Principal Security Researcher

Security represents the most critical priorities for our customers in a world awash in digital threats, regulatory scrutiny, and estate complexity. Microsoft Security aspires to make the world a safer place for all. We want to reshape security and empower every user, customer, and developer with a security cloud that protects them with end to end, simplified solutions. The Microsoft Security organization accelerates Microsoft’s mission and bold ambitions to ensure that our company and industry is securing digital technology platforms, devices, and clouds in our customers’ heterogeneous environments, as well as ensuring the security of our own internal estate.

The CISO organization is looking for a visionary Principal Security Researcher to join the CTO’s security research team. We are seeking a Principal Security Researcher who will lead complex research initiatives, apply techiques to incidents to refine them, and collaborate across engineering, data science, and threat intelligence teams to shape the future of cyber defense. This principal level position will drive the discovery and development of cutting-edge techniques to detect, analyze, and prevent cyber attacks. We are looking to create mechanical advantage with new methods to uncover attacks. 

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

Responsibilities

• Invent and develop novel detection methods for identifying cyber attacks.
• Lead in-depth research projects on emerging attack vectors, tactics, and techniques used by advanced threat actors.
• Familiarity with graph analytic techniques applied to the cyber domain
• Leverage machine learning, statistical analysis, and other analytics to uncover stealthy and sophisticated threats.
• Partner with threat hunters, redteam, and blueteam members on attack detection

Qualifications

Required/Minimum Qualifications 

• 7+ years experience in software development lifecycle, large-scale computing, modeling, cybersecurity, and/or anomaly detection 
  • OR Doctorate in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science or related field. 
• Demonstrated understanding of attacker tradecraft especially attacks in the cloud (such as Entra, Azure, and M365).
• Proficiency in scripting or programming in languages such as Python.
• Proficiency in cloud query languages such as Kusto.
• Experience communicating/presenting to an executive audience on complex research that generates actionable insights.

Other Requirements:

• Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include, but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

Additional or Preferred Qualifications: 

• 8+ years experience in software development lifecycle, large-scale computing, modeling, cybersecurity, and/or anomaly detection 
  • OR Doctorate in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science or related field
• Experience identifying malicious activity in a detection system at scale to protect an environment, product, or service

Security Research IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $137,600 - $267,000 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $180,400 - $294,000 per year.       

Security Research IC6 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $161,600 - $286,200 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $209,600 - $314,400 per year.   

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here: https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay       

Microsoft will accept applications and processes offers for these roles on an ongoing basis.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances.  We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request via the Accommodation request form.

Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.