Staff Security Research Engineer

Join us as a Staff Security Research Engineer at Proofpoint , a leader in human-centric cybersecurity. We are driven by a mission to stay ahead of bad actors and safeguard the digital world. Our team breaks barriers to redefine cybersecurity, guided by our BRAVE core values: Bold, Responsive, Accountable, Visionary, and Exceptional. About the Role 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. Develop and maintain web browser interaction capabilities using Chrome web driver. Analyze and Reverse Engineer JavaScript that fingerprints web browser artifacts to identify sandbox web 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. 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 make sound decisions about when applying AI is a benefit vs. a detriment to achieving goals. 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 / evasion techniques used by threat actors. 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. Apply critical thinking skills to identify the most efficient and effective way to mitigate threats and evasions. Work effectively as part of a remote team using chat, video chat, and conference calls. Work with other engineering teams, defining requirements, for continuous improvement of critical detection capabilities. What You Bring To The Team 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 industry-leading 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 knowing how to research undocumented Windows API internal functions. 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 other reverse engineering tools. Ability to accurately interpret the forensic output of dynamic analysis (sandbox) environments. Experience with a variety of publicly-available malware sandboxes. Additional Information Travel 1% - 10% (flexible) mainly for team collaboration or security conferences. Location: Canada (Remote), US (Remote), Argentina (Remote), UK (Remote), Ireland (Remote), Germany (Remote), France (Remote), Switzerland (Remote). Must be able to work during business hours local to your time-zone. Why Proofpoint We believe in hiring the best and brightest and cultivating a culture of collaboration and appreciation. As we continue to grow and expand globally, we understand that hiring the right people and developing great teams is key to our success. Competitive compensation. Comprehensive benefits. Learning & Development: We are committed to the growth and development of our team members, offering a range of programs including leadership and professional development workshops, stretch project assignments, and mentoring opportunities to help employees reach their full potential. Flexible work environment (Remote options, hybrid schedules, flexible hours, etc.). Annual wellness and community outreach days. Always on recognition for your contributions. Global collaboration and networking opportunities. Our Culture Our culture is rooted in values that inspire belonging, empower purpose, and drive success-every day, for everyone. We encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. Pay Transparency Consistent with Proofpoint values and applicable law, we provide the following information to promote pay transparency and equity. Our compensation reflects the cost of labor across several U.S. geographic markets, and we pay differently based on those defined markets as set out below. Base Pay Range: $148,425.00 - $285,230.00 USD (depending on location). #J-18808-Ljbffr