Lead Security Research Engineer

Qualys, Inc.; Pune District; On-site; INR 2,800,000 - 3,600,000; Full time

Job summary

Qualys, Inc. is seeking a Lead Security Research Engineer to provide technical leadership across vulnerability research, exploit analysis, and signature development for the Qualys security platform.

You will guide research initiatives across operating systems, cloud services, and network devices, mentor engineers, and drive automation for validation and content release. Strong coding and collaboration skills are essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field or equivalent experience.
• 8+ years of hands-on vulnerability research, exploit analysis, or security research.
• Solid understanding of TCP/IP, HTTP/HTTPS, FTP, SSH, DNS, SSL/TLS, and modern web protocols.
• Deep knowledge of OS, databases, cloud environments, and enterprise infrastructure.
• Strong coding background and ability to mentor others.

Responsibilities

• Lead vulnerability research across OS, databases, cloud services, containers, and network devices.
• Research disclosed, N-day, and actively exploited vulnerabilities.
• Develop exploit-based exposure validation techniques for real-world exploitability.
• Review designs, methodologies, and code contributions for quality.
• Collaborate with Engineering and Product to influence security content roadmap.
• Design safe validation mechanisms that emulate attackers without production impact.
• Mentor Security Research Engineers in analysis, exploits, and signature creation.
• Drive automation for vulnerability research, validation, content generation, and release.

Skills

Vulnerability research

Exploit analysis

Penetration testing

Detection engineering

Security research

Mentoring

Project leadership

TCP/IP

HTTP/HTTPS

SSL/TLS

Cloud platforms

Docker

Kubernetes

Python

Bash

Lua

Regular expressions

Education

Bachelor's degree in a relevant field

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

Vulnerability scanners

IDS

WAFs

EDR

IPS

Job description

## Lead Security Research EngineerApplylocations: Punetime type: Full timeposted on: Posted Todayjob requisition id: R0004915Come work at a place where innovation and teamwork come together to support the most exciting missions in the world!As a Lead Security Research Engineer, you will provide technical leadership for vulnerability research, exploit analysis, exposure validation, and vulnerability signature development across the Qualys security platform. You will lead initiatives to identify, validate, and prioritise security risks based on real-world exploitability, helping customers distinguish theoretical exposures from confirmed attack paths. **Responsibilities:**- Lead vulnerability research initiatives across operating systems, databases, enterprise applications, cloud services, container platforms, and network devices. - Research newly disclosed, N-day, and actively exploited vulnerabilities. - Lead the development of exploit-based exposure validation techniques to confirm real-world exploitability of vulnerabilities. - Review technical designs, research methodologies, and code contributions to ensure quality and consistency. - Partner with Engineering and Product teams to influence roadmap decisions and security content strategy. - Design safe and controlled validation mechanisms that emulate attacker behavior without affecting production systems. - Analyze vulnerability root causes, attack vectors, exploitability conditions, and potential business impact. - Mentor and guide Security Research Engineers on vulnerability analysis, exploit analysis, and signature creation. - Build validation logic capable of determining whether existing security controls such as WAFs, firewalls, EDRs, IPS, and compensating controls effectively prevent exploitation. - Drive automation initiatives for vulnerability research, exploit validation, content generation, testing, and release processes. - Establish best practices, coding standards, and quality guidelines for signature development.**Qualifications: -** Bachelor's degree in a relevant field (or equivalent experience).- 8+ years of hands-on experience in vulnerability research, penetration testing, detection engineering, or security research. - Deep understanding of TCP/IP, HTTP/HTTPS, FTP, SSH, SMTP, DNS, SSL/TLS, and modern web protocols. - Strong expertise in vulnerability analysis, exploit development, and attack techniques. - Extensive knowledge of operating systems, databases, web technologies, cloud environments, and enterprise infrastructure. - Strong coding background. - Experience with packet analysis, network troubleshooting, and protocol reverse engineering. - Knowledge of OWASP Top 10, common attack techniques, and modern threat actor tactics. - Excellent written, verbal, and technical communication skills. - Demonstrated experience leading projects and mentoring technical teams.**Additional Plus Competencies:** Understanding of Lua (preferred), Bash, or Python. Knowledge of Cloud Platforms (AWS, Azure, Oracle, etc.). Proficient with regular expressions. Knowledge of container technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes. Experienced in the use of vulnerability scanners, IDS, and security tools. OSCP, CISSP, or SANS GIAC certifications.