blogs, white papers, and updates on major cyber events. Contribute to thought leadership initiatives by sharing insights and expertise at security conferences and internal executive briefings.

• Provide expert analysis and strategic insights on emerging threats and vulnerabilities, translating complex technical information into actionable intelligence for executive leadership and external stakeholders.

Qualifications

Your Experience 

• Proven experience in threat hunting and in-depth technical security research, demonstrating a strong track record of successfully identifying and tracking both nation-state and cybercriminal threat actors.

• Deep understanding of advanced threat hunting methodologies, attacker tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), and the ability to derive actionable threat hunts from complex data sets.

• Demonstrated proficiency in Python (or other equivalent languages) is required, including proven experience developing solutions, prototypes, and scripts.

• Experience with threat intelligence platforms is required. Experience with Vertex Synapse would be a plus.

• Proven experience coordinating technical projects focused on telemetry collection, TTP based threat hunting, or developing threat hunt tooling

• Multidisciplinary background in cybersecurity is required, with familiarity across various domains such as reverse engineering, infrastructure analysis, digital forensics, machine learning, scripting, and coding. While deep expertise in every area is not expected, a broad understanding of these disciplines is essential.

• Proficiency in analyzing diverse datasets, such as product telemetry, commercial threat intelligence feeds, and information gathered from dark web forums and other open-source intelligence (OSINT) channels.

• Exceptional communication and presentation skills, including the ability to clearly and concisely convey complex technical information to both technical and non-technical audiences, ranging from executives and board members to conference attendees and internal stakeholders.

• Experience presenting at industry conferences is a plus

• Highly organized with the ability to manage multiple tasks, prioritize effectively, and triage competing demands in a fast-paced environment.

• Proven ability to lead and manage complex technical projects, effectively driving them to successful completion.

• If you are a dedicated and experienced cybersecurity professional with a passion for threat hunting, threat intelligence, rapid response, and technical excellence, we invite you to join our dynamic organization as a Senior Principal Threat Researcher in our Research and Analysis Division.

Additional Information

The Team

Unit 42 brings together our world-renowned threat researchers with an elite team of security consultants to create an intelligence-driven, response ready organization. The Unit 42 Threat Intelligence team provides threat research that enables security teams to understand adversary intent and attribution, while enhancing protections offered by our products and services to stop advanced attacks. As threats escalate, Unit 42 is available to advise customers on the latest risks, assess their readiness, and help them recover when the worst occurs.

Compensation Disclosure

The compensation offered for this position will depend on qualifications, experience, and work location. For candidates who receive an offer at the posted level, the starting base salary (for non-sales roles) or base salary + commission target (for sales/commissioned roles) is expected to be between $182000 - $295000/YR. The offered compensation may also include restricted stock units and a bonus. A description of our employee benefits may be found here.

Our Commitment
We’re problem solvers that take risks and challenge cybersecurity’s status quo. It’s simple: we can’t accomplish our mission without diverse teams innovating, together.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for all qualified individuals with a disability. If you require assistance or accommodation due to a disability or special need, please contact us at [email protected].

Palo Alto Networks is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity in our workplace, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or other legally protected characteristics.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.