Senior Security Detection Engineer

Palo Alto Networks, Inc.; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 184,000 - 297,000; Full time

Job summary

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. is seeking a Security / Detection Engineer to analyze multi-stage attack behavior and translate complex threat patterns into deterministic signatures.

You will own the end-to-end detection lifecycle from rule creation to FP tuning, ensuring performant and resilient defenses. You will collaborate with threat research groups and ML teams to integrate behavioral signatures with automated deep learning classifiers, while maintaining high-quality threat content across

Qualifications

• BS/MS in Computer Science, Cyber Security, or equivalent practical experience.
• 4+ years of dedicated experience in detection engineering, threat analysis, or security research.
• Deep expertise in writing and optimizing signature-based patterns (e.g., custom Snort/Suricata rules, Yara, PAN-OS custom threat signatures).
• Thorough understanding of application-layer evasion techniques.
• Strong knowledge of the detection-as-code philosophy and building automated testing pipelines for signature validation.
• Experience with Python, Regex, or other scripting tools to automate packet capture analysis, rule creation, and parsing threat telemetry.
• Solid understanding of the MITRE ATT&CK framework and translating offensive techniques into robust defensive controls.

Responsibilities

• Analyze complex, multi-stage attack sequences and transform them into precise, deterministic signatures.
• Develop and maintain high-performance signatures that can be safely enforced by inline engines without impacting network throughput.
• Own the entire signature lifecycle, from initial research and threat modeling to deployment, automated regression testing, and deprecation.
• Drive continuous False Positive tuning and validation processes to minimize alert fatigue while maximizing true positive detection rates.
• Implement robust version pinning strategies and dependency management for threat prevention content updates, ensuring consistency across distributed firewall deployments.
• Partner with threat research groups and inline machine learning teams to integrate behavioral signatures with automated deep learning classifiers.

Skills

Threat analysis

Signature development

Python scripting

Yara rules

Snort/Suricata rules

MITRE ATT&CK

Education

BS/MS in Computer Science, Cyber Security, or equivalent

Tools

Snort/Suricata

Yara

PAN-OS signatures

Job description

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. is seeking a Security / Detection Engineer to analyze multi-stage attack behavior and translate complex threat patterns into deterministic signatures.

You will own the end-to-end detection lifecycle from rule creation to FP tuning, ensuring performant and resilient defenses. You will collaborate with threat research groups and ML teams to integrate behavioral signatures with automated deep learning classifiers, while maintaining high-quality threat content across