Principal Security Researcher (AI-Assisted Vulnerability Research)
Palo Alto Networks · Posted Sep 15, 2026
- Santa Clara, California, United States
- $172K–$278K per year
- 7+ years
- Visa sponsorship
Lead AI‑assisted vulnerability research, designing and building AI/security harnesses to discover, validate, and report high‑impact vulnerabilities in real‑world software and open‑source projects.
Compensation
$172,100.00 - $278,300.00/yr
Responsibilities
- Design, build, and improve AI/security harnesses for vulnerability research
- Produce high‑quality research artifacts and technical reports
- Conduct deep technical analysis across real‑world software and open‑source projects
- Build reusable research infrastructure and automation pipelines
- Analyze large‑scale harness outputs to identify new research opportunities
Requirements
- Master's degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, or a related technical field
- Nice to have: PhD in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, AI/ML, Systems, Programming Languages
- Nice to have: AI agent harnesses
- Nice to have: evaluation harnesses
- Nice to have: vulnerability validation workflows