Senior Patch Research Engineer

About the role

Qualys is hiring a Senior Patch Research Engineer for its Patch Management product team in Pune. The role focuses on building and maintaining a comprehensive patch catalog for third-party Windows software, including researching vendor releases, authoring patch metadata, mapping detection logic, and validating silent installation parameters. Day-to-day work involves catalog research and authoring, registry and file-based detection research, manual patch testing in sandbox environments, and understanding how enterprise patch engines consume catalogs.

What you’ll do

• Research, author, and maintain patch metadata for third-party Windows applications across a broad software catalog
• Identify new software releases, security updates, and version changes from vendor sources, changelogs, and security advisories (CVE/NVD)
• Map vendor releases to structured metadata schemas including version strings, download URLs, detection logic, and installation parameters
• Track software End-of-Life (EOL) dates and update catalog entries accordingly
• Document and validate silent installation parameters for diverse installer types (MSI, NSIS EXE, InnoSetup, WiX, etc.)
• Research and verify correct msiexec.exe flags, NSIS /S switches, and equivalent silent/unattended arguments per software
• Determine accurate reboot behavior (Yes / No / Maybe) per installer type and document exit codes (success, reboot-required)
• Manually test patch installation in sandbox environments and verify detection logic post-install

What you’ll bring

• 4-5 years of experience in Windows systems administration, patch management, or software packaging
• Strong understanding of Windows OS internals including registry structure, file system, user vs. system installation scopes, environment variables, and PATH management
• Hands-on experience with Windows patching tools such as WSUS, SCCM/ConfigMgr, Ivanti, Qualys, Chocolatey, or equivalent
• Experience with manual patch installation including running MSI/EXE installers, using msiexec.exe with switches, and repackaging software
• Solid understanding of installer technologies MSI/WiX, NSIS, InnoSetup, Squirrel and their silent install mechanisms
• Familiarity with the Windows registry and ability to trace installation artifacts to their registry keys
• Ability to research, author, and maintain patch metadata for third-party Windows applications
• Ability to identify new software releases, security updates, and version changes from vendor sources, changelogs, and security advisories (CVE/NVD)

Nice to have

• Experience building or maintaining a software patch catalog (Adaptiva, Chocolatey, ManageEngine, or similar)
• Experience with Windows Installer (MSI) internals including product codes, upgrade codes, and component tables
• Knowledge of ARM64 Windows platform nuances and multi-architecture software distribution
• Good understanding of Windows Update infrastructure (WUA, WSUS, CBS/SFC)
• Scripting experience in Python or PowerShell

Skills