Principal Cyber Investigator

10a Labs; Washington (District of Columbia); Remote; USD 150,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Fully remote (US-based)

Generous PTO & holidays

401(k) plan

Job summary

10a Labs is seeking a Principal Cyber Investigator for a one-year role with potential extension, leading day-to-day operations of an investigations team. You will set quality standards, interface with client stakeholders, and guide senior and junior investigators in complex cases.

The role requires senior cybersecurity expertise across threat intel and Trust & Safety, with strong data querying skills (SQL/Python) and experience managing teams in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment.

Qualifications

• At least 9+ years of experience in cybersecurity, threat intel, Trust & Safety, or related fields.
• Strong SQL, Python, and data querying skills.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication; ability to present to senior stakeholders.
• Experience leading investigative or review teams with focus on quality and output.

Responsibilities

• Oversee day-to-day operations of the embedded team, ensuring labeling and review meet client rubric and guide.
• Serve as senior technical authority on complex cases, determining harm potential and offensive uplift.
• Monitor quality metrics across the team and drive process improvements.
• Interface with client stakeholders to share findings and align on policies and rubrics.
• Mentor investigators and develop senior staff; guide on technically demanding cases.
• Lead analysis of actor behavior to inform detection and mitigation.
• Query internal data via DQL and OSINT to support review and validate output.

Skills

SQL

Python

Leadership

Communication

Insider threat check

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Information Security

Tools

DQL

Job description

About 10a Labs:

10a Labs is the safety and threat-intelligence layer trusted by frontier AI labs, AI unicorns, Fortune 10 companies, and leading global technology platforms. Our adversarial red teaming, model evaluations, and intelligence collection enable engineering, safety, and security teams to stay ahead of evolving threats and deploy AI systems safely.

About the role:

Please note: this is a one-year position, with the potential for extension.

10a Labs' Investigations Team is looking for a Principal Cyber Investigator to lead day-to-day operations and oversee quality across a cyber review team. This role requires senior cybersecurity expertise combined with the operational and leadership experience to manage a high-performing team, interface directly with client stakeholders, and set the standard for labeling and review output quality and consistency.

In this role, you will:

• Oversee day-to-day operations of the embedded team, ensuring exchange labeling and review are completed accurately, efficiently, and in accordance with the client's rubric and review guide
• Serve as the senior technical authority on complex and escalated cases, making determinations on real-world harm potential and offensive uplift
• Monitor and maintain quality and consistency metrics across the team, identifying gaps and improving review processes
• Interface directly with client stakeholders to communicate findings, surface emerging trends, and align on evolving policy and rubric
• Mentor and develop senior and junior investigators, providing guidance on technically demanding and ambiguous cases
• Lead org-level analysis of actor behavior, synthesizing patterns across exchanges to inform detection and mitigation efforts
• Query internal data sources via DQL and programmatically, and cross-reference open-source information (OSINT) to support review and validate team output

Required Qualifications:

• At least 9+ years of experience in cybersecurity, threat intelligence, Trust & Safety, national security, defense, intelligence, or law enforcement domains
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Security, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
• Demonstrated experience leading or managing investigative or review teams, including oversight of quality, output, and team development
• Deep subject-matter expertise in one or more of the following: scaled data extraction, ransomware, local and remote exploits, or offensive security operations
• Familiarity with LLM systems and how AI technology can be misused for cyber operations
• Proven ability to serve as a final technical authority on complex cases, with a track record of sound judgment on harm potential and offensive uplift
• Strong SQL, Python, and other data language proficiency for querying data and validating investigative output
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with experience presenting findings to senior stakeholders
• Ability to rapidly context-switch across domains, modalities, and abuse areas in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment
• Ability to clear an insider-threat background check

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience working directly with or within frontier AI labs, large technology platforms, or Trust & Safety organizations
• Experience with threat intelligence frameworks such as MITRE ATT&CK
• Background in dark web monitoring, OSINT, or cross-platform threat analysis
• Experience building or scaling detection and mitigation pipelines
• Full professional proficiency in Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Portuguese, Russian, or Spanish
• Active security clearance (Secret or above)
• Relevant certifications such as OSCP, GREM, or GCTI
• Salary Range: $150K–$180K, depending on experience and location
• Work Environment: Fully remote, U.S.-based
• Time Off: Generous PTO and paid holiday schedule
• Retirement: 401(k) plan