Senior Principal Researcher (Unit 42)

Our Mission

At Palo Alto Networks® everything starts and ends with our mission:

Being the cybersecurity partner of choice, protecting our digital way of life.
Our vision is a world where each day is safer and more secure than the one before. We are a company built on the foundation of challenging and disrupting the way things are done, and we’re looking for innovators who are as committed to shaping the future of cybersecurity as we are.

Who We Are

We take our mission of protecting the digital way of life seriously. We are relentless in protecting our customers and we believe that the unique ideas of every member of our team contributes to our collective success. Our values were crowdsourced by employees and are brought to life through each of us everyday - from disruptive innovation and collaboration, to execution. From showing up for each other with integrity to creating an environment where we all feel included.

As a member of our team, you will be shaping the future of cybersecurity. We work fast, value ongoing learning, and we respect each employee as a unique individual. Knowing we all have different needs, our development and personal wellbeing programs are designed to give you choice in how you are supported. This includes our FLEXBenefits wellbeing spending account with over 1,000 eligible items selected by employees, our mental and financial health resources, and our personalized learning opportunities - just to name a few!

Your Career

As a Strategic Threat Intelligence Advisor (Retail and Hospitality) within the External Engagement team in Unit 42 Threat Intelligence, you will bring expert knowledge of threats to the retail and hospitality industries and a passion for communicating about them effectively. 

Working at the level of a senior principal threat intelligence analyst, you will be responsible for staying up to date on threat actors and attacks that are concerning to organizations in the retail and hospitality industries and providing meaningful intelligence contributions to those conversations. You will be able to identify emerging trends in threat and incident response data and establish thought leadership as you share about these trends with industry peers. 

You will communicate about the threat landscape for the retail and hospitality industries through presentations at industry events, meetings with partner organizations, and in external articles and social posts. 

You will become a go-to expert about the threat landscape for retail and hospitality for Unit 42, Palo Alto Networks executives, customers and the larger cybersecurity community. 

You will be a clear self-starter with the ability to understand high-level tasking and use your own knowledge and skills to meet goals and deadlines. Consistent collaboration with other researchers and teams, as well as with partner organizations, will be necessary for your success in this role.

Your Impact

• Demonstrate expertise in collecting and analyzing threat intelligence data across all categories of cyber threats relevant to the retail and hospitality industries

• Document and communicate emerging threats, trends and their potential impact  to the retail and hospitality industries in a timely manner 

• Translate your threat intelligence collection into multiple formats that can be shared effectively with internal and external partners focused on defending the retail and hospitality industries

• Ability to map new threat intelligence findings into threat intelligence repositories

• Be able to investigate and communicate an adversary’s actions through use of common frameworks such as MITRE ATT&CK and the Diamond Model

• Conduct deep analysis using multiple types of Palo Alto Networks internal telemetry as well as open-source datasets across the entire threat landscape

• Be able to conduct quick-turnaround threat analysis and feedback support for high-visibility threat research and urgent requests for information

• Serve as an internal SME for threats related to the retail and hospitality industries

• Demonstrate thought leadership across Unit 42 and within the retail and hospitality industries

• Foster strong collaboration with key stakeholders across different functional teams and among partner organizations

• Grow industry connections

Your Experience 

• 10+ years experience in threat intelligence focused on a variety of threats including but not limited to: ransomware, nation-state, cyber-crime, supply-chain/3rd party risks, cloud, mobile, dark web, offensive security, and insider threats

• Expert understanding of the adversary’s attack lifecycle, TTPs and high-fidelity indicators of compromise

• Experience with tools for data analysis, such as passive DNS, network infrastructure and  host-based information

• Proven communicator and collaborator with demonstrated success in building trusted relationships with internal and external stakeholders

• Strong verbal and written communication skills

• Clear ability to lead tasks/projects independently and drive process improvement across teams

• Proven record as a problem solver in complex and often ambiguous situations

• Drive to overcome the most challenging obstacles and look for ways to improve results

• Ability to understand and assimilate different points of view, manage time and prioritize work based on project needs and deadlines

Helpful Additional Experience

• Expert understanding of specific cybersecurity needs and concerns of the retail and hospitality industries

• Established relationships within the retail and hospitality industry

• Experienced public speaker at large industry conferences

• History of publishing impactful cybersecurity research and/or trend publications. Especially helpful if focused on the retail and hospitality industries

• Experience with using social media to connect with cybersecurity and industry peers

• Comfortable working within a remote team

• Ability to interpret and action internal and external reports including technical malware analysis

• Knowledge of scripting languages to facilitate data collection and analysis

• Has served as a mentor or team lead

The Team

Unit 42 brings together our world-renowned threat researchers with an elite team of security consultants to create an intelligence-driven, response-ready organization. The Unit 42 Threat Intelligence team provides threat research that enables security teams to understand adversary intent and attribution while enhancing protections offered by our products and services to stop advanced attacks. As threats escalate, Unit 42 is available to advise customers on the latest risks, assess their readiness, and help them recover when the worst occurs.

 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 [email protected].

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.

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/commissioned roles) is expected to be between $182,000 - $295,000/YR. The offered compensation may also include restricted stock units and a bonus. A description of our employee benefits may be found here.

Our Commitment

We’re problem solvers that 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  [email protected].

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.