SPAM Data Engineer

About Us:

 

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.

How We Work:

At Proofpoint you’ll be part of a global team that breaks barriers to redefine cybersecurity guided by our BRAVE core values: 

Bold in how we dream and innovate

Responsive to feedback, challenges and opportunities

Accountable for results and best in class outcomes

Visionary in future focused problem-solving

Exceptional in execution and impact

The Role

This team is the front line of defence for protecting our customers from email messaging abuse. We are looking for a creative thinking, enthusiastic individual to join a diverse group of people who are passionate about defending the world from this growing threat. We are competing against very active, devious, and motivated adversaries who send trillions of spam and malware messages every year! If you are interested in helping us achieve our goal of ridding the world of email borne threats, then we'd definitely like to talk to you!

Our team is a highly collaborative global community of like-minded people, where you are encouraged to be creative, expand your skills, and support others in doing the same. We believe in maintaining a strong work-life balance (a happy team is a productive team!), which has helped us develop a close community who look after each other and are always willing to offer guidance and assistance.

Your day-to-day

• Member of a creative, enthusiastic, and geographically distributed team (in a 24/7/365 "follow the sun" model) that is responsible for identifying, parameterizing, and responding quickly to spam/Phishing/Malware/BEC (Email Fraud) attacks levied against some of the world's largest organizations

• Analyze misclassified email messages, URLs, and attachments (spam, malware, phishing, and legitimate) to make updates to detection technologies and correct their classifications.

• Perform deep analyses of email headers, structures, and attachments to identify novel threat features, and develop new rules/methods to detect them.

• Research into new trends and creation of pro-active detection to stop new threats before they start

• Contribute to the development of new tools and automation to aid in front line analysis, and to identify the latest threats

• Work with the team to come up with new and novel ways to detect threats

• Take on more complex customer false negative or false positive cases escalated by other analysts in the team that require more in-depth investigation and analysis

• Work on internal escalation tickets created by field teams for customers experiencing more complex or systemic recurring issues that have not been solved through usual means, collaborating with other engineering teams where necessary to find the best solutions

• On-call work - that means responding to high priority alerts sent by our threat monitoring system, and periodic monitoring of essential systems. You would be expected to be on call at times during your shift

• Help us define the landscape, prevalence, and evolution of messaging abuse, threats, and attacks by participating in future requirements definition discussions of our products

What you bring to the team

• Strong analytical and creative problem-solving skills

• Proficient oral and written communications skills. Collaborates well in a team environment. Able to communicate complex technical concepts to customers in an accessible manner.

• Familiarity with using the Linux command line, and tools for manipulating and extracting content from text files

• Good knowledge of regular expressions

• Familiarity with how mail delivery works, including SMTP

• General curiosity about the headers and structure of email messages

• Experience in a data science or similar role ( a plus)

• Willingness to interact with customers through our web-based ticketing system to help resolve their issues

• Ability to work independently but also to collaborate with worldwide, remote teams

• Positive, friendly attitude that enjoys problem solving

• BSc or equivalent in IT related subject, or equivalent technical experience

• Experience with signature-based detections such as Clam, Yara, or similar an advantage

• Familiarity with a scripting language such as Python or Perl an advantage (a Big Plus)

• U.S. Citizenship required

#LI-AN1

Why Proofpoint?

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:

• Competitive compensation

• Comprehensive benefits

• Career success on your terms

• Flexible work environment

• Annual wellness and community outreach days

• Always on recognition for your contributions

• Global collaboration and networking opportunities

 

Our Culture:

Our culture is rooted in values that inspire belonging, empower purpose and drive success-every day, for everyone.

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 accessibility@proofpoint.com.

 

How to Apply

Interested? Submit your application along with any supporting information- we can’t wait to hear from you!

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.

Base Pay Ranges:

SF Bay Area, New York City Metro Area:

Base Pay Range: 136,200.00 - 214,005.00 USD

California (excludes SF Bay Area), Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Washington DC Metro, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Texas, Washington, Virginia, and Alaska:

Base Pay Range: 112,700.00 - 177,100.00 USD

All other cities and states excluding those listed above:

Base Pay Range: 101,600.00 - 159,720.00 USD