Palo Alto Networks
Principal Security Researcher (Xpanse)
$163K–$263K
Office - USA - CA - Headquarters · No · Principal · Full-time · Posted Aug 31, 2026
- Experience
- 5+ years in vulnerability management, offensive security, or security research.
- Visa sponsorship
- Immigration sponsorship: Yes
About the job
Research vulnerabilities and exposures, develop exploit and testing capabilities, and build tools that support vulnerability detection, prioritization, and mitigation in Cortex Exposure Management.
What you'll do
- Develop vulnerability content and respond to zero-day and critical vulnerabilities.
- Research, test, and automate processes for identifying, validating, and mitigating security risks.
- Design and maintain tooling, support projects in production, and mentor researchers.
What they ask for
- 5+ years of experience in vulnerability management, offensive security, or security research.
- Experience contributing to public vulnerability research, submitting CVEs, or creating proof-of-concept exploits.
- Strong understanding of TCP/IP and networking protocols; familiarity with vulnerability methodologies and security assessment tools.
- Proficient in Python; deep understanding of Windows, Linux, macOS, and Unix-based systems.
Nice to have
- Familiarity with patch management, enterprise/cloud-deployed embedded systems, or cloud-managed services (ideally in GCP).
- Knowledge of network architectures and distributed or relational databases.
Pay
$162,700.00 - $263,175.00 USD/year base salary
Tools
Python, Java, Golang, C/C++, RUST, Nuclei, OpenVAS, Nmap
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