Staff Security Research Engineer

Staff Security Research Engineer
As a Security Research Engineer on Proofpoint’s Threat Research team, you’ll be part of an amazing, collaborative, industry-leading team focused on tracking threat actors, malware, phishing, and TTPs and responding to the quickly changing threat landscape with innovative software that detects and prevents threats from reaching Proofpoint customers.

Your day-to-day

Design and develop software using a variety of languages, primarily Python, with little external guidance, while providing technical leadership to guide other software engineers on the team

Modify existing web-based UI for internal tools to maintain and extend the sandbox submission and report UI for Proofpoint threat researchers to use

Write C or C++ for low level interactions with the OS as needed

Develop and maintain web browser interaction capabilities using Chrome Web Driver

Analyze and reverse engineer JavaScript that fingerprints web browser artifacts to identify sandbox browsers or instrumentation, and innovate solutions to defeat those checks

Familiarity with analyzing web front-end and the Document Object Model (DOM)

Develop and maintain software for processing network traffic, including TLS decryption and processing PCAP files

Work closely with threat analysts and detection engineers who research threat actors and write detection rules which run on the systems you develop

As needed, create new detection languages and systems that allow threat researchers to develop detection rules

Add features to existing threat detection languages to allow greater flexibility by threat researchers to automate interactions with websites and detect threat patterns

Make use of AI Large Language Models as appropriate to enhance threat detection pipelines, produce samples to test evasion countermeasures, and decide when applying AI is beneficial

Design and develop automation pipelines to turn manual tasks into automated scripts

Stay abreast of a constantly evolving threat landscape

Understand the latest tactics, techniques, and procedures used by threat actors to bypass detection environments, especially URL sandbox fingerprinting, detection, and evasion techniques

Provide expert assistance and support to threat researchers and analysts as they analyze phishing websites, threat detection evasion techniques, and security research or red team demonstrations of new evasion techniques

Reverse engineering malware executable files for Windows as needed to support sandbox countermeasure development (note primary malware reverse engineering responsibilities rest on other roles and are not expected regularly for this role)

Apply critical thinking to identify efficient and effective ways to mitigate threats and evasions

Work effectively as part of a remote team using chat, video chat and conference calls

Collaborate with other engineering teams, defining requirements for continuous improvement of critical detection capabilities

What You Bring To The Team
As a Security Research Engineer on Proofpoint’s Threat Research team, you’ll be part of an amazing, collaborative, industry-leading team focused on tracking threat actors, malware, phishing, and TTPs and responding to the quickly changing threat landscape with innovative software that detects and prevents threats from reaching Proofpoint customers. If you enjoy keeping abreast of and analyzing attacker techniques, malware and phishing campaigns, and using that knowledge to counteract those threats with innovative software solutions, then this is the role for you.

A passion for threat research and a well-rounded yet deep understanding of the security threat landscape and actor TTPs, especially understanding how to develop countermeasures for threat actor evasions and sandbox detection techniques

Ability to write production-grade, reliable Python code with instrumentation that supports observability and monitoring of performance and errors

Experience developing software using Docker containers

Experience developing web browser automation

Experience analyzing network traffic for threat detection and a solid understanding of TLS, HTTP, and other network protocols used by malware

Willing and able to work independently and collaboratively as part of a distributed team of security researchers

Ability to perform the above in a fully remote work environment

Nice to have

Experience with C and C++

Experience developing Windows API hooks and researching undocumented Windows API internals

Experience writing malware behavior signatures

Some experience analyzing malware using a debugger and willingness to learn

Experience with statically reverse engineering malware using IDA Pro, Ghidra, Binary Ninja, or similar tools

Ability to interpret forensic output from dynamic analysis (sandbox) environments

Experience with various malware sandboxes (e.g., Cuckoo, Joe Sandbox, Any Run, Triage)

Additional Information

Travel 1% - 10% (flexible) mainly for team collaboration or security conferences

Location: Remote (Canada, US, Argentina, UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Switzerland)

Must be able to work during business hours local to your time-zone

Why Proofpoint
We are a customer-focused, award-winning organization with leading-edge products. We hire the best and cultivate a culture of collaboration and appreciation. We are a multinational company with locations in many countries, contributing to Proofpoint’s culture.

Why Proofpoint? An exceptional career experience includes a comprehensive compensation and benefits package. Here are a few reasons you’ll love working with us:

Competitive compensation

Comprehensive benefits

Learning & Development opportunities

Flexible work environment (remote options, hybrid schedules, flexible hours)

Annual wellness and community outreach days

Recognition for your contributions

Global collaboration and networking opportunities

Our Culture: We value belonging, purpose, and success for everyone. If you need accommodation during the application or interview process, please reach out to accessibility@proofpoint.com.

How to Apply: Interested? Submit your application here https://www.proofpoint.com/us/company/careers. We can’t wait to hear from you

Pay transparency and equity: Our compensation reflects the cost of labor across U.S. markets. The actual offer will be based on the candidate’s knowledge, skills, and experience. This role may be eligible for variable compensation and/or equity. Benefits include flexible time off, wellness programs, and a Work from Anywhere option.

Base Pay Ranges: SF Bay Area, NYC Metro Area; other regions as applicable. The ranges are indicative and can vary by location.

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