Associate Solutions Engineer

About the role

You will work within the CERT Division of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University. The SEI researches complex software engineering, cyber, and AI problems; creates and tests innovative technologies; and transitions mature solutions into practice for the Department of War (DoW) and federal government. The CERT Situational Awareness helps organizations, particularly those within the DoW, federal government, and critical infrastructure sectors, develop and maintain awareness of their cyber hybrid environments (cloud, on‑premises, mobile), identify risks, and make informed decisions concerning cybersecurity, cyber resiliency, and cyber survivability. The team applies cybersecurity, systems engineering, and operational analysis techniques to understand complex architectures and the relationships among systems, missions, workflows, data, and stakeholders. Positions are based in Arlington, VA and Pittsburgh, PA.

Responsibilities

• Providing technical support as a team member in the development of security architectures, particularly to support cybersecurity operations and cybersecurity systems.
• Supporting mission engineering, system of systems (SoS) architectures, systems requirements development, engineering, analysis, technology evaluation and deployment guidance.
• Advancing the state of the art in cybersecurity and cybersecurity architectures.
• Developing and evaluating advanced analytical techniques, including artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), behavioral analytics, and data‑driven approaches for cyber operations.
• Documenting current‑state architectures, identifying capability and coverage gaps, evaluating technology integration strategies, recommending security solutions, and developing mission threads/workflows.
• Supporting organizations in planning, assessing, and implementing Zero Trust and cyber resilience strategies.
• Evaluating, piloting, and transitioning new technologies into operational environments.
• Contribute to diverse teams composed of colleagues, customers, and subject matter experts to deliver projects.

Requirements

• BS degree with three (3) years of experience or MS with one (1) year of experience, or an equivalent combination of training and experience.
• Willingness to travel to various locations to support the SEI’s overall mission (including SEI/CMU community, sponsor sites, conferences, and offsite meetings) – moderate travel (~20%).
• Subject to a background check and must be eligible to obtain and maintain a Department of War security clearance.

Qualifications

• Desired: Degree in Computer Science & Engineering or Systems Engineering with two (2) years of experience in cybersecurity/network operations, Model‑Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), or workflow/process analysis; or equivalent combination of training and experience.
• Experience in one or more of the following areas:
  • Enterprise/system‑of‑systems/system/security architecture
  • Security operations
  • Security research
  • Programming or software engineering
  • Networking
  • Testing

Skills

• Ability to present technical topics to audiences ranging from senior leadership to technical experts.
• Ability to work with multiple stakeholders to promote practical solutions to tough security problems.
• Strong understanding of networking, security, systems administration, programming, and/or cloud.
• Ability to work at the SoS architecture level to identify and understand tradeoffs of various approaches.
• Strong research and writing skills.

Benefits

Benefits‑eligible employees enjoy a wide array of benefits including comprehensive medical, prescription, dental, and vision insurance, a generous retirement savings program with employer contributions, tuition benefits, ample paid time off and observed holidays, life and accidental death and disability insurance, a free Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus pass, access to the Family Concierge Team for childcare needs, fitness center access, and more. For a comprehensive overview, see the Benefits page.