Security Researcher Team Lead

Description We are looking for an exceptional Security Research Team Lead to guide and grow our world-class Security Research team. This role sits at the intersection of deep offensive research and strategic defensive innovation. You will lead a team of talented security researchers while actively contributing to cutting-edge research focused on Linux, runtime environments, and cloud-native attack techniques. Your work will directly influence how modern threats are detected, understood, and prevented at scale, shaping the security capabilities that protect production environments across global enterprises. If you are passionate about advanced threat research, malware analysis, and leading high-impact security teams, this role offers the opportunity to combine hands-on technical depth with strategic leadership. What You’ll Do Provide technical leadership, mentorship, and strategic direction to a team of security researchers, setting a high bar for research quality and impact. Lead research into advanced attack techniques targeting Linux-based cloud-native environments, including containers, Kubernetes, and serverless platforms. Guide the analysis and reverse engineering of Linux malware, uncovering attacker behavior patterns, execution flows, and persistence mechanisms. Translate threat intelligence and research insights into actionable detection, prevention, and hardening strategies. Design and prototype advanced runtime detection and observability mechanisms, including kernel-level approaches such as eBPF. Turn cutting-edge research into scalable security capabilities that protect large-scale production systems. Partner closely with engineering, product, and platform teams to ensure research outcomes translate into real product value. Influence Aqua’s long-term security strategy through research-driven insights and threat analysis. Foster a culture of technical excellence, curiosity, and innovation within the research team.Why Aqua Aqua is at the forefront of cloud-native security, where research directly shapes real-world protection for global enterprises. This role offers true technical ownership, visible impact, and the opportunity to lead research that matters - not just publish it. If you’re driven by deep technical challenges, real adversaries, and systems operating at scale - we’d love to talk. Requirements 2+ years of experience leading or managing a security research team. 5+ years of hands-on security research experience, focused on Linux-based environments. Deep understanding of Linux internals, including processes, system calls, memory management, networking, and filesystems. Strong experience in Linux malware analysis and reverse engineering. Proficiency in C and Python for low-level research, tooling, and prototyping. Proven ability to analyze attacker techniques and translate them into detection and mitigation strategies. Strong familiarity with cloud-native technologies, including containers, Kubernetes, and container runtimes. Excellent communication skills with the ability to translate complex technical findings into clear insights. B.Sc. in Computer Science or equivalent experience (military or advanced technical background is a strong advantage).