Sr Principal Cybersecurity Researcher - Cortex AI Research

Our Mission

At Palo Alto Networks®, we’re united by a shared mission—to protect our digital way of life. We thrive at the intersection of innovation and impact, solving real-world problems with cutting-edge technology and bold thinking. Here, everyone has a voice, and every idea counts. If you’re ready to do the most meaningful work of your career alongside people who are just as passionate as you are, you’re in the right place.

Who We Are

In order to be the cybersecurity partner of choice, we must trailblaze the path and shape the future of our industry. This is something our employees work at each day and is defined by our values: Disruption, Collaboration, Execution, Integrity, and Inclusion. We weave AI into the fabric of everything we do and use it to augment the impact every individual can have. If you are passionate about solving real-world problems and ideating beside the best and the brightest, we invite you to join us!

This role is remote, but distance is no barrier to impact. Our hybrid teams collaborate across geographies to solve big problems, stay close to our customers, and grow together. You will be part of a culture that values trust, accountability, and shared success where your work truly matters.

Job Summary

We're seeking a talented and experienced Sr Principal Security Researcher to join as the cybersecurity lead for the Cortex Foundational Artificial Intelligence Research Team. Our team mission is to advance the state of the art of Cybersecurity AI by applying leading-edge AI technology to the cybersecurity domain. We are building and improving foundational capabilities in cybersecurity systems using Agentic AI, Generative AI, and Large Language Models to be leveraged in future cybersecurity products. If you have a passion for Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence, join us to help develop advanced technology to solve major cybersecurity challenges. You will work with a highly experienced, multidisciplinary, and diverse group of Cybersecurity, AI, and Machine Learning experts. The ideal candidate enjoys collaboration, open ended problem solving, and rolling up your sleeves to find a pragmatic solution that pushes the team and our mission forward – we celebrate learning results quickly from iterative data-driven experiments. We expect candidates to have some prior exposure to AI, but most candidates will have the majority of their experience in Cybersecurity.

Key Responsibilities

• Identify, innovate, build, and evaluate how leading edge AI, Agents, and LLMs can enhance existing cybersecurity processes and tools

• Define, design, and develop cybersecurity-specific tasks, benchmark, and evaluation methodologies to assess AI, Agents, and LLM effectiveness in cybersecurity scenarios

• Collaborate with AI researchers to improve AI and LLM performance on cybersecurity-related tasks, especially those typically done in a Security Operations Center (SOC)

• Leverage state-of-the-art agentic coding tools to accelerate your own research

• Curate, annotate, and validate datasets for training and evaluating AI and LLMs on cybersecurity tasks

• Stay up-to-date with the latest developments in both cybersecurity and AI fields

• Communicate with security experts throughout the organization to share technical progress and system accuracy

• Prepare technical reports and presentations on research findings and model improvements

• Participate in relevant conferences and workshops to share knowledge and stay current with industry trends

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Strong background in cybersecurity, with at least 7 years of experience in the field

• Practical exposure to a range of cybersecurity domains (we are especially looking for additional expertise in Security Operations, DevSecOps, InfoSec, secure coding practices, offensive security, incident response, and/or threat modeling)

• Domain knowledge to evaluate if an AI system is producing correct or hallucinated results.

• Understanding of common cybersecurity tools and frameworks used in Security Operations Centers (SOC)

• Experience with Agentic AI technology for agentic coding and/or building custom agents with an existing framework

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills

• Excellent written and verbal communication and collaboration

• Thrives when working on open-ended problems without known solutions

Preferred Qualifications

• Well-rounded exposure to many topics in cybersecurity, and eager to quickly learn about areas where you have knowledge gaps

• Basic knowledge of AI concepts, particularly Agents and LLMs

• Previous experience applying AI/ML techniques to cybersecurity problems or coding

• Familiarity with prompt engineering

• Knowledge of data privacy and security considerations in AI/ML

• Published blog posts, articles, books, research papers, etc. in a cybersecurity, IT, engineering, or scientific field

• A solid network of security professionals you can reach out to for ideas and external collaboration

Compensation Disclosure

The compensation offered for this position will depend on qualifications, experience, and work location. For candidates who receive an offer at the posted level, the starting base salary (for non-sales roles) or base salary + commission target (for sales/com-missioned roles) is expected to be the annual range listed below. The offered compensation may also include restricted stock units and a bonus. A description of our employee benefits may be found here.

$188,000.00 - $304,075.00/yr

Our Commitment

We’re trailblazers that dream big, take risks, and challenge cybersecurity’s status quo. It’s simple: we can’t accomplish our mission without diverse teams innovating, together.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for all qualified individuals with a disability. If you require assistance or accommodation due to a disability or special need, please contact us at  accommodations@paloaltonetworks.com.

Palo Alto Networks is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity in our workplace, and 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 other legally protected characteristics.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

Is role eligible for Immigration Sponsorship?: Yes