Principal Researcher

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

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.

We have the vision of a world where each day is safer and more secure than the one before. These aren’t easy goals to accomplish – but we’re not here for easy. We’re here for better. 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.

Disruption is at the core of our technology and on our way of work to meet the needs of our employees now and in the future through FLEXWORK, our approach to how we work. We’re changing the nature of work from benefits to learning, location to leadership, we’ve rethought and recreated every aspect of the employee experience at Palo Alto Networks. And because it FLEXes around each individual employee based on their individual choices, employees are empowered to push boundaries and help us all evolve, together.

Role Overview

• The Unit 42 Malware team is a global team responsible for providing accurate malware analysis, threat hunting capabilities, and the development of malware automation pipelines. This role is designed for an experienced Reverse Engineer with familiarity specifically supporting consulting operations and threat intelligence. The role has flexible hours, but will have an on-call component that includes a commitment to shared coverage of high-priority tickets that may arrive between Friday through Sunday.

Required Skills

• Advanced knowledge with at least one disassembler (e.g. IDA Pro, Ghidra, Binary Ninja).

• Expertise with user-mode and kernel-mode debuggers (e.g. x64dbg, WinDbg, gdb).

• Developing and scaling reverse engineering automations (e.g. IDAPython, Ghidra Python, Docker).

• Deep understanding of modern malware techniques, including obfuscation and evasion tactics.

• Understanding of x86/x64 architecture and IL formats (e.g. .NET).

• Proficiency in at least one programming language (e.g. Python, C, C++).

• Knowledge of networking protocols (e.g. HTTP, DNS, TCP/IP) and analyzing traffic.

• Experience configuring sandboxes to increase hit-rate and accelerate analysis.

• Familiarity with prompt engineering and using LLMs to accelerate analysis.

• Advanced understanding of modern Windows internals relevant to malware analysis.

• Experience transforming/modifying malware to support analysis (e.g. deobfuscation).

• Familiarity with script deobfuscation and analysis (e.g. PowerShell, JavaScript)

Preferred Skills

• Proven track record of contributing to threat research initiatives

• Designing and building next-generation hunt tooling

What we Offer

• Hands-on experience with real-world malware and threats.

• Access to industry-leading tools and infrastructure.

• Opportunity to work on impactful projects that contribute to threat intelligence.

• A collaborative and supportive team environment.

The Team

[Input by recruiter and audited by recruiting specialist]

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.