Senior Security Research Engineer - Microsoft Defender Experts Team

Microsoft · Big Tech · San José, San José Province, Costa Rica · Security Research

This role is for a Senior Security Research Engineer on the Microsoft Defender Experts Team. The primary focus is on detecting, investigating, and responding to advanced attacks and data breaches using Microsoft 365 Defender and rich telemetry. The role involves analyzing attacker behaviors, generating custom alerts, building new tools and automations for hunting, and driving innovations in detecting advanced attacker tradecraft. While AI/ML might be used as a tool, the core craft is cybersecurity detection and response, not building AI models.

What you'd actually do

Work directly with senior leaders of our customers’ security organizations as design partners on new cloud detection and response innovations, as well as to ensure excellent customer satisfaction with our products and services.
Partner with your team of Microsoft Threat Experts providing deep research and analysis of threats impacting our customers.
Work cross-functionally with engineering, marketing, and business leaders to innovate and deliver new security service offerings at a global scale.
Investigate, analyze, and learn from security researchers, attackers, and real incidents to develop durable detection solutions/strategies across customer tools.
Work with other internal and external teams to forge new and improve existing partnerships that help mature the products that support Defender Experts service offerings.

Skills

Required

Doctorate in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Computer Security, or related field OR Master's Degree 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 Bachelor'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 equivalent experience.
Over 7 years of hands‑on experience in technical cybersecurity roles—including Security Operations, Threat Intelligence, Incident Response, and Penetration Testing/Red Team—demonstrating deep expertise in industry best practices, emerging threats, and SOC operations, along with advanced proficiency in deploying and configuring the Microsoft Defender XDR suite to strengthen enterprise security posture.
Advanced English level.

Nice to have

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 6+ 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 8+ years experience in software development lifecycle, large-scale computing, threat analysis or modeling, cybersecurity, vulnerability research, and/or anomaly detection OR equivalent experience.
Ideally 300-level proficiency in Microsoft Defender Endpoint and Microsoft Defender Office, and 200-level in Microsoft Defender Cloud Apps, Microsoft Defender Identity, and Microsoft Defender Cloud.
Customer-Centric Mindset: Comfortable engaging with diverse stakeholders, possessing exceptional communication and interpersonal skills to navigate complex organizational landscapes.
Experience evaluating and translating customer needs, requirements, and challenges, and communicating solutions (positioning, technology, value, priority) and improvements to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Experience leading a security function for a customer (i.e.: SOC manager, solution lead, Security engineer)
Knowledge of operating system internals and attack techniques in Windows, Linux, Mac, Android & iOS platforms
Experience with data analysis and cyber threat investigations in Sentinel
Knowledge of kill-chain model, ATT&CK framework, and modern penetration testing techniques
Knowledge of major cloud and productivity platforms as well as identity systems and related security concerns
Experienced with curation of Threat Intelligence and delivering customer briefings
Strong ability to use data to 'tell a story'
Experience with reverse engineering, digital forensics (DFIR) or incident response, or machine learning models
Experience with system administration in a large enterprise environment including Windows and Linux servers and workstations, network administration, cloud administration
Experience with offensive security including tools such as Metasploit, exploit development, Open Source Intelligence Gathering (OSINT), and designing ways to breach enterprise networks
Additional advanced technical degrees or cyber security c

What the JD emphasized

Over 7 years of hands‑on experience in technical cybersecurity roles—including Security Operations, Threat Intelligence, Incident Response, and Penetration Testing/Red Team—demonstrating deep expertise in industry best practices, emerging threats, and SOC operations, along with advanced proficiency in deploying and configuring the Microsoft Defender XDR suite to strengthen enterprise security posture.
Doctorate in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Computer Security, or related field OR Master's Degree 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 Bachelor'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 equivalent experience.

Read full job description

Overview

Microsoft Defender Experts Team is looking for an experienced professional to join our detection and response team. No matter how sophisticated attacker behaviors become, Microsoft 365 Defender will help enterprises detect, investigate, and respond to advanced attacks and data breaches on their networks. Our team uses deep knowledge of the attacker landscape and rich telemetry from our sensors to perform root-cause analysis and generate custom alerts, ensuring that Microsoft 365 Defender customers are well equipped to quickly respond to human adversaries identified in their unique environments.

Ensuring that no human adversary can operate silently begins with experts harnessing the powerful optics provided by Microsoft 365 Defender, across the attacker kill-chain, coupled with world-class detections. We are looking for someone who is passionate about this work to help us harness the power of Microsoft’s trillions of security signals to quickly identify and report the latest human adversary behaviors, drive critical context-rich alerts, build new tools and automations in support of hunting objectives, and drive innovations for detecting advanced attacker tradecraft.

Responsibilities

· Work directly with senior leaders of our customers’ security organizations as design partners on new cloud detection and response innovations, as well as to ensure excellent customer satisfaction with our products and services.

· Partner with your team of Microsoft Threat Experts providing deep research and analysis of threats impacting our customers.

· Work cross-functionally with engineering, marketing, and business leaders to innovate and deliver new security service offerings at a global scale.

· Investigate, analyze, and learn from security researchers, attackers, and real incidents to develop durable detection solutions/strategies across customer tools.

· Work with other internal and external teams to forge new and improve existing partnerships that help mature the products that support Defender Experts service offerings.

· Provide technical leadership in a challenging and rewarding environment and influence the organization.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

Doctorate in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Computer Security, or related field OR Master's Degree 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 Bachelor'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 equivalent experience.
Over 7 years of hands‑on experience in technical cybersecurity roles—including Security Operations, Threat Intelligence, Incident Response, and Penetration Testing/Red Team—demonstrating deep expertise in industry best practices, emerging threats, and SOC operations, along with advanced proficiency in deploying and configuring the Microsoft Defender XDR suite to strengthen enterprise security posture.
Advanced English level.

Additional or preferred 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 6+ 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 8+ years experience in software development lifecycle, large-scale computing, threat analysis or modeling, cybersecurity, vulnerability research, and/or anomaly detection OR equivalent experience.
Ideally 300-level proficiency in Microsoft Defender Endpoint and Microsoft Defender Office, and 200-level in Microsoft Defender Cloud Apps, Microsoft Defender Identity, and Microsoft Defender Cloud.
Customer-Centric Mindset: Comfortable engaging with diverse stakeholders, possessing exceptional communication and interpersonal skills to navigate complex organizational landscapes.
Experience evaluating and translating customer needs, requirements, and challenges, and communicating solutions (positioning, technology, value, priority) and improvements to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Experience leading a security function for a customer (i.e.: SOC manager, solution lead, Security engineer)
Knowledge of operating system internals and attack techniques in Windows, Linux, Mac, Android & iOS platforms
Experience with data analysis and cyber threat investigations in Sentinel
Knowledge of kill-chain model, ATT&CK framework, and modern penetration testing techniques
Knowledge of major cloud and productivity platforms as well as identity systems and related security concerns
Experienced with curation of Threat Intelligence and delivering customer briefings
Strong ability to use data to 'tell a story'
Experience with reverse engineering, digital forensics (DFIR) or incident response, or machine learning models
Experience with system administration in a large enterprise environment including Windows and Linux servers and workstations, network administration, cloud administration
Experience with offensive security including tools such as Metasploit, exploit development, Open Source Intelligence Gathering (OSINT), and designing ways to breach enterprise networks
Additional advanced technical degrees or cyber security certifications such as CISSP, OSCP, CEH, or GIAC certifications
Advanced Portuguese level

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about **requesting accommodations.**