Cyber Red Team Researcher

We are the movers of the world and the makers of the future. We get up every day, roll up our sleeves and build a better world -- together. At Ford, we're all a part of something bigger than ourselves. Are you ready to change the way the world moves?

Enterprise Technology plays a critical part in shaping the future of mobility. If you're looking for the chance to leverage advanced technology to redefine the transportation landscape, enhance the customer experience and improve people's lives, this is the opportunity for you. Join us and challenge your IT expertise and analytical skills to help create vehicles that are as smart as you are.

Ford's Red Team operates as a highly technical offensive security team focused on identifying, demonstrating, and helping reduce meaningful risk across the enterprise. Our work spans traditional adversary simulation, application and infrastructure testing, social engineering, attack development, custom tooling, and emerging technologies.

We are looking for a senior offensive security professional who combines deep technical capability with curiosity, initiative, and a strong bias toward action. This is a hands-on role for someone who enjoys solving difficult problems, building tools when existing solutions are not enough, and operating effectively in environments where the path forward may not already be defined.

Our team is also increasingly AI-native. We use custom autonomous agents and AI-enabled workflows to expand the speed, scale, and depth of our offensive operations. We do not view AI as a replacement for skilled operators; we view it as a force multiplier for people who already understand how attackers think. The ideal candidate will bring strong offensive fundamentals and be excited to help shape how AI, automation, and agentic systems are applied to real-world security problems.

Just as importantly, this person should make the team better. We value people who share knowledge, collaborate freely, challenge ideas constructively, and bring energy to the work. The strongest candidates will be technically excellent, highly self-directed, and motivated by building, experimenting, and delivering results

What you'll do...

• Lead and execute complex Red Team engagements that simulate realistic adversary behavior across applications, infrastructure, cloud, identity, and enterprise environments.
• Operate effectively in ambiguous environments, proactively identifying opportunities and moving from idea to execution with limited direction.
• Identify and exploit vulnerabilities, attack paths, trust relationships, and control weaknesses to demonstrate meaningful business risk.
• Develop custom offensive tooling, automation, and capabilities when existing tools are insufficient for the mission.
• Apply AI and agentic systems as a force multiplier for offensive operations, including research, attack development, reconnaissance, analysis, and workflow automation.
• Design, build, and improve autonomous or semi-autonomous offensive workflows that increase the speed, scale, and consistency of Red Team operations.
• Research emerging attack techniques, technologies, and adversary behaviors, and translate that research into practical offensive capabilities.
• Collaborate closely with other Red Team members, defenders, engineers, and security partners to communicate findings and drive meaningful improvements.
• Mentor and share knowledge with other team members through technical collaboration, code review, tooling development, and engagement support.
• Clearly communicate complex technical findings, attack narratives, and risk to both technical and leadership audiences.
• Continuously challenge existing approaches, experiment with new techniques, and help evolve how the Red Team operates.

You'll have...

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Security, Cybersecurity, or a related field, OR a combination of education and professional experience in offensive security.
• 5+ years of hands-on experience in Red Team operations, penetration testing, adversary simulation, security research, or other offensive security disciplines.
  • Strong understanding of common attack techniques, attacker tradecraft,…