Principal Threat Researcher - Remote Security Innovator

Zscaler; San Francisco (CA); Remote; USD 172,000 - 245,000; Full time

Job summary

Zscaler is seeking a Principal Threat Researcher to join our Threat Research Team. This remote role reports to the Manager Threat Research and serves as the SME on adversary behavior across endpoints and cloud environments, translating complex threat research into scalable detection strategies.

You will drive engineering priorities, mentor junior researchers, and collaborate with detection engineers, intelligence analysts, and threat hunters to strengthen our protection for customers worldwide.

Qualifications

• 12+ years conducting security research with actionable outcomes.
• Experience with at least one OS and with commercial Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR) platforms.
• Security experience in at least one cloud service provider (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure), Cloud architectures, and Cloud-based detection platforms.
• Software development experience in at least one scripting language (e.g., PowerShell, Python) and one compiled/assembled language (e.g., C, C++, Rust, Go).
• Experience managing code with version control systems like git/GitHub.

Responsibilities

• Scope and refine research initiatives across Windows, macOS, Linux and major Cloud/SaaS providers.
• Dive deep into threat techniques to understand adversaries and detections.
• Engineer automated attack code, write test code to validate coverage, and develop proofs of concept for new detections.
• Collaborate across Zscaler to develop detection methodologies and engineering recommendations.
• Document and present research findings, and mentor junior team members.

Skills

AI/ML concepts

12+ years security research

Cloud services (AWS/GCP/Azure)

EDR platforms

Scripting (Python/PowerShell)

Git/GitHub

OS security (Windows/macOS/Linux)

Job description

Zscaler is seeking a Principal Threat Researcher to join our Threat Research Team. This remote role reports to the Manager Threat Research and serves as the SME on adversary behavior across endpoints and cloud environments, translating complex threat research into scalable detection strategies.

You will drive engineering priorities, mentor junior researchers, and collaborate with detection engineers, intelligence analysts, and threat hunters to strengthen our protection for customers worldwide.