Sr. AI Threat Researcher

Sophos; United Kingdom; Remote; GBP 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Sophos is seeking a senior researcher to explore how threat actors weaponize AI, from AI-driven social engineering to adversarial AI. You will develop telemetry to detect AI threats and publish high-impact intelligence to advance Sophos and the security community.

You'll work with CTU researchers, SophosLabs, MDR threat hunters, data scientists, and engineers to translate findings into protections and detection rules.

Qualifications

• Deep expertise at the intersection of AI and cybersecurity.
• Experience researching threat actors using AI, ML, and adversarial techniques.
• Strong communication and ability to publish findings externally.

Responsibilities

• Research how threat actors leverage AI across the attack lifecycle.
• Develop detection strategies and telemetry for AI-driven threats.
• Analyze telemetry, case data, and OSINT for trends.
• Automate research and reporting workflows using LLMs and tooling.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to publish insights.

Skills

Python

LLM APIs

Threat intelligence

Adversarial AI

MDR/IR experience

Tools

SIEM/SOAR

Telemetry pipelines

Automation tooling

Job description

Role Summary

The X-Ops Insights team sits inside the Security organization, reporting to the CISO. As threat actors become more organized and AI reshapes the security landscape, we need a senior researcher who can operate at the intersection of applied AI, threat intelligence, and cyber operations—someone who can both advance what we know and change how we work. This is a senior individual contributor role for a researcher who lives at the frontier of AI and cybersecurity. Your primary mission is to research how threat actors are adopting, weaponizing, and exploiting AI; from LLM-powered social engineering and automated vulnerability discovery to real-world attacks against agentic AI implementations. You'll help instrument telemetry to detect adversarial use of AI in the wild, assess emerging risks as AI capabilities evolve, and produce research that keeps Sophos and the broader security community ahead of the curve. As a domain expert in AI threats, you'll also be expected to help drive operational efficiencies across the Insights team, bringing the tools and techniques you research into our own workflows. You’ll report to the Sr. Manager, Threat Research and work alongside CTU researchers, SophosLabs malware analysts, MDR threat hunters, incident responders, engineering teams, and data scientists.

What You Will Do

• Research & Analysis: Investigate how threat actors are leveraging AI across the attack lifecycle, including: AI assisted social engineering, AI-generated malware, automated reconnaissance, and adversarial attacks against ML-based defenses.


• Research real-world threats to agentic AI systems, AI supply chains, and enterprise AI deployments, assessing risk and developing detection strategies.


• Help instrument and tune telemetry to identify indicators of AI-driven attacker behavior at scale.


• Analyze global telemetry, case data, and OSINT to surface emerging AI-related threat trends and early-warning indicators.


• Automation & Efficiency: As a practitioner of the technology you research, identify opportunities to automate repetitive research and reporting workflows using LLMs, scripting, and internal tooling.


• Help the team evolve its operating model as new AI capabilities become available.


• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with CTU researchers, SophosLabs analysts, MDR threat hunters, data scientists, and engineering teams to synthesize findings into unique reporting with actionable intelligence.


• Contribute to the joint task-force intelligence cycle, ensuring insights flow rapidly into protections, detection rules, and operational systems.


• Content & Publication: Produce high-quality written intelligence outputs, including deep-dive research, rapid analyses, and strategic forecasting.


• Author work that is suitable for external publication via Sophos blogs, industry reports, and conference presentations.


• Present findings to internal stakeholders, external partners, and the broader security community.

What You Will Bring

• Ability to interpret data from diverse telemetry sources and transform it into actionable intelligence.


• Exceptional written communication skills suitable for both technical and executive audiences.


• Demonstrated experience in at least two of the following: threat intelligence, malware analysis, detection engineering, or AI/ML research.


• Strong knowledge of threat actor ecosystems, modern attack techniques, and the MITRE ATT'CK framework.


• Hands‑on proficiency with Python and modern AI development patterns, including building and orchestrating multi‑agent systems, working with LLM APIs, and designing agentic workflows with sub‑agents, tool use, and retrieval‑augmented generation.


• Experience building or using automation tools to streamline analytical or reporting workflows.


• Experience working in MDR, incident response, or real‑time security operations environments.


• Prior authorship of externally published threat research (blogs, reports, conference presentations).


• Experience with LLMs, prompt engineering, or building AI-assisted analytical tools.


• Familiarity with large‑scale telemetry pipelines, security data lakes, or SIEM/SOAR platforms.

What does remote mean at Sophos?

Sophos supports flexible ways of working, with many roles offered remotely and others working in a hybrid model. For remote roles, you may work remotely within the location specified in the job posting. Candidates must reside in and be authorized to work in that location. Our teams collaborate across locations and time zones, using technology to stay connected and deliver results.

Our Commitment To You

Sophos welcomes applicants with diverse experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds. We believe great ideas come from different ways of thinking, and we are committed to building a workplace where people can contribute, grow, and succeed.

We evaluate all candidates based on job-related skills, qualifications, and experience, and are committed to providing equal employment opportunities consistent with applicable laws and regulations.

If you require a reasonable accommodation during any stage of the recruitment process, please contact [e-mail]. Any information shared will be used only for the purpose of evaluating and providing the requested accommodation.