Malware Research and Review Team Leader
About the Position
Alice is seeking an experienced Malware Research Team Leader to lead a team of malware researchers, combining hands-on research with people leadership. This role presents an opportunity to lead an established team, strengthening its skills through ongoing training and guidance while ensuring high-quality deliverables.
The position balances managerial responsibilities with hands-on technical work (approximately 50% each). The ideal candidate demonstrates a positive, proactive attitude and excels as a reliable team player.
Key Responsibilities:
- Mentor and manage a team of malware researchers, including recruitment
- Conduct short, focused malware research under tight timelines
- Detect and document emerging malware trends
- Evaluate and enhance team accuracy and performance
- Regularly share knowledge with team members and collaborate across teams and departments
- Continuously improve malware analysis and review processes
- Develop automation processes for malware identification at scale
Requirements
Must-Have
- Management experience - managing at least 2 employees for at least 2 years, with experience in recruiting and training
- At least 3 years of proven experience in one of the following: Malware research, Reverse engineering, Penetration testing
- In-depth SOC/IR investigations
- Application security
- Strong grasp of object-oriented programming and the ability to trace execution flow through code
- Familiarity with multiple languages (Java, C/C++, JavaScript, Python)
- Familiarity with static and dynamic research tools such as JADX, Frida, and network debuggers
- Understanding of network communications and protocols
Nice-to-Have:
- Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a similar field
- Proven experience managing a team of more than 5 employees
- Experience with disassemblers and native debuggers (e.g., Ghidra, IDA Pro, JEB, LLDB, GDB, x86dbg)
- Proficiency with HTTP debuggers, MITM tools, and network analyzers (e.g., Fiddler, HTTP Toolkit, Burp Suite, Wireshark, Little Snitch, mitmproxy)
- Development experience in Java, Kotlin, Python, JavaScript, or C/C++
- Familiarity with multiplatform frameworks such as Flutter, React Native, or Unity
About Alice
THE CHALLENGES ALONG THE WAY
1. Being Both Strategist and Executioner
One of the hardest parts of this role is that you’re both the visionary and the builder; the one drawing the map and paving the road.
That means switching between high-level strategy and hands-on experimentation daily, and doing it while bringing others along with you. There’s no playbook for this kind of work. You’re paving an unpaved road, one small experiment at a time.
2. Balancing Security and Innovation
ActiveFence is the leading provider of security and safety solutions for online experiences, safeguarding more than 3 billion users, top foundation models, and the world’s largest enterprises and tech platforms every day.
As a trusted ally to major technology firms and Fortune 500 brands that build user-generated and GenAI products, ActiveFence empowers security, AI, and policy teams with low-latency Real-Time Guardrails and a continuous Red Teaming program that pressure-tests systems with adversarial prompts and emerging threat techniques. Powered by deep threat intelligence, unmatched harmful-content detection, and coverage of 117+ languages, ActiveFence enables organizations to deliver engaging and trustworthy experiences at global scale while operating safely and responsibly across all threat landscapes.