Threat Security Researcher

Description

Upwind is a next-generation Cloud Security Platform that leverages runtime context to identify and prioritize critical risks, providing precise insights and efficient cloud security management. Unlike traditional tools, Upwind uses runtime data proactively for risk prioritization and posture insights, ensuring teams focus on what truly matters. With industry-leading efficiency and eBPF-powered sensors, Upwind delivers comprehensive capabilities, including agentless cloud posture discovery, real-time threat protection, and integrated API security. From misconfigurations to malware defense, Upwind ensures end-to-end, cost-effective cloud infrastructure protection. At Upwind, you’ll have the opportunity to think creatively, explore new ideas, and use your skills to make a meaningful impact on our growth.

We're looking for a threat Security Researcher to own the "right" side of the platform - from live cloud workloads and the eBPF telemetry they emit, through adversary behavior in containers and Kubernetes, into the AI systems and agents now embedded in production. You'll hunt down how novel attack techniques actually unfold at runtime — the credential theft, the lateral movement, the abuse of a model or an MCP tool — then turn that research into the detection logic that runs over Upwind's vast runtime telemetry and powers real-time threat protection. This role sits at the intersection of threat research, cloud, AI security, and detection engineering.

We're looking for a Threat Security Researcher to join our Threats team at the intersection of security research, AI, and product. You'll own detection research across runtime, cloud, network, identity, code, while actively shaping how AI capabilities are applied to solve real security problems at scale.

• Conduct deep technical research into modern cloud environments and AI systems and discover novel attack techniques.

• Lead product initiatives in the threats domain from inception to production. Collaborate closely with product, backend, and GTM, translating research into product capabilities.

• Define and create complex detection logic over our vast telemetry, with a focus on coverage that scales across customer environments.

• Identify gaps in detection coverage and evaluate detection quality. ensuring security logic is reliable and impactful.

• Stay up to date with the evolving threat landscape (threat intelligence, campaigns) and incorporate into our product

• Contribute to PR presence - technical research content, talks, open-source tooling.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in threat research, including threat hunting, incident response or detection engineering

• Military background experience, university degree, or Ex-CNAPP

• Curious, detail-oriented mindset with proven ability to self-learn complex topics and new mechanisms.

• Hands-on skills with scripting languages (e.g., Python) as well as query languages (e.g., KQL

• Ability to work independently and also across teams, in a dynamic, fast-moving, demanding environment

• Strong written and verbal communication skills in English, with the ability to explain complex security concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Advantages

• Experience in AI Security Research

• An AI-native mindset, you've built or applied AI-powered tooling in a security context

• Experience conducting data-driven research and working with large-scale telemetry.

• Experience in public-facing work, such as presenting at recognized industry conferences or authoring technical blog posts