Security Software Engineer

<p><b>About Us:</b></p><p><span style="font-size:14px"> </span></p><p>Proofpoint is a global leader in human- and agent-centric cybersecurity. We protect how people, data, and AI agents connect across email, cloud, and collaboration tools. Over 80 of the Fortune 100, 10,000 large enterprises, and millions of smaller organizations trust Proofpoint to stop threats, prevent data loss, and build resilience across their people and AI workflows. Our mission is simple: safeguard the digital world and empower people to work securely and confidently. Join us in our pursuit to defend data and protect people.</p><p></p><p><b>How We Work:</b></p><p></p><p>At Proofpoint you’ll be part of a global team that breaks barriers to redefine cybersecurity guided by our BRAVE core values: </p><p></p><p><b>Bold</b> in how we dream and innovate</p><p><b>Responsive</b> to feedback, challenges and opportunities</p><p><b>Accountable</b> for results and best in class outcomes</p><p><b>Visionary</b> in future focused problem-solving</p><p><b>Exceptional</b> in execution and impact</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div><div>Job Description</div></div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><p>The Proofpoint Threat Research team—including Emerging Threats—investigates and creates protective measures against advanced malware and intrusion techniques used by cybercriminal and nation-state actors. To do this effectively, researchers rely on innovative tooling, scalable infrastructure, and hygienic analysis environments. This role focuses on building and maintaining those systems.<br><br><br>Your day-to-day tasks:</p><ul><li>Evaluate and support changes to our Threat Analysis environment</li><li>Analyze needs and create and support internal tools where appropriate</li><li>Support a team researching new and past threats, including malware, exploit kits, and vulnerabilities</li></ul><p><br>Specific techncial areas of need:</p><ul><li>Experience with network traffic inspection tools, such as Wireshark, tcpdump, Moloch, etc.</li><li>Familiarity with virtualization technologies, such as VMware products, VirtualBox, KVM, etc.</li><li>Experience with one or more scripting languages. Lua and Python proficiency preferred.</li><li>Experience with regular expressions/PCRE.</li><li>Creativity, enthusiasm for the network threat space, and a willingness to collaborate with the team.</li><li>Must be able to work under broad strategic guidance.</li></ul><p><br>What you bring to the team:</p><ul><li>Experience building web applications (React preferred)</li><li>RESTful API design and implementation</li><li>Database experience (PostgreSQL, ES, or MongoDB)</li><li>Data pipeline and ETL experience</li><li>Experience with containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)</li></ul><p><br>This is a solution engineering role at the intersection of threat research, detection engineering, and platform development. You’ll enable researchers to move faster, see more, and detect better by creating and maintaining tools to help them help each other and our customers.</p><p></p><p>#LI-remote</p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><p><b>Why Proofpoint?</b></p><p></p><p>At Proofpoint, we believe that an exceptional career experience includes a comprehensive compensation and benefits package. Here are just a few reasons you’ll love working with us:</p><p></p><ul><li><p>Competitive compensation</p></li><li><p>Comprehensive benefits</p></li><li><p>Career success on your terms</p></li><li><p>Flexible work environment</p></li><li><p>Annual wellness and community outreach days</p></li><li><p>Always on recognition for your contributions</p></li><li><p>Global collaboration and networking opportunities</p></li></ul><p><i><b> </b></i></p><p><b>Our Culture:</b></p><p></p><p>Our culture is rooted in values that inspire belonging, empower purpose and drive success-every day, for everyone.</p><p>We encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. If you need accommodation during the application or interview process, please reach out to <a href="mailto:accessibility@proofpoint.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="color:#0875e1"><u><span style="overflow-wrap: break-word; display: inline; text-decoration: inherit; hyphens: auto;">accessibility@proofpoint.com</span></u></span></a>.</p><p> </p><p><b>How to Apply</b></p><p></p><p>Interested? Submit your application along with any supporting information- we can’t wait to hear from you!</p><p></p><p></p><p style="text-align:left">Consistent with Proofpoint values and applicable law, we provide the following information to promote pay transparency and equity. Our compensation reflects the cost of labor across several U.S. geographic markets, and we pay differently based on those defined markets as set out below. Pay within these ranges varies and depends on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The actual offer will be based on the individual candidate. The range provided may represent a candidate range and may not reflect the full range for an individual tenured employee. This role may be eligible for variable compensation and/or equity. We offer a competitive benefits package, including flexible time off, a comprehensive well-being program with two paid Wellbeing Days and two paid Volunteer Days per year, plus a three-week Work from Anywhere option.</p><p style="text-align:left"><b>Base Pay Ranges:</b></p><p style="text-align:inherit"></p><p style="text-align:left"><span>SF Bay Area, New York City Metro Area:</span></p>Base Pay Range: 136,200.00 - 214,005.00 USD<p style="text-align:inherit"></p><p style="text-align:left"><span>California (excludes SF Bay Area), Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Washington DC Metro, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Texas, Washington, Virginia, and Alaska:</span></p>Base Pay Range: 112,700.00 - 177,100.00 USD<p style="text-align:inherit"></p><p style="text-align:left"><span>All other cities and states excluding those listed above:</span></p>Base Pay Range: 101,600.00 - 159,720.00 USD

Back to blog

Common Interview Questions And Answers

1. HOW DO YOU PLAN YOUR DAY?

This is what this question poses: When do you focus and start working seriously? What are the hours you work optimally? Are you a night owl? A morning bird? Remote teams can be made up of people working on different shifts and around the world, so you won't necessarily be stuck in the 9-5 schedule if it's not for you...

2. HOW DO YOU USE THE DIFFERENT COMMUNICATION TOOLS IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS?

When you're working on a remote team, there's no way to chat in the hallway between meetings or catch up on the latest project during an office carpool. Therefore, virtual communication will be absolutely essential to get your work done...

3. WHAT IS "WORKING REMOTE" REALLY FOR YOU?

Many people want to work remotely because of the flexibility it allows. You can work anywhere and at any time of the day...

4. WHAT DO YOU NEED IN YOUR PHYSICAL WORKSPACE TO SUCCEED IN YOUR WORK?

With this question, companies are looking to see what equipment they may need to provide you with and to verify how aware you are of what remote working could mean for you physically and logistically...

5. HOW DO YOU PROCESS INFORMATION?

Several years ago, I was working in a team to plan a big event. My supervisor made us all work as a team before the big day. One of our activities has been to find out how each of us processes information...

6. HOW DO YOU MANAGE THE CALENDAR AND THE PROGRAM? WHICH APPLICATIONS / SYSTEM DO YOU USE?

Or you may receive even more specific questions, such as: What's on your calendar? Do you plan blocks of time to do certain types of work? Do you have an open calendar that everyone can see?...

7. HOW DO YOU ORGANIZE FILES, LINKS, AND TABS ON YOUR COMPUTER?

Just like your schedule, how you track files and other information is very important. After all, everything is digital!...

8. HOW TO PRIORITIZE WORK?

The day I watched Marie Forleo's film separating the important from the urgent, my life changed. Not all remote jobs start fast, but most of them are...

9. HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR A MEETING AND PREPARE A MEETING? WHAT DO YOU SEE HAPPENING DURING THE MEETING?

Just as communication is essential when working remotely, so is organization. Because you won't have those opportunities in the elevator or a casual conversation in the lunchroom, you should take advantage of the little time you have in a video or phone conference...

10. HOW DO YOU USE TECHNOLOGY ON A DAILY BASIS, IN YOUR WORK AND FOR YOUR PLEASURE?

This is a great question because it shows your comfort level with technology, which is very important for a remote worker because you will be working with technology over time...