Staff Research Data Scientist

Responsibilities

The Staff Research Data Scientist will define and drive the multi-quarter research strategy for AI-powered security operations and autonomous threat investigation. They will act as a technical lead to architect state-of-the-art model systems and bridge the gap between breakthrough AI research and enterprise-grade deployment.

Requirements

Candidates must have a Master's degree in a quantitative field and at least 8 years of experience in analytics, coding, and machine learning research. Preferred qualifications include a PhD and extensive experience in cybersecurity, threat intelligence, and deploying generative AI systems into production.

Skills

• Python
• R
• SQL
• Machine Learning
• Large Language Models
• Natural Language Processing
• Generative AI
• Cybersecurity
• Statistical Modeling
• Threat Intelligence
• Deep Learning
• Data Science
• Technical Leadership
• Algorithm Development
• Data Analysis

Benefits

• Bonus target
• Equity
• Health insurance

About this role

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

* Master's degree in Statistics, Data Science, Mathematics, Physics, Economics,
Operations Research, Engineering, or a related quantitative field.
* 8 years of experience using analytics to solve product or business problems,
coding (e.g., Python, R, SQL), querying databases or statistical analysis.
* Experience with Machine Learning research and developing new methodologies or
algorithms.
* Experience with Large Language Models (LLMs), Natural Language Processing
(NLP), or Generative AI.
* Experience with Machine Learning algorithms and statistical modeling.
* Experience with cyber threat research.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

* PhD in Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, Electrical Engineering, or
a related quantitative field.
* 7 years of experience designing, validating, and deploying machine learning
models, statistical methods, or generative AI systems into production.
* 2 years of applied experience within cybersecurity, security operations,
threat intelligence, fraud/abuse, or vulnerability research.
* Experience acting as a Technical Lead, workstream owner, or principal
researcher directing technical projects end-to-end across cross-functional
teams.
* Experience addressing distribution shifts, concept drift, or adversarial
attacks in high-stakes or non-stationary environments.
* Experience in production-grade development using programming languages and
modern deep learning ecosystems.

ABOUT THE JOB:

The Google Cloud GUSTO AI Data Science Research team develops innovative,
data-driven solutions to today’s most challenging cybersecurity problems. By
leveraging data derived from Google's unparalleled view of the threat landscape,
our cross-functional, applied research team experiments and delivers impactful
findings for both our customers and the broader cybersecurity industry.

As a Staff Research Data Scientist (Tech Lead) you will define the technical
goal, drive applied research agendas, and lead the technical execution of
machine learning, deep learning, and generative AI initiatives across Google
SecOps, Google Threat Intelligence, and other key cybersecurity product areas in
Google Cloud.

In this role, you will manage high-ambiguity, adversarial security problems at
Google scale. You will act as the principal research driver and technical lead
across initiatives such as agentic security operations, threat intelligence
reasoning and contextualization, security-specialized LLMs/foundation models,
and dark web threat detection. As a Tech Lead, you will bridge the gap between
breakthrough AI research and enterprise-grade deployment: architecting novel
research prototypes, steering data strategy, aligning roadmaps with
cross-functional SWE and Product leaders, and mentoring junior researchers. You
will represent Google's security research externally through high-impact
publications, patents, and conference presentations, shaping how the broader AI
Security industry defends against advanced threat actors.

A conversational AI tool that enables users to collaborate with generative AI
and help augment their imagination, expand their curiosity, and enhance their
productivity.

Individual pay is determined by factors including job-related skills,
experience, and relevant education or training.

US: $207000 - $300000 (USD) + 20% bonus target + equity + benefits

Learn more about benefits at Google
[https://www.google.com/about/careers/applications/benefits/].

RESPONSIBILITIES:

* Define and drive the multi-quarter research strategy and technical roadmap at
the nexus of machine learning for security, AI-powered security operations,
and autonomous threat investigation and response.
* Serve as the Technical Lead (TL) for applied research workstreams,
translating ambiguous threat challenges into structured, high-impact AI/ML
modeling solutions with landed product impact.
* Architect state-of-the-art model architectures and agentic systems, balancing
theoretical novelty with low-latency, resilient inference in adversarial
environments.
* Architect end-to-end data acquisition and curation strategies across massive,
heterogeneous security telemetry; establish benchmarks and evaluation
pipelines for robust model assessment.
* Partner with Engineering (SWE) and Product Management (PM) leadership to
establish shared architectural roadmaps, govern production ML deployments,
and lead continuous post-deployment telemetry and feedback loops.

About Google

Software Development · 10,001+ employees · headquartered in Mountain View, CA