Senior Security Researchers

Overview

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. Our culture is centered on embracing a growth mindset, a theme of inspiring excellence, and encouraging teams and leaders to bring their best each day. In doing so, we create life-changing innovations that impact billions of lives around the world.

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

As a Senior Security Researcher, you will:

• Research emerging attack vectors and techniques.

• Analyze detection and prevention gaps and understand root cause.

• Design and develop detection, prevention and disruption solutions to thwart advanced attacks.

• Synthesize in-field telemetry to judge the state of threat coverage and share insights.

• Identify trends, foresee landscape direction and propose enhancements to meet the needs.

• Collaborate across teams to address systemic security issues.

• Guide design of AI based solutions to tackle hard security problems.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science or related field.

• OR 3+ years experience in software development lifecycle, large-scale computing, modeling, cybersecurity, and/or anomaly detection.

• 3+ years in reverse engineering (debuggers, disassemblers, file formats).

• 3+ years experience with attacker kill chain analysis (MITRE ATT&CK and enterprise threat modeling).

• 3+ years of experience in scripting and automation (Python, PowerShell, or Bash) and proficiency in at least one compiled language (e.g. C, C++, C#, Go, Rust).

• Working experience with cloud environments, OS internals, and hybrid attacks.

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:

Microsoft Cloud Background Check:

• This position will be required to pass the Microsoft background and Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's Degree in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science or related field.

• OR 4+ years experience in software development lifecycle, large-scale computing, modeling, cyber-security, and/or anomaly detection.

• 3+ years working with OS internals (Windows and Linux preferred).

• 3+ years of experience in red-team/purple-team or blue-team operations across hybrid environments.

• 3+ years authoring detection logic and security telemetry pipelines.

• 3+ years with regex, Kusto, and/or SQL for log analysis.

• Experience in research publication and security tooling development.

• Working knowledge of AI workflows or generative AI/LLM frameworks.

• Experience in vulnerability analysis and exploit development.

#MSFTSecurity

Security Research IC3 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $100,600 - $199,000 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 $131,400 - $215,400 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:

Security Research IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $119,800 - $234,700 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 $158,400 - $258,000 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations. (