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Security Research Engineer - Project Perception

Microsoft· Security Research
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United States, Multiple Locations$119.8k - $234.7kFull-timePosted 2w ago

About the role

Principal and Senior Security Research Engineers to build realistic, safely contained attack scenarios across cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments. Combine hands-on security research with software engineering to reproduce vulnerable conditions, construct multi-step attack chains, and implement checks for verifiable outcomes. Support reinforcement learning for Microsoft’s MAI models and evaluation of security Perception agents and harnesses.

Responsibilities

  • Turn threat research into working scenarios, reproducing real vulnerabilities and emerging adversary techniques in cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments.
  • Build realistic attack chains.
  • Connect vulnerable applications, identity weaknesses, and misconfigurations into multi-step scenarios with verified prerequisites and observable security impact.
  • Make outcomes verifiable.
  • Build automated graders and reward signals grounded in system state and telemetry, distinguishing agent success, effective defenses, and environment failures.
  • Evaluate beyond familiar patterns.
  • Create attack variants, benign lookalikes, and patched controls that expose missed threats, false positives, and memorization.
  • Deliver safe, reusable research.
  • Own scenario code, isolation, evidence capture and reset; partner with AI and environment engineers to turn findings into better training and evaluation.

Qualifications

  • Doctorate in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Computer Security, or related field AND 3+ years experience in software development lifecycle, large-scale computing, threat analysis or modeling, cybersecurity, vulnerability research, and/or anomaly detection.
  • OR Master's Degree in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Computer Security, or related field AND 4+ years experience in software development lifecycle, large-scale computing, threat analysis or modeling, cybersecurity, vulnerability research, and/or anomaly detection.
  • OR Bachelor's Degree in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Computer Security, or related field AND 6+ years experience in software development lifecycle, large-scale computing, threat analysis or modeling, cybersecurity, vulnerability research, and/or anomaly detection.
  • OR equivalent experience.

Skills

Required:Vulnerability research
Nice to have:Scenario automationReproducing attack pathsAttack chain constructionCloud IAM assessmentSource-code analysis / debuggingAutomated graders / reward functionsAttack variants / benign cases / patched scenarios
Last updated Oct 9, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.

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