Palo Alto Networks
Principal Security Researcher (Advanced Threat Prevention)
$172K–$278K
Santa Clara, United States of America · No · Principal · Full-time · Posted Sep 18, 2026
- Education
- BS/MS in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Cybersecurity, or related field, or equivalent professional experience.
- Visa sponsorship
- Immigration sponsorship: Yes
About the job
Leads hands-on research and technical direction for developing production network threat detections and protections in Palo Alto Networks’ Advanced Threat Prevention team.
What you'll do
- Shape detection strategy and drive detection ideas from research through production, with measurable impact.
- Guide rapid response to zero-days and high-impact vulnerabilities, and set technical standards for IPS protections.
- Provide technical leadership, improve automation and AI-assisted workflows, and coordinate with product, QA, engineering, and research teams.
What they ask for
- Deep hands-on experience in vulnerability research, exploit analysis, IPS/IDS detection, offensive security, or related threat prevention work.
- Strong understanding of vulnerability classes, exploit techniques, root-cause analysis, network traffic, and application-layer behavior.
- Experience translating vulnerability or exploit research into production-quality detections or customer-facing protections; strong knowledge of network protocols.
- Strong programming or scripting skills and ability to lead complex technical work and influence technical direction.
Nice to have
- Experience using AI, ML, automation, or research tools to improve security workflows.
- Foundational understanding of AI security scenarios or AI-assisted security workflows.
Pay
$172,100.00 - $278,300.00/yr USD base salary
Tools
HTTP, DNS, SMB, FTP, SMTP, TCP/UDP, TLS
AI focus
Use AI-assisted research workflows and other AI, ML, or automation tools to improve security analysis, detection development, validation, and response; foundational AI security understanding is a plus.
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative