Security Research Lead

Security Research Lead LocationRemote (Europe)Employment TypeFull timeLocation TypeRemoteDepartmentEngineeringSummary of the Role:As Security Research Lead at Maze, your research directly shapes our products and how our AI understands real risk. This is a unique opportunity to join a well-funded Series A startup building at the intersection of generative AI and cybersecurity, leading the research function that makes our products sharper than anything else on the market — and gives Maze a credible technical voice in the security community.You'll set the bar for our vulnerability research: defining the methodologies that separate critical risk from noise, validating and contextualising the threats our AI surfaces, and feeding that expertise straight into product and engineering to improve how we detect, prioritise, and remediate. You'll work hand-in-hand with our AI/ML, product, and engineering teams — close to the roadmap and the code, not off to one side — turning what you find into capabilities that crush the competition. Alongside that, you'll amplify the work externally: surfacing novel vulnerabilities and building research narratives that earn real reach, giving Maze technical credibility with practitioners and customers.This role is perfect for a security researcher with real depth in cloud and application security who is ready to step up: someone who wants their research to ship as product, can lead a small research team, and can tell a story that lands with a technical audience. The ideal candidate has done this inside another security vendor and wants to build both great products and a research brand from a strong foundation.What you'll work on:Make Our Products Brilliant: Feed research directly into product and engineering — work close to the roadmap and the codebase to sharpen how we detect, prioritise, and remediate, building capabilities that outclass the competitionShape How Our AI Understands Risk: Translate deep threat research into the labels, signals, and product feedback that train our models to prioritise vulnerabilities like a seasoned researcherLead Our Security Research Function: Set the direction, standards, and methodologies for how Maze researches, validates, and prioritises cloud and application security threats, scaling a small team of researchers as we growFind Novel Vulnerabilities That Get Reach: Surface original research and build narratives — blog posts, technical talks, podcasts, video, conference presentations — that earn real reach and give Maze technical credibility with the security communityBuild Authoritative Technical Intelligence: Produce detailed research on exploitation techniques, attack vectors, and remediation across cloud infrastructure and application security, enriched with CVE, advisory, and threat-intel sourcesSet the Standard for Research Quality: Establish the frameworks and review processes that keep our vulnerability assessment consistent, defensible, and ahead of the threat landscapeGrow the Bench: Mentor and develop researchers, raising the technical bar of the team and creating a research culture others want to joinWhat You Need to Be Successful:Proven Security Research Depth:** 6+ years in hands-on security research, with a strong track record investigating complex vulnerabilities, building proof-of-concepts, and validating real-world threatsCloud & Application Security Expertise: Deep knowledge of cloud (AWS) and application security vulnerabilities, attack vectors, and how they actually get exploited at scaleResearch That Ships as Product: A track record of turning research into product and engineering outcomes — working closely with eng, product, and ML teams to translate findings into shipped capabilities, not reports that sit on a shelfA Public Track Record: Demonstrated ability to be the voice of security research externally — published research, conference talks, well-received technical content, or a recognised presence in the communityVendor-Grade Perspective:...