{"id":94431,"url":"https://alion.io/job/qualys-senior-patch-research-engineer-2","title":"Senior Patch Research Engineer","company":{"id":18966,"name":"Qualys","domain":"qualys.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/qualys","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Workday","truth_index":null},"role":"AI/ML","role_family":"AI/ML","seniority":"senior","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Pune, India"],"countries":["IN"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":19500,"max_usd":42000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":29},"experience_years_min":4,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Qualys Cloud Platform","optional":false},{"name":"Windows","optional":false},{"name":"PowerShell","optional":true},{"name":"Python","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-08-17T00:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-08-17","last_verified_at":"2026-10-17T08:12:06Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":61,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":61},"description":"Come work at a place where innovation and teamwork come together to support the most exciting missions in the world!\nAbout the Role\nQualys is looking for a detail-oriented Windows Patch Management Catalog Researcher to join the Patch Management product team. In this role, you will be responsible for building and maintaining a comprehensive, accurate patch catalog covering a wide range of third-party Windows software.\nKey Responsibilities\nPatch Catalog Research & Authoring\nResearch, author, and maintain patch metadata for third-party Windows applications across a broad software catalog.\nIdentify new software releases, security updates, and version changes from vendor sources, changelogs, and security advisories (CVE/NVD).\nMap vendor releases to structured metadata schemas, including version strings, download URLs, detection logic, and installation parameters.\nTrack software End-of-Life (EOL) dates and update catalog entries accordingly.\nWindows Patching & Installation Knowledge\nDocument and validate silent installation parameters for diverse installer types (MSI, NSIS EXE, InnoSetup, WiX, etc.).\nResearch and verify correct msiexec.exe flags, NSIS /S switches, and equivalent silent/unattended arguments per software.\nDetermine accurate reboot behavior (Yes / No / Maybe) per installer type and document exit codes (success, reboot-required).\nManually test patch installation in sandbox environments and verify detection logic post-install.\nDetection Logic & Registry Research\nResearch and validate Windows registry keys used to detect installed software versions (Uninstall hive, vendor-specific keys, DisplayVersion, etc.).\nIdentify and document file-based detection paths (FileVersion, ProductVersion attributes on key executables).\nUnderstand the difference between 32-bit and 64-bit registry views (WOW6432Node) and apply correct detection architecture per installer variant.\nValidate detection logic against fresh installs and upgrades across supported Windows versions.\nBackend Patch Tool Understanding\nUnderstand how enterprise patch management platforms (e.g., Qualys Patch Management, SCCM, Ivanti, Adaptiva) discover, deploy, and verify patches.\nFamiliarity with how catalogs are consumed by patch engines - detection-before-install logic, supersedence evaluation, and deployment policy enforcement.\nRequired Skills & Qualifications\n4-5 years of experience in Windows systems administration, patch management, or software packaging.\nStrong understanding of Windows OS internals - registry structure, file system, user vs. system installation scopes, environment variables, and PATH management.\nHands-on experience with Windows patching tools (WSUS, SCCM/ConfigMgr, Ivanti, Qualys, Chocolatey, or equivalent).\nExperience with manual patch installation - running MSI/EXE installers, using msiexec.exe with switches, repackaging software.\nSolid understanding of installer technologies: MSI/WiX, NSIS, InnoSetup, Squirrel, and their silent install mechanisms.\nFamiliarity with the Windows registry and the ability to trace installation artifacts to their registry keys.\nNice to Have\nExperience building or maintaining a software patch catalog (Adaptiva, Chocolatey, ManageEngine, or similar).\nExperience with Windows Installer (MSI) internals - product codes, upgrade codes, component tables.\nKnowledge of ARM64 Windows platform nuances and multi-architecture software distribution.\nGood understanding of Windows Update infrastructure (WUA, WSUS, CBS/SFC).\nScripting experience in Python or PowerShell.","description_format":"text","description_chars":3525,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":4,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Cybersecurity","Endpoint Security","Information Security"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-21T13:38:34Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":33,"band":"fade","label":"Fading","p_open":1,"p_active":0.758,"p_room":0.44,"age_days":61,"expected_fill_days":59,"reasons":["conf:31","velocity","win:tail","crowd:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-10-17T05:46:00Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/qualys-senior-patch-research-engineer-2","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/qualys-senior-patch-research-engineer-2.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-17T20:12:58Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":3839,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-18T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":18966},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=18966"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fqualys-senior-patch-research-engineer-2"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fqualys-senior-patch-research-engineer-2"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fqualys-senior-patch-research-engineer-2"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/qualys-senior-patch-research-engineer-2\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fqualys-senior-patch-research-engineer-2"}]}