Senior Security Operations Engineer

Job Description

Job Title: Senior Security Operations Engineer. Location: Redmond, Washington, USA

Responsibilities:

• Implement AI-enabled Security Operations Center (SOC) automation and investigation capabilities, including signal enrichment, workflow orchestration, and analyst tooling.
• Develop and operate security tooling, data integrations, dashboards, and supporting platforms required for reliable day-to-day security operations.
• Tune security detections and investigation workflows to improve signal quality, reduce false positives, shorten investigation times, and increase analyst productivity.
• Participate in security incident investigation and response while maintaining operational readiness;
• Troubleshoot security issues affecting network, infrastructure, and physical security services.
• Partner with engineering, facilities, networking, and security teams to automate manual processes, resolve operational issues, and strengthen end-to-end resilience.
• Support a globally distributed research community and protect its intellectual property within Microsoft's Quantum Security & IT Operations team.
• Advance security and IT operations through automation, AI-assisted investigations, and detection engineering.

Qualifications:

• Doctorate in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, or a related field; or
• Master's degree in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, or a related field plus 3+ years of experience in software development lifecycle, large-scale computing, threat modeling, cybersecurity, anomaly detection, SOC detection, threat analytics, SIEM, IT, or operations incident response; or
• Bachelor's degree in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, or a related field plus 4+ years of relevant experience; or
• Equivalent experience;
• Ability to meet Microsoft, customer, and/or government security screening requirements.
• Ability to complete the Microsoft Cloud Background Check upon hire or transfer and every two years thereafter.
• Ability to satisfy applicable export-control requirements and provide citizenship, permanent residency, or other qualifying status documentation when required.

Preferred:

• Doctorate in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, or a related field plus 3+ years of relevant experience.
• Master's degree in a relevant field plus 6+ years of relevant experience.
• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field plus 8+ years of relevant experience.
• Relevant security certifications such as CISSP, CISA, CISM, SANS, or OSCP.
• 2+ years of programming experience with C++, C#, Python, Scala, or similar technologies.
• Experience coordinating incidents and supporting live services, including investigation, containment, recovery, escalation, triage, root-cause analysis, stakeholder communication, and operational readiness.
• Hands-on experience with Microsoft Sentinel and KQL or an equivalent enterprise SIEM, including detection engineering, data onboarding, investigative analysis, and resolving ambiguous, high-impact security issues.
• Experience with security automation and AI-assisted operational workflows using PowerShell, Python, Logic Apps, or similar technologies.
• Working knowledge of enterprise networking, including DNS, TCP/IP, firewalls, routing, VPNs, and network troubleshooting.
• Experience working with SOC or NOC environments;
• Experience collaborating with insider threat, investigations, legal, or trade compliance teams.
• Exposure to insider threat platforms such as Purview, DTEX, Proofpoint ITM, Magnet Axiom, or Forcepoint.
• Experience designing, deploying, or evaluating agentic AI or LLM-based automation for security operations.
• Experience or interest in protecting strategic research programs from sustained external targeting.
• Familiarity with export controls such as EAR and ITAR and government program environments.

Benefits and Compensation:

• Typical U.S. base salary range: $119,800 to $234,700 per year.
• San Francisco Bay Area and New York City metropolitan area base salary range: $160,200 to $261,000 per year.
• Certain roles may be eligible for additional benefits and compensation.
• Microsoft provides a comprehensive employee benefits program, with additional pay and benefits information available through its careers site.

Other Information:

• Work arrangement: 3 days per week in-office.
• Travel: 25% to 50%.
• Profession: Security Engineering;
• Discipline: Security Operations Engineering.
• Role level: IC4.
• Job number: 200052629.