Application Security Engineer

About the role

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Cyber Security Directorate (CSD) Security Operations Center (SOC) is a US Government program responsible to prevent, identify, contain and eradicate cyber threats to CBP networks through monitoring, intrusion detection and protective security services to CBP information systems including local area networks/wide area networks (LAN/WAN), commercial Internet connection, public facing websites, wireless, mobile/cellular, cloud, security devices, servers and workstations. The CBPSOC is responsible for the overall security of CBP Enterprise-wide information systems, and collects, investigates, and reports any suspected and confirmed security violations.

Primary Responsibilities

• Ensure continuous monitoring of all CSD managed applications and implement an alerting system for critical incidents
• Participate in market research to identify new security solutions as required to avoid obsolescence and to improve the overall security posture
• Develop, deploy, maintain, and/or assist in the implementation and integration of Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) into CBP’s security tool suite
• Utilize SAST tools to analyze source code for vulnerabilities
• Work closely with development teams and ISSOs to remediate identified security issues
• Conduct security assessments using Microfocus WebInspect and other DAST tools
• Collaborate with development teams to address and remediate dynamic security findings
• Implement and manage container security tools, with a focus on Anchore, to ensure secure container deployments
• Provide recommendations for secure container orchestration
• Establish and maintain the definitive current basis for control and status accounting of application systems and their configuration items
• Select configuration items at appropriate levels for application products to facilitate documentation, control
• Tune logging capabilities for efficiency, identify shortfalls, and recommend improvements and new technologies for application logging
• Support the CSD Service Desk in managing and executing the Vulnerability Identification and Remediation process for applications.

Basic Qualifications

• BS degree in Information Technology, Software Engineering, or related field and 8 – 12 years of prior relevant experience
• 3+ years of prior experience in application security with a focus on SAST, SCA, DAST
• Knowledge of secure coding practices and integration into SDLC
• Familiarity with common security frameworks and standards
• Strong programming/scripting skills
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills
• Working in an Agile project management environment
• Must have a Top Secret Clearance with SCI
• Must be able to report into the Ashburn VA office up to 5 days per week

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s with 1-2 years of prior experience in application security with a focus on SAST, SCA, DAST
• Experience with data engineering tools such as Kubernetes/Rancher, Cloudera
• Experience with Configuration Management and IaC tools such as Salt or Ansible
• Experience with scripting languages, CI/CD tools, Elasticsearch, or Gitlab
• Experience working in an air-gapped environments
• Experience working in large computing environments (> 1,000 end-points)