Job Details
We are searching for a self-motivated Cyberspace Operations Research and Development (R&D) Engineer to join our Offensive Security Department at the Applied Research Laboratory (ARL) at Penn State University. ARL/Penn State s purpose is to develop innovative solutions to challenging national problems in support of the Navy, DoD, and Intel communities engineering and technology needs. The Offensive Security Department provides technical expertise in adversarial tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to support system evaluation and provide security hardening support to various sponsors.
Your work location can be a hybrid mix of on-site and work from home, and based out of our Reston, VA or Annapolis Junction, MD locations for onsite work 1-2X per week.
ARL is an authorized DoD SkillBridge partner and welcomes all transitioning military members to apply.
You will:
- Research cutting edge techniques and technologies for cyber security
- Leverage expertise in cyberspace operations to develop novel concepts and technical approaches to address established needs and investigate solutions to emerging requirements.
- Assist the Offensive Security Department Head in maintaining relationships with sponsors through on-site technical discussions, preparation and presentation of technical materials, and project-related correspondence.
- Provide process enhancement for external risk assessments, vulnerability analyses, and penetration testing projects.
- Support the design and tailored engineering of security solutions based on sponsor-unique requirements.
- Apply project management principles and methods to the leadership of tasks or projects
- Leverage software development knowledge to support implementation of tools to automate or more effective perform computation and cyber-relevant digital tasks.
- Provide guidance to lower level Engineers to foster professional growth.
Minimally requires a Bachelor s Degree in an Engineering or Science discipline plus five years' related experience for the advanced professional level. Additional experience and/or education are required for higher level positions. A Master s Degree is preferred.
Additional responsibilities may includes:
- Understand broad strategic objectives and contribute to them; nurtures and maintain relationships with major customers/grantors of external research and development grant funding
- Identify grant/project follow-on work and persuade customers/grantors to fund; impact customer decisions and strategies
- Initiate new project concepts and seek funding; develop technical proposals and make presentations to customers/grant sponsors
- Mentor department staff in the development technical, project, and business development skills
Required skills/experience areas include:
- Cyber Systems & Software Engineering, Cyber Intelligence and Malware Analysis, and Cyberspace Operations Planning
- Cybersecurity penetration testing / cybersecurity Red Team testing / white hat hacking
- Networking, IT security, Windows, and *NIX.
- Software programming, programming languages, and development environments (to include at a minimum C++, Java, or Python)
- Ability to express technical information clearly and concisely in documents and presentations for senior leaders to successfully comprehend and leverage for decision making.
- Active government security clearance
Preferred skills/experience:
- Experience with military cyberspace operations or computer network operations, Offensive Cyber Operations and planning and/or the military planning process
- Broad knowledge of cyberspace capabilities availability and understanding of available infrastructure or platforms
- Use of cybersecurity testing frameworks (e.g. Kali Linux, Cobalt Strike)
- Experience in cybersecurity exploit development
- Experienced leadership in personnel and financial management
- Demonstrated history of successful business development efforts
- Automation of cybersecurity testing workflows (e.g. using Ansible playbooks)
- Use of Agile software development methodology and tools
- Experience working with Atlassian products (e.g., JIRA, Confluence)
This position will require periodic travel to remote locations in support of testing as part of a small team of researchers, engineers, and technologists.
ARL at Penn State is an integral part of one of the leading research universities in the nation and serves as a University center of excellence in defense science, systems, and technologies with a focus in naval missions and related areas.
You will be subject to a government security investigation, and you must be a U.S. citizen to apply. Employment with the ARL will require successful completion of a pre-employment drug screen.
ARL is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion; we believe this is central to our success as a Department of Defense designated University Affiliated Research Center (UARC). We are at our best when we draw on the talents of all parts of society, and our greatest accomplishments are achieved when diverse perspectives are part of our workforce.