Senior Security Researcher, AI-Driven Threat Detection

Palo Alto Networks, Inc.; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 226,000; Full time

Job summary

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. in San Jose, CA is seeking a Sr. Staff Researcher to join our Cloud‑Delivered Security Services team. You will develop and refine security content powering our next‑gen products, building automation for real‑time data, and collaborating with researchers to detect and prevent threats.

The role emphasizes AI/ML driven threat analysis, malware mitigation, and deployment of data‑driven security solutions within our product ecosystem. Strong academic credentials required.

Qualifications

• MS and/or PhD with 3-5 years of experience.
• Strong research, communication, and presentational skills.
• Familiarity with HTTP, SMTP, DNS, TCP/IP, and FTP.
• Proficiency in Python or Go.
• Solid cybersecurity background.
• Experience with ML/GenAI techniques is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and optimize automation systems for real‑time data collection and processing to support threat detection.
• Apply advanced AI/ML methods to analyze network traffic for threat detection and mitigation.
• Conduct in‑depth research on network security countermeasures to identify and mitigate sophisticated cyber attacks.
• Collaborate with fellow researchers to analyze adversarial activities and implement protections.
• Build high‑quality, complex systems as part of a research team with data‑driven security.
• Translate threat research findings into security solutions within our product ecosystem.

Skills

Research skills

Communication skills

Programming (Python/Go)

Cybersecurity background

Learning agility

Threat detection

Education

MS or PhD

Tools

Wireshark

tcpdump

TensorFlow

PyTorch

Scikit-Learn

Job description

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. in San Jose, CA is seeking a Sr. Staff Researcher to join our Cloud‑Delivered Security Services team. You will develop and refine security content powering our next‑gen products, building automation for real‑time data, and collaborating with researchers to detect and prevent threats.

The role emphasizes AI/ML driven threat analysis, malware mitigation, and deployment of data‑driven security solutions within our product ecosystem. Strong academic credentials required.