[Hiring] Senior Security Researcher @Censys

Role Description

As a Principal Security Researcher, you’ll have the opportunity to work at the intersection of large-scale internet measurement, advanced threat research, and real-world cybersecurity events. Our research doesn't just advance academic knowledge—it’s leveraged to directly protect enterprise customers and support critical national security initiatives.

You'll collaborate with world-class researchers, engineers, and product teams while having the freedom to pursue ambitious research projects that push the boundaries of what's possible in cybersecurity.

This position is located remotely with no expectation to work from a Censys office. This position is also expected to travel once per quarter for industry events and team onsites.

What you’ll do:

• Drive product capability by bringing an offensive practitioner's perspective to Censys's scanning, fingerprinting, and attack surface data.
• Conduct original research on emerging attack techniques, exploitation trends, C2 infrastructure, and adversary tradecraft.
• Publish seminal work, including research reports, technical blog posts, and conference-caliber material.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Engineering and Product to translate research findings into new scanning modules and detection features.
• Lead agentic AI threat research by building, deploying, and evaluating agentic AI frameworks.
• Track adversary infrastructure using red team and pentest tradecraft knowledge.
• Mentor and inform as an internal subject-matter expert on offensive techniques.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of hands-on penetration testing, red teaming, or adversary emulation experience.
• Demonstrated ability to independently identify and characterize vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, or exploitation techniques.
• Strong understanding of network protocols, service fingerprinting, and Internet-scale scanning concepts.
• Hands-on experience with agentic systems for offensive security.
• Proficiency in scripting or coding (Python, Go, or similar).
• Familiarity with red team frameworks and tradecraft.
• Comfort working with large-scale Internet scan data or a strong interest in learning to do so.

Requirements

• Relevant certifications (OSCP, OSCE, OSEP, GXPN, or equivalent demonstrated skill).
• Experience with IoT, OT/ICS, or embedded device security research.
• Prior work as a researcher at a security vendor.
• Evidence of research/tooling contributions to the agentic offensive space.
• A track record of public research output.
• Familiarity with compliance-adjacent security testing is a plus.

Benefits

• Competitive salary range based on location and experience.
• Equity, health, dental & vision coverage.
• Retirement with company contribution.
• Parental leave and mental health & wellness benefits.
• Flexible PTO and a professional development stipend.
• Sales incentive pay for most sales roles and an annual bonus plan for eligible non-sales roles.