Insider Threat Engineer

About Us

At Cloudflare, we are on a mission to help build a better Internet. Today the company runs one of the world’s largest networks that powers millions of websites and other Internet properties for customers ranging from individual bloggers to SMBs to Fortune 500 companies. Cloudflare protects and accelerates any Internet application online without adding hardware, installing software, or changing a line of code. Internet properties powered by Cloudflare all have web traffic routed through its intelligent global network, which gets smarter with every request. As a result, they see significant improvement in performance and a decrease in spam and other attacks. Cloudflare was named to Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top Company Cultures list and ranked among the World’s Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company. 

At Cloudflare, we’re not looking for people who wait for a polished roadmap; we’re looking for the builders who see the cracks in the Internet that everyone else has simply learned to live with. We value candidates who have the instinct to spot a "normalized" problem and the AI-native curiosity to create a solution using the latest tools. Our culture is built on iteration, leveraging AI to ship faster today to make it better tomorrow, while ensuring that every improvement, no matter how small, is shared across the team to lift everyone up. If you’re the type of person who values curiosity over bureaucracy, and that AI is a partner in solving tough problems to keep the Internet moving forward, you’ll fit right in.

Available Locations: Austin

About the role

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Insider Threat Tech Lead to join our dynamic and growing Security Threat Detection, Response and Emulation team. This is a critical role that will be at the forefront of protecting our company from malicious and negligent insider activities. You will be responsible for leading the technical aspects of our Insider Threat program, including investigations, threat hunting, and the development of cutting-edge detections and responses.

This role requires a unique blend of technical expertise, regulatory and legal knowledge, investigative skills, and strong interpersonal communication. You will be a key point of contact and collaborator with our Privacy, Legal, GRC and HR teams, ensuring that all activities are conducted with the utmost care, in accordance with company policy, and in compliance with legal and ethical standards.

What you'll do

• Lead Insider Threat Digital Investigations:
  • • Conduct comprehensive technical investigations individually and partnering with our incident response teams into potential insider threat incidents, including data exfiltration, intellectual property theft, unauthorized access, and other malicious activities.
    • Knowledge and execution experience in collecting, preserving , and analyzing digital evidence from a variety of sources (e.g., endpoints, network logs, cloud services, email, etc.).
    • Document all investigative steps and findings in a clear, concise, and defensible manner.
    • Present findings to senior leadership and cross-functional partners (Legal, HR, Privacy) in a professional and objective manner.
    • Ensuring regulatory, legal and privacy requirements are met through all
  • Insider Threat Hunting:
    • Proactively hunt for insider threats using a variety of security tools and data sources (e.g., SIEM, DLP, EDR, UEBA).
    • Develop and execute threat hunting hypotheses based on emerging threats, attack techniques, and an understanding of our company's unique environment.
    • Correlate disparate data points to identify anomalous or suspicious user behaviors.
  • Detection & Response Improvement:
    • Collaborate closely with the Security Incident Response Team (SIRT) and Threat Detection teams to continuously enhance our insider threat detection capabilities.
    • Design, develop, and implement new rules, alerts, and use cases in our security tools to identify insider threat indicators.
    • Evaluate and recommend new technologies and processes to mature our Insider Threat program.
    • Develop and refine response playbooks for various insider threat scenarios.
  • Cross-Functional Collaboration:
    • Serve as the primary technical liaison for the Insider Threat program, building strong, trusted relationships with Legal, HR, and Privacy teams.
    • Work in lockstep with these teams to ensure that investigations are conducted with sensitivity, respect for employee privacy, and within legal and ethical guidelines.
    • Provide technical expertise and guidance during policy development and incident response planning.

Required Qualifications:

• 5+ years of experience in a technical security role, with at least 2+ years focused on insider threat, digital forensics, or security investigations.
• Proven experience in conducting and leading complex technical investigations, including the use of forensic tools (e.g., EnCase, FTK, X-Ways, or open-source alternatives).
• Deep understanding of security technologies such as SIEM (e.g., Splunk, Elastic), EDR (e.g., CrowdStrike, SentinelOne), and UEBA like data sources.
• Strong scripting and programming skills (e.g., Python, PowerShell) to automate tasks and analyze large datasets.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences.
• Experience working with legal and HR teams on sensitive employee-related matters.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Certifications such as GCIH, GCFA, GCTI, or similar.
• Experience with cloud-based security and investigations (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure).
• Prior experience in a tech product or fast-paced startup environment.
• Knowledge of legal and regulatory frameworks related to data privacy and digital evidence (e.g., GDPR, CCPA).
• Legal/Court evidence handling, presentation and implementation of procedures 

What Makes Cloudflare Special?

We’re not just a highly ambitious, large-scale technology company. We’re a highly ambitious, large-scale technology company with a soul. Fundamental to our mission to help build a better Internet is protecting the free and open Internet.

Project Galileo: Since 2014, we've equipped more than 2,400 journalism and civil society organizations in 111 countries with powerful tools to defend themselves against attacks that would otherwise censor their work, technology already used by Cloudflare’s enterprise customers--at no cost.

Athenian Project: In 2017, we created the Athenian Project to ensure that state and local governments have the highest level of protection and reliability for free, so that their constituents have access to election information and voter registration. Since the project, we've provided services to more than 425 local government election websites in 33 states.

1.1.1.1: We released 1.1.1.1 to help fix the foundation of the Internet by building a faster, more secure and privacy-centric public DNS resolver. This is available publicly for everyone to use - it is the first consumer-focused service Cloudflare has ever released. Here’s the deal - we don’t store client IP addresses never, ever. We will continue to abide by our privacy commitment and ensure that no user data is sold to advertisers or used to target consumers.

Sound like something you’d like to be a part of? We’d love to hear from you!

Please note that applicants who progress to the offer stage of the interview process may be asked to attend an in-person interview within one of the Cloudflare Offices or Cloudflare Hubs.  More details about this will be available at that stage of the interview process.

This position may require access to information protected under U.S. export control laws, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations. Please note that any offer of employment may be conditioned on your authorization to receive software or technology controlled under these U.S. export laws without sponsorship for an export license.

Cloudflare is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.  We are committed to providing equal employment opportunity for all people and place great value in both diversity and inclusiveness.  All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to their, or any other person's, perceived or actual race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care status, or any other basis protected by law. We are an AA/Veterans/Disabled Employer.

Cloudflare provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities.  Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job. Examples of reasonable accommodations include, but are not limited to, changing the application process, providing documents in an alternate format, using a sign language interpreter, or using specialized equipment.  If you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job, please contact us via e-mail at hr@cloudflare.com or via mail at 101 Townsend St. San Francisco, CA 94107.