The Cloud & AI 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 is one of the largest enterprise service companies in the world.
The CISO Org is Microsoft’s central cybersecurity authority, accountable for managing and prioritizing cybersecurity risk across the company. The Microsoft Red Team is responsible for finding and demonstrating risks to proactively identify and mitigate vulnerabilities. The Microsoft Red Team Research & Exploitation Team is a specialized unit within the broader Red Team that focuses on conducting forward-looking research and discovering novel exploits and high value attack positions. We provide SLT visibility into ongoing & novel risks to Microsoft and provide capabilities that enable Microsoft Red Team breach operators to be successful on objective.
We are looking for a
Principal Security Research Manager to lead the North America portion of the team. In this role, you will grow and lead a team of world class Security Researchers specialized in identifying and exploiting vulnerabilities in all layers of services including application, cloud, network, and operational security domains. You’ll work closely with the broader global Microsoft Red Team organization, and partner with engineering owners and Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) during the vulnerability disclosure process. You will also be responsible for expanding the team charter to provide surge support capability during severity security incidents for active Threat Actors (TAs) while working closely with peers in MSTIC and GHOST.
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.
In alignment with our Microsoft values, we are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment for all employees to positively impact our culture every day.
Responsibilities
As a Principal Security Research Manager, you will:
- Lead and support a geographically distributed team of security researchers responsible for discovering zero-day vulnerabilities in cloud environments and associated technologies.
- Allocates resources of team and prioritizes work, including real-time re-prioritization when needed.
- Coordinate resources across groups to support the work of the team.
- Serve as escalation point for conflicting priorities.
- Secure additional resources as priorities and strategic direction shift.
- Provide direction to team to ensure efforts are dedicated to prioritized security research efforts across multiple projects in different security areas.
- Advocate for security change across the company through building partnerships and clearly communicating impact of risks.
- Determine and ensure dissemination of research to those who most benefit.
- Balance value of dissemination over risk of divulging techniques.
- Build and maintain relationships with stakeholders who benefit from research insight.
- Ensures feedback loops are active and inform future research efforts.
- Mentor, develop, and grow your team with a focus on clarity, purpose, and career growth.
Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications:
- Master's Degree in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science or related field.
- OR 7+ years experience in software development lifecycle, large-scale computing, modeling, cybersecurity, and/or anomaly detection.
- 1+ year(s) people management experience.
- 2+ year(s) hands on experience with leading a team in vulnerability discovery, variant hunting, pen-testing, or red teaming.
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 background and Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.
Preferred Qualifications
- Doctorate in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science or related field.
- OR 8+ years experience in software development lifecycle, large-scale computing, modeling, cybersecurity, and/or anomaly detection.
- 2+ years people management experience.
- 4+ year(s) hands on experience or leading a team in vulnerability discovery, variant hunting, pen-testing, or red teaming.
- Proven ability to lead technical efforts in evolving environments.
- Ability to hire and mentor technical engineers.
Security Research M5 - 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 October 22, 2025.
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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.
