Principal Associate - Detection Engineering

Company: Capital One
Location: Mc Lean
Posted on: April 3, 2026

Job Description:

Principal Associate - Detection Engineering Capital One’s Cyber Organization is a fast-paced, dynamic environment committed to enabling and securing the business. Our Cyber Operations & Intelligence division is searching for an experienced Individual Contributor (IC), Principal Associate to contribute to our Detection Engineering team. In this role, you will be responsible for solving hard problems using cutting edge technology in the areas of security testing, engineering, alert development, and monitoring. Primary Responsibilities: AI-Driven Detection & Engineering: Leverage LLMs and machine learning to automate detection logic, summarize complex attack chains, and reduce false positives. Detection-as-Code (DaC): Lead the design and maintenance of detection rules using DaC methodologies, utilizing GenAI assistants to accelerate development and unit testing. Strategic Architecture: Drive the integration of data science concepts into threat detection and utilize the MITRE ATT&CK framework to visualize and close coverage gaps. Offensive Alignment & Hunting: Conduct hypothesis-driven threat research and apply a deep understanding of Red Team methodologies to translate attacker TTPs into high-fidelity detections. Stakeholder & Risk Management: Partner with business leaders to ensure robust monitoring across cloud, network, and applications while ensuring all documentation meets strict fintech compliance and audit standards. Mentorship: Serve as a technical bar-raiser, mentoring junior engineers on both traditional security concepts and emerging AI-driven workflows. Ability to conduct proactive threat research across enterprise environments using hypothesis driven methodologies Develop and implement best practices to identify malicious activity in a dynamic, fast-paced environment Understand the business drivers of the enterprise and partner with relevant stakeholders to ensure robust monitoring and expanded coverage across our hosts, networks, and applications. Demonstrate a deep understanding of adversary techniques and emerging threats that could impact business operations Respond to inquiries from regulatory entities, risk management and audit teams, providing clear and complete documentation of procedures and workflows Experience mentoring junior engineers and contribute to a culture of continuous improvement and knowledge sharing Ability to articulate security risks and detection strategies to technical and executive audiences About you: Previous experience with a detection engineering, threat detection, or detection operations team Extensive experience in SQL Strong understanding of attacker TTPs, red team methodologies, and translating offensive security insights into detections Excellent analytical, communication, and leadership skills Must be able to perform root cause analysis independently or collaboratively with team Customer service and stakeholder engagement skills Strong decision-making and strategic thinking in threat detection Basic Qualifications: High School Diploma, GED, or equivalent certification At least 3 years of experience in Information Technology or Cyber Security At least 2 years of experience with host, cloud, application or network logs At least 2 years of experience developing alerts for threat detection At least 2 years of penetration testing or offensive security experience Preferred Qualifications: Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology, Cyber Security or Computer Science or similar programs 4 years of experience in Threat Detection, Threat Hunting, or Security Engineering 4 years of experience with data science concepts and techniques 4 years of experience with Python 1 years of experience in publishing code to GitHub GCIA, GCIH, CISSP, GMON, GREM, GCTD, MLE, OR Cloud (GCP, AWS) certifications At this time, Capital One will not sponsor a new applicant for employment authorization, or offer any immigration related support for this position (i.e. H1B, F-1 OPT, F-1 STEM OPT, F-1 CPT, J-1, TN, E-2, E-3, L-1 and O-1, or any EADs or other forms of work authorization that require immigration support from an employer). The minimum and maximum full-time annual salaries for this role are listed below, by location. Please note that this salary information is solely for candidates hired to perform work within one of these locations, and refers to the amount Capital One is willing to pay at the time of this posting. Salaries for part-time roles will be prorated based upon the agreed upon number of hours to be regularly worked. McLean, VA: $161,800 - $184,600 for Prin Assoc, Cyber Technical Richmond, VA: $147,100 - $167,900 for Prin Assoc, Cyber Technical Candidates hired to work in other locations will be subject to the pay range associated with that location, and the actual annualized salary amount offered to any candidate at the time of hire will be reflected solely in the candidate’s offer letter. This role is also eligible to earn performance based incentive compensation, which may include cash bonus(es) and/or long term incentives (LTI). Incentives could be discretionary or non discretionary depending on the plan. Capital One offers a comprehensive, competitive, and inclusive set of health, financial and other benefits that support your total well-being. Learn more at the Capital One Careers website . Eligibility varies based on full or part-time status, exempt or non-exempt status, and management level. This role is expected to accept applications for a minimum of 5 business days. No agencies please. Capital One is an equal opportunity employer (EOE, including disability/vet) committed to non-discrimination in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws. Capital One promotes a drug-free workplace. Capital One will consider for employment qualified applicants with a criminal history in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable laws regarding criminal background inquiries, including, to the extent applicable, Article 23-A of the New York Correction Law; San Francisco, California Police Code Article 49, Sections 4901-4920; New York City’s Fair Chance Act; Philadelphia’s Fair Criminal Records Screening Act; and other applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations regarding criminal background inquiries. If you have visited our website in search of information on employment opportunities or to apply for a position, and you require an accommodation, please contact Capital One Recruiting at 1-800-304-9102 or via email at RecruitingAccommodation@capitalone.com . All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodations. For technical support or questions about Capital One's recruiting process, please send an email to Careers@capitalone.com Capital One does not provide, endorse nor guarantee and is not liable for third-party products, services, educational tools or other information available through this site. Capital One Financial is made up of several different entities. Please note that any position posted in Canada is for Capital One Canada, any position posted in the United Kingdom is for Capital One Europe and any position posted in the Philippines is for Capital One Philippines Service Corp. (COPSSC).

Keywords: Capital One, Bethesda , Principal Associate - Detection Engineering, IT / Software / Systems , Mc Lean, Maryland