Security represents the most critical priorities for our customers in a world awash in digital threats, regulatory scrutiny, and estate complexity. Microsoft Security aspires to make the world a safer place for all. We want to reshape security and empower every user, customer, and developer with a security cloud that protects them with end to end, simplified solutions.
The Microsoft Security organization accelerates Microsoft’s mission and bold ambitions to ensure that our company and industry is securing digital technology platforms, devices, and clouds in our customers’ heterogeneous environments, as well as ensuring the security of our own internal estate. Our culture is centered on embracing a growth mindset, a theme of inspiring excellence, and encouraging teams and leaders to bring their best each day. In doing so, we create life-changing innovations that impact billions of lives around the world.
Microsoft Threat Protection Research is dedicated to protecting customers from an ever-changing threat landscape by combining deep security expertise with cutting-edge AI innovation. Our mission is to empower organizations to stay ahead of adversaries through intelligent, proactive, and scalable security solutions.
We are looking for a Principal Applied AI Security Researcher to join the Microsoft Defender Experts Research Team and help shape the future of managed security services. In this role, you’ll collaborate with researchers, engineers, and service analysts to transform advanced AI techniques into real-world detections, investigations, and protections for customers worldwide. If you’re passionate about applying AI to solve complex security challenges and thrive in a collaborative, mission-driven environment, we’d love to hear from you.
Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required Qualifications:

• 7+ years experience in software development lifecycle, large-scale computing, modeling, cybersecurity, and/or anomaly detection
• OR Doctorate in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science or related field
• Experience in cybersecurity research, including threat investigation, attacker methodologies, and incident response.
• Experience in programming and scripting skills (e.g., Python, PowerShell, C#, C++) and ability to analyze large datasets using tools such as KQL, SQL, Splunk
• Experience translating complex technical findings for diverse audiences.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS:

Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings:

• Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

ADDITIONAL OR PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• 8+ years experience in software development lifecycle, large-scale computing, modeling, cybersecurity, and/or anomaly detection
• OR Doctorate in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science or related field
• Experience applying AI/ML and generative AI techniques to security scenarios, including large language models and hosted AI platforms (Azure AI Foundry, Azure OpenAI Service).
• Experience in detection methodologies across multiple platforms, OS security internals, network protocols, and reverse engineering (static and behavioral analysis).
• Experience with common threat analysis models (MITRE ATT&CK, Cyber Kill Chain, Diamond Model) and operationalizing detections at scale.
  Security Research IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $139,900 - $274,800 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $188,000 - $304,200 per year.
  Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here: https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay
  Microsoft will accept applications for the role until August 23rd, 2025.
  

  MSFTSecurity #CyberSecurity #dexjobs #MSECAI

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. Consistent with applicable law, 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 and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Apply advanced AI/ML techniques—including generative AI and graph-based methods—to detect, track, and anticipate attacker behaviors across Microsoft Defender telemetry and diverse customer environments.
• Lead hypothesis-driven threat hunts by designing AI-assisted hunting playbooks that correlate identity, endpoint, email, cloud, and SaaS signals to uncover novel attack patterns and campaigns.
• Develop and evolve adversary behavior models and security knowledge graphs to prioritize risk, improve detection quality, and guide automated response strategies.
• Design and execute experiments that transform managed security operations, define measurable success criteria, and scale proven approaches into production workflows.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams—including security researchers, product engineers, and Defender Experts—to translate research into actionable detections, automation, and investigation tools that enhance customer outcomes.
• Operationalize AI models at scale by building robust data pipelines, implementing labeling strategies, and ensuring model monitoring for fairness, drift, and performance in live environments.
• Champion Responsible AI principles by ensuring privacy, security, and compliance throughout the AI lifecycle, from data collection to deployment.
• Communicate research impact effectively through clear documentation, prototypes, and presentations, while mentoring peers and contributing to inclusive best practices in AI for security.
• Stay ahead of the evolving threat landscape by tracking attacker tradecraft, validating new AI techniques, and converting insights into proactive detections and mitigations that reduce customer risk.

Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings:

• Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter