Offensive Fraud Engineer

The Company

PayPal has been revolutionizing commerce globally for more than 25 years. Creating innovative experiences that make moving money, selling, and shopping simple, personalized, and secure, PayPal empowers consumers and businesses in approximately 200 markets to join and thrive in the global economy. 

We operate a global, two-sided network at scale that connects hundreds of millions of merchants and consumers. We help merchants and consumers connect, transact, and complete payments, whether they are online or in person. PayPal is more than a connection to third-party payment networks. We provide proprietary payment solutions accepted by merchants that enable the completion of payments on our platform on behalf of our customers.

We offer our customers the flexibility to use their accounts to purchase and receive payments for goods and services, as well as the ability to transfer and withdraw funds. We enable consumers to exchange funds more safely with merchants using a variety of funding sources, which may include a bank account, a PayPal or Venmo account balance, PayPal and Venmo branded credit products, a credit card, a debit card, certain cryptocurrencies, or other stored value products such as gift cards, and eligible credit card rewards.  Our PayPal, Venmo, and Xoom products also make it safer and simpler for friends and family to transfer funds to each other. We offer merchants an end-to-end payments solution that provides authorization and settlement capabilities, as well as instant access to funds and payouts. We also help merchants connect with their customers, process exchanges and returns, and manage risk. We enable consumers to engage in cross-border shopping and merchants to extend their global reach while reducing the complexity and friction involved in enabling cross-border trade. 

Our beliefs are the foundation for how we conduct business every day.  We live each day guided by our core values of Inclusion, Innovation, Collaboration, and Wellness. Together, our values ensure that we work together as one global team with our customers at the center of everything we do – and they push us to ensure we take care of ourselves, each other, and our communities.

Job Summary:

You will be joining the Global Fraud Prevention organization to create and establish the Red Team capability - a groundbreaking function that operates at the intersection of offensive security and fraud research.
You will play a pivotal role in building and leading PayPal's first dedicated Offensive Fraud Engineering capability within the Global Fraud Prevention organization. As a founding member of this new team, you will establish offensive security operations specifically focused on fraud detection and mitigation, while simultaneously building the discipline, processes, and team structure from the ground up. Your responsibilities will include conducting red team operations that simulate real-world fraud attacks, contributing to purple team strategies with fraud prevention teams, and performing in-depth research on fraudster tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs).

Job Description:

Your Day to Day

Building the Capability: 

Define and establish the offensive fraud engineering function from the ground up, including developing the team's mission, scope, methodologies, and operating procedures.

Create the foundational playbooks, testing frameworks, and toolsets that will enable sustainable red team operations against fraud systems. You will collaborate with leadership to build the team roadmap, define success metrics, and secure resources for team growth.

Recruit, interview, and mentor additional team members, establishing a culture of technical excellence, ethical hacking, and collaborative partnership with fraud prevention stakeholders.

Technical Execution:

• Plan and execute red team engagements simulating real-world fraud attacks to expose gaps in fraud detection and prevention systems.
• Develop and deploy fraud attack simulations, including account takeover scenarios, synthetic identity fraud, payment manipulation, and automated bot attacks. You will collaborate closely with fraud operations, data science teams, and InfoSec to develop purple team strategies that continuously refine both offensive techniques and defensive capabilities.
• Conduct research on fraudsters' toolkits, malware, and automated fraud tools used against PayPal and its affiliates, analyzing network traffic patterns and behavioral indicators associated with fraud

What You Need to Bring

Required:

• 6+ years of experience in offensive security, cybercrime, cyber-fraud, or related areas
• Demonstrated experience building security capabilities or teams from inception
• Leadership experience coordinating technical activities and influencing cross-functional stakeholders
• Experience conducting red team engagements with fraud-related techniques (account manipulation, payment fraud simulation, data exfiltration)
• Proficiency in attack automation and tool development
• In-depth familiarity with the cybercrime and cyber-fraud environment
• Proficiency in multiple programming languages and both Linux and Windows environments
• Strategic thinking and entrepreneurial mindset

Preferred:

• Published security or fraud research (tools, papers, exploit analysis) 
• Experience as a founding member or early hire in security teams 
• Knowledge of network protocols, traffic analysis, and fraud detection technologies (SIEM, EDR, anti-fraud engines) 
• Experience with big data platforms (Splunk, Hadoop) and machine learning approaches to fraud detection 
• Knowledge of payment systems, digital wallets, and e-commerce fraud vectors 
• Industry certifications (OSCP, OSCE, GPEN, GXPN) 
• Track record of influencing security strategy at the organizational level

Subsidiary:

PayPal

Travel Percent:

0

PayPal does not charge candidates any fees for courses, applications, resume reviews, interviews, background checks, or onboarding. Any such request is a red flag and likely part of a scam. To learn more about how to identify and avoid recruitment fraud please visit https://careers.pypl.com/contact-us.

For the majority of employees, PayPal's balanced hybrid work model offers 3 days in the office for effective in-person collaboration and 2 days at your choice of either the PayPal office or your home workspace, ensuring that you equally have the benefits and conveniences of both locations.

Our Benefits:

At PayPal, we’re committed to building an equitable and inclusive global economy. And we can’t do this without our most important asset—you. That’s why we offer benefits to help you thrive in every stage of life. We champion your financial, physical, and mental health by offering valuable benefits and resources to help you care for the whole you.

We have great benefits including a flexible work environment, employee shares options, health and life insurance and more. To learn more about our benefits please visit https://www.paypalbenefits.com.

Who We Are:

Click Here to learn more about our culture and community.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion 

PayPal provides equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.  In addition, PayPal will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.  If you are unable to submit an application because of incompatible assistive technology or a disability, please contact us at [email protected].  

Belonging at PayPal: 

Our employees are central to advancing our mission, and we strive to create an environment where everyone can do their best work with a sense of purpose and belonging. Belonging at PayPal means creating a workplace with a sense of acceptance and security where all employees feel included and valued. We are proud to have a diverse workforce reflective of the merchants, consumers, and communities that we serve, and we continue to take tangible actions to cultivate inclusivity and belonging at PayPal.

Any general requests for consideration of your skills, please Join our Talent Community.

We know the confidence gap and imposter syndrome can get in the way of meeting spectacular candidates. Please don’t hesitate to apply.