Senior Threat Researcher, FTR

TrendAI; United States; On-site; USD 130,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

Life Insurance

401(k) with matching

Job summary

TrendAI, the global AI security leader and Trend Micro unit, seeks a Senior Threat Researcher to profile threat actors, link tradecraft to defense, and publish findings that shape product mitigation.

Candidate will collaborate with law enforcement and engineering teams, present at major conferences, and travel as needed. Candidates with red-team or threat-hunting backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of experience in security research or related field.
• Experience on both intrusion and defense sides is highly valued.
• Strong understanding of attacker tradecraft and defense strategies.

Responsibilities

• Research and profile cyber threat actors, their tradecraft and infrastructure.
• Translate offensive findings into defensive guidance for detection and hunting.
• Publish external research (blogs, whitepapers, talks) to advance industry understanding.
• Collaborate with law enforcement and product teams to drive actionable intelligence.
• Represent TrendAI at conferences and events; contribute to product mitigation ideas.

Skills

Offensive security

Threat hunting

Hacker mentality

AI usage

MITRE ATT&CK

Independent research

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher (CS/Engineering/Physics)

Tools

N/A

Job description

TrendAI™, the global AI security leader and enterprise business unit of Trend Micro, empowers organizations with full AI visibility and consolidated security that inspires confidence, drives innovation, and eliminates risk.

At TrendAI™, we’re always seeking exceptional talent; people who want to collaborate with the best and push boundaries together. Here, your work goes beyond building a career. You will help protect what matters and play a vital role in shaping a safer, more trustworthy AI-powered future.

AI Fearlessly.

TrendAI™, the global AI security leader and enterprise business unit of Trend Micro, empowers organizations with full AI visibility and consolidated security that inspires confidence, drives innovation, and eliminates risk.

At TrendAI™, we’re always seeking exceptional talent; people who want to collaborate with the best and push boundaries together. Here, your work goes beyond building a career. You will help protect what matters and play a vital role in shaping a safer, more trustworthy AI-powered future.

AI Fearlessly.

Position Summary

TrendAI's Forward Looking Threat Research team (FTR) is a global team of Senior Researchers tasked with "Scouting the Future of Threats" — looking at the next 1–3 years of likely future risk in security.

We Research

• The cutting edge of cybercriminal techniques and business models today (Underground, Targeted Attacks, Threat Actor tracking)
• How attackers actually get in, move, and stay hidden
• What technologies are emerging now and in the near future, and how both attackers and defenders will adapt to them
  
  

We are looking for a Senior Threat Researcher who has stood on both sides of the intrusion — someone who has either broken into networks as part of a red team, or hunted and tracked the people who do it for real, and who understands the other discipline well enough to speak its language fluently.

Note that the primary goal of our research is not to hunt for vulnerabilities in isolation, but to demonstrate and showcase real-world business impact of attacker tradecraft, of cybercrime business models, and of the gaps between how defenders think attackers behave and how they actually behave. Findings feed directly into research publications, threat actor tracking, and product/mitigation proposals.

What You'll Do

• Research and profile cyber threat actors: their tradecraft, infrastructure, motivations, and business models, with the rigor of someone who has actually tracked a campaign end to end
• Translate hands-on offensive findings into defensive research: detection opportunities, hunting hypotheses, and mitigation guidance that a blue team can act on
• Publish external-facing research (blogs, whitepapers, conference talks) that moves the industry's understanding forward. FTR researchers regularly present at BlackHat, FIRST, HITB, and RSA
• Partner with Law Enforcement (Interpol, Europol, FBI, NCA, and others) where research surfaces actionable intelligence
• Represent TrendAI at external conferences, as an attendee or speaker
• Work cross-functionally with product and detection engineering teams to turn research into (product) ideas and mitigation proposals
  
  

What You'll Bring

Core experience (required):

• 6+ years of experience in at least one of the following, with meaningful working exposure to the other:
• Offensive security / red teaming — adversary emulation, attack path development, breach-and-attack simulation, or offensive tooling development
• Threat investigation / threat hunting, specifically involving tracking and profiling real-world cyber threat actors (APT, cybercrime, or both)
• Demonstrated ability to think and operate on both sides of the intrusion lifecycle — you don't need to be equally deep in both, but you need to have done real work in both and be conversant enough to design research that crosses the line between them
• A "hacker mentality": the ability to quickly identify security weaknesses in design, architecture, process, and implementation — and equally, the instinct to ask "how would a defender ever catch this?"
• Practical AI usage on automating tasks, connecting data sets, and unique use cases to achieve efficiency, speed, and scale
• Strong understanding of the MITRE ATT&CK framework and adversary tradecraft mapping, from either the attacking or the detection side
• Track record of independent research — self-directed, curious, comfortable operating with ambiguity and limited prior art.
  

Also Valued

• Prior published research, conference talks, or CTF/competition track record
• Experience with underground/deep web research, malware analysis, or cybercrime business model research
• Familiarity with emerging technology risk areas: AI/LLM security, cloud/OT/IoT, blockchain/Web3, mobile, or automotive
• Bachelor's degree or higher in Computer Science, Electronics/Communication Engineering, Physics, or a related discipline — or a strong self-taught, proven skillset and equivalent hands-on experience. We hire capability first.
  
  

Working Style

• Comfortable working in a globally distributed team spanning multiple time zones
• Willing to travel regularly for global team meetings and conferences
• Able to work independently on long-horizon research with limited day-to-day oversight, while staying connected to a distributed squad.
  
  

Last but not the least, this position requires a wide range of skills and we don't expect the ideal candidate to check 100% of the boxes. If you are already strong in one area, understands the other, and is able to demonstrate strong learning ability, flexibility, and the willingness to tackle big problems, we look forward to having a conversation with you.

What We Offer You

We offer competitive compensation with bonus opportunity tied to company performance, along with room to enhance your skills through ongoing learning and broad technological opportunities. Achieving work-life balance is a priority, complemented by team activities, fostering an environment rooted in equity, inclusion, and collaboration, that is reflected in both our culture and our work.

• Comprehensive medical, dental and vision insurance
• Life insurance
• Short & Long Term Disability
• Pre-partum, maternity, parental and medical leave
• Mental Health Wellness Program
• Adoption Assistance
• Wellness Incentive
• Pet Insurance
• 401(k) with company match
• Paid Time Off
• 14 Annual Holidays
• Tuition Assistance
• Employee Resource Groups
  
  

Be Passionate. Be Innovative. Be a Trender.

This position does not offer sponsorship for work permit applications or renewals, either now or in the future. Candidates must be authorized to work in the U.S. without the need for employment-based visa sponsorship, both currently and moving forward. The company will not sponsor applicants for U.S. work visa status for this role (including, but not limited to, H-1B, L-1, TN, O-1, E-3, H-1B1, F-1, J-1, OPT, CPT, or any other employment-based visa).

At Trend Micro, we embrace change, empower people, and encourage innovation in a connected world. Our diversity and multicultural workforce are key contributing factors to our success across the globe. Trend Micro provides equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees. Trend Micro does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy and childbirth or related medical conditions, national origin, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care leave status, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

At Trend Micro, we embrace change, empower people, and encourage innovation in a connected world. Our diversity and multicultural workforce are key contributing factors to our success across the globe. Trend Micro provides equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees. Trend Micro does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy and childbirth or related medical conditions, national origin, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care leave status, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.