Special Investigator

Threat Intelligence Investigator (Contract) – San Mateo, CA (preferred) or San Diego, CA (hybrid); 2‑3 days onsite. * Please note: This is a temporary position with an initial 12‑month term and the possibility of extension, employed through our staffing partner, Yoh. Hours: Lunchtime to evening: 11 am/12 pm/1 pm – 7 pm/8 pm/9 pm / as needed. Days: Sunday to Thursday. The Role The Threat Intelligence Investigator is a key member of the Corporate Security team responsible for receiving, evaluating, investigating, and escalating threats and security‑related incidents across internal and external platforms. The successful candidate will leverage investigative methodologies, intelligence resources, and data systems to assess the credibility of global threats, support proactive risk management efforts, and collaborate with law enforcement agencies (LEA) and internal stakeholders to mitigate risk. This role supports investigations and threat management activities involving consumer platforms, employees, business operations, studios, assets, and the company’s reputation. The Investigator will also contribute to intelligence products, operational reporting, and proactive threat identification capabilities. Working closely with Consumer Services, Online Safety, Moderation, Human Resources, Legal, IT Operations, Engineering, GSOC, and relevant studios, the Investigator will help ensure effective and consistent investigative, intelligence, and threat‑management processes. This role is critical to identifying, analyzing, investigating, and escalating incidents that may impact SIE personnel, assets, business operations, or brand reputation. What You’ll be Doing Conduct investigations into threats targeting SIE platforms, services, and associated ecosystems, including internal incidents involving potential corporate security breaches, ensuring appropriate escalation and stakeholder engagement. Conduct investigative enquiries into security incidents, threats, policy violations, and other corporate security matters, ensuring appropriate escalation, documentation, and stakeholder engagement. Gather, review, preserve, and assess relevant investigative material, including CCTV footage, access control records, OSINT, internal reporting, and other available evidence sources. Conduct interviews and information gathering with relevant stakeholders, witnesses, and involved parties to support investigative fact‑finding and threat assessment activities. Analyze investigative information to establish timelines, identify behavioral indicators, assess risk, and support informed operational decision‑making. Produce clear, accurate, and objective investigative documentation, reports, and case updates in accordance with established procedures and reporting standards. Prioritize and manage cases end‑to‑end based on threat level and urgency, ensuring all investigative activity is accurately documented and integrated into case management and reporting mechanisms. Receive, process, and evaluate threat reports using investigative tools and supporting resources to assess credibility and risk. Develop and disseminate actionable intelligence to support threat management, risk mitigation, and informed decision‑making across the organization. Support strategic intelligence development activities through horizon scanning, trend monitoring, and collection of relevant threat intelligence to identify emerging risks impacting SIE employees, operations, studios, assets, and brand reputation. Contribute to the production of intelligence reporting, threat trend analysis, and operational risk assessments that support proactive threat management, stakeholder awareness, and informed security decision‑making across the organization. Monitor and assess emerging threat trends, tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), producing written intelligence assessments that support proactive threat management and maintain a forward‑looking view of the corporate security threat landscape. Act to safeguard people, assets, and business operations through timely and responsible decision‑making. Ensure compliance with SIE policies, procedures, and applicable global legal and regulatory requirements (such as the Digital Services Act). Report credible threats to law enforcement and collaborate with relevant agencies, providing clear, evidence‑based rationale in line with SIE protocols. Build and maintain effective relationships with law enforcement, statutory bodies, industry partners, and internal stakeholders to support coordinated threat response and intelligence sharing. Support knowledge sharing and capability building through training, presentations, and engagement with internal and external partners. Prepare operational and performance management reports, highlighting trends, quality metrics, categorization, workload management, and other key operational insights to support continuous improvement initiatives. Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives, including process refinement, post‑incident debriefs, lessons‑learned activities, and operational maturity improvements. Support additional investigations, threat‑related activities, event security planning and execution, and other Corporate Security projects as required. Participate in other duties aligned with Corporate Security operational requirements. Possible travel required. What We’re Looking for Prior experience in law enforcement, corporate security, intelligence, trust & safety, investigations, or a related operational field involving assessment, response, investigation, and management of threats or security incidents. Demonstrated investigative knowledge/experience involving evidence gathering, investigative documentation, open‑source research, and fact‑finding. Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate effectively with senior leadership and cross‑functional stakeholders. Strong OSINT and online investigation skills, with demonstrated analytical and critical thinking abilities, including the ability to assess ambiguous or uncertain situations. Demonstrated ability to make informed decisions, multitask, and perform effectively in high‑pressure situations within tight time constraints. Understanding of current global events, international geography, online threat landscapes, and diverse cultures. Knowledge of investigative processes, threat assessment methodologies, and intelligence development practices. Ability to follow established policies, procedures, and investigative standards consistently. Experience working with complex systems, investigative platforms, case management tools, or intelligence databases. Knowledge of reporting and metrics tools (such as Tableau or similar platforms) is desirable. Comfortable working independently and collaboratively within cross‑functional global teams. Highly self‑driven, responsive, proactive, and capable of taking ownership of tasks through completion. Must meet any state‑required training or licensing qualifications where applicable. Nice to Have Bachelor’s degree or higher in Emergency Management, Communications, Information Technology, Political Science, Criminal Justice, Intelligence Studies, or related field. Experience in intelligence, corporate security, military, law enforcement, trust & safety, or investigative environments. Demonstrated investigative and systems analysis/research experience supporting operational decision‑making in threat intelligence, trust & safety, or corporate security environments. Experience producing intelligence reporting, threat assessments, operational briefings, or strategic risk analysis products. Familiarity with behavioral threat assessment concepts, workplace violence prevention, or protective intelligence methodologies is desirable. Base pay range: $40.29 – $60.49 USD per hour. The role is eligible for benefit offerings that include medical, dental, and vision. Click here to learn more. Please note, Sony Interactive Entertainment conducts background checks at the offer stage for all new employees (which may include criminal background checks for some roles) and will need to process personal information to support these checks. Please refer to Candidate Privacy Notice for more information about what personal information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and your data protection rights. Equal Opportunity Statement: Sony is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All persons will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender (including gender identity, gender expression and gender reassignment), race (including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, marital or civil partnership status, disability, age, sexual orientation, pregnancy, maternity or parental status, trade union membership or membership in any other legally protected category. We strive to create an inclusive environment, empower employees and embrace diversity. We encourage everyone to respond. Sony Interactive Entertainment is a Fair Chance employer and qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records will be considered for employment. #J-18808-Ljbffr