Engineering and Physical Sciences Researcher (Electrical & Computer Engineering Research) - Experienced to Expert Level (Maryland)
National Security Agency · Fort Meade, MD · 3 wk ago
Engineering$133k–$197k/yrFull-time
We need to output HTML fragment with sections: Responsibilities, Qualifications, Pay, Benefits, Schedule maybe. Also maybe Job Summary? The instruction: use for section headings (e.g. About the role, Responsibilities, Requirements, Qualifications, Skills, Benefits, Pay, Schedule). Include a section ONLY when posting has real, specific content. Do not repeat job title. Do not put Job ID etc. Remove boilerplate, duplicated lines, application instructions, EEO etc. Preserve all substantive info.
We need to extract responsibilities, qualifications, pay, benefits, schedule. Also maybe Job Summary? Not listed as heading but could be considered "About the role"? But they said use headings like About the role, Responsibilities, etc. The posting includes a "Job Summary" paragraph. Could map to "About the role". Probably include that as
for section headings (e.g. About the role, Responsibilities, Requirements, Qualifications, Skills, Benefits, Pay, Schedule). Include a section ONLY when posting has real, specific content. Do not repeat job title. Do not put Job ID etc. Remove boilerplate, duplicated lines, application instructions, EEO etc. Preserve all substantive info.
We need to extract responsibilities, qualifications, pay, benefits, schedule. Also maybe Job Summary? Not listed as heading but could be considered "About the role"? But they said use headings like About the role, Responsibilities, etc. The posting includes a "Job Summary" paragraph. Could map to "About the role". Probably include that as About the role
with paragraph.
Responsibilities: there is a big block. Need to capture all responsibilities content. Should we include bullet list? The responsibilities are described in prose and bullet list after "Responsibilities for the Engineering and Physical Sciences Researcher position include, but are not limited to:" then bullet list. We'll output - items.
We need to preserve all substantive info, not invent. So include the bullet points exactly as given.
Qualifications: includes degree requirements, relevant experience, SENIOR/EXPERT entry. We'll output as
- maybe.
Pay: includes salary range and description. We'll output
maybe.
Benefits: mention comprehensive benefits package. That's substantive? It says "Benefits: NSA offers a comprehensive benefits package." That's specific enough? It's not detailed but it's a statement. According to rule: never emit a heading followed by filler/placeholder text (e.g., "commensurate with experience", "not specified", "N/A", "varies", "TBD") and never create Pay/Schedule/Benefits sections unless the posting actually states them. Here they state benefits: "NSA offers a comprehensive benefits package." That's specific enough? It's not filler; it's a statement. So we can include Benefits section with that sentence.
Schedule: includes work schedule description and DCIPS trial period details. That's substantive. So include Schedule section.
We must not include application instructions, EEO, etc.
We need to output only HTML fragment, no /, no markdown fences.
Let's craft.
Structure:
About the role
... job summary paragraph ...
Responsibilities
- ... each bullet ...
...
Qualifications
- ... each bullet ...
...
Pay
... salary description ...
Benefits
NSA offers a comprehensive benefits package.
Schedule
... schedule and trial period details ...
We need to ensure we preserve all substantive info from those sections.
Let's extract.
Job Summary paragraph:
"The NSA invites you to be part of an elite research team designing the cryptography that protects our nation's most sensitive communications. As an Engineering and Physical Sciences Researcher, you will translate mission needs into cryptographic solutions. You will partner with customers across space, special operations, tactical, and SWaP constrained domains. You will work alongside world-class mathematicians and engineers to design, prototype, and evaluate new symmetric and public-key algorithms and protocols. Your hardware and software expertise will directly shape how next-generation cryptography, including post-quantum cryptography, is realized and deployed in National Security Systems. Your efforts will help protect U.S. and allied warfighters, deliver critical intelligence to decision makers, and defend vital networks against our adversaries."
That's the Job Summary.
Now Responsibilities: The block before "Job Summary" includes a paragraph about role and then bullet list.
We need to capture all responsibilities content: The paragraph before bullet list: "Do you want to work on the cryptography that protects our nation's most sensitive systems and see it fielded in the real world? We're looking for engineers who can turn cutting-edge cryptographic research into working, deployable capabilities. Within NSA's Research Directorate, the Cryptography for Cybersecurity organization researches and designs secure cryptographic algorithms and drives the integration of modern cryptographic capabilities into U.S. National Security Systems. Our multi-disciplinary team of mathematicians, computer scientists, and engineers designs new public-key and symmetric cryptography for a wide range of mission customers, spanning space and satellite systems, special operations, tactical communications, and low size, weight, and power (SWaP) environments. A significant portion of our current work is focused on the design, evaluation, and transition of post-quantum cryptography, to secure National Security Systems against the threat of quantum computers. We are seeking an Engineering and Physical Sciences Researcher to work at the intersection of cryptographic design and real-world application. In this role, you will serve as the bridge between mission customers and our research team. You will capture operational requirements and system constraints from customer organizations and bring them back to the mathematicians, engineers, and computer scientists who develop cryptography for specialized target environments. These environments frequently present challenges such as low-bandwidth or error-prone channels, tight protocol and interface constraints, and demanding performance targets ranging from high-speed networking to tactical edge devices. You will prototype and implement candidate algorithms in hardware and software, evaluate them on representative systems, and estimate their performance in the customer's operational environment. You will ensure the secure algorithms that are developed can be translated into secure implementations, covering topics such as resilience to implementation mistakes and side-channel attacks. A successful candidate will possess a strong understanding of, and experience in, at least three of the following: - Hardware design and implementation targeting FPGAs (VHDL/Verilog, vendor toolchains); ASIC design experience a plus - Software development in C, Rust, and/or Python for implementation, testing, and tooling - Embedded systems design, including operating systems, real-time constraints, and resource-constrained platforms - Applied cryptography and cryptographic engineering (public-key and/or symmetric algorithms, modes, and protocols) - Performance analysis, modeling, benchmarking, and optimization of algorithms in hardware and/or embedded software - Communications and networking concepts, including error-prone/low-bandwidth links, framing, and protocol design"
Then bullet list after "Responsibilities for the Engineering and Physical Sciences Researcher position include, but are not limited to:":
- Engaging with customer organizations to elicit requirements, characterize the target system and operating environment, and communicate constraints back to the cryptographic design team
- Collaborating with mathematicians, computer scientists, and engineers to develop and refine both symmetric and public-key cryptographic algorithms and protocols for constrained, noisy, low-bandwidth, and high-performance environments
- Designing, implementing, and testing candidate symmetric and public-key algorithms in hardware (primarily FPGA, occasionally ASIC) and embedded software to evaluate correctness, performance, and resource utilization
- Developing reference and optimized implementations, test vectors, and test harnesses to validate algorithm and protocol behavior
- Estimating and modeling algorithm performance (throughput, latency, memory, power, area) in customer environments, and presenting trade studies to inform design decisions
- Integrating cryptographic components into protocols and embedded systems, and assessing interface, framing, and error-handling impacts on the overall design
- Contributing to the evaluation and transition of post-quantum cryptographic algorithms for National Security Systems
- Staying abreast of current research in cryptographic engineering and implementation, and incorporating state-of-the-art techniques into designs and evaluations
- Performing side-channel analysis of candidate implementations, including timing and power measurements, and applying countermeasures to produce side-channel-resistant designs
We need to include all that as responsibilities. The earlier paragraph also contains responsibilities; we could include that as part of responsibilities section as prose before list. Probably best to include the paragraph as then
.
Now Qualifications: extract.
"The qualifications listed are the minimum acceptable to be considered for the position. Degree must be in either (1) Engineering, (2) Physics or Astronomy from an accredited college, or (3) a relevant professional technical field (for example, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, geology). For Engineering degrees, if program is not ABET accredited, it must include specified coursework.* *Specified coursework includes courses in differential and integral calculus and 5 of the following 18 areas: (a) statics or dynamics, (b) strength of materials/stress-strain relationships, (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics, (d) thermodynamics, (e) electromagnetic fields, (f) nature and properties of materials/relating particle and aggregate structure to properties, (g) solid state electronics, (h) microprocessor applications, (i), computer systems, (j) signal processing, (k) digital design, (l) systems and control theory, (m) circuits or generalized circuits, (n) communication systems, (o) power systems, (p) computer networks, (q) software development, (r) Any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, or soil mechanics. Relevant experience must be in one or more of the following: performing engineering or physical sciences work, or conducting academic or independent research in a technical field (for example, mathematics, engineering, cognitive sciences and physical sciences). SENIOR Entry is with a Bachelor's degree plus 7 years of relevant experience, or a Master's degree plus 5 years of relevant experience, or a Doctoral degree plus 3 years of relevant experience. EXPERT Entry is with a Bachelor's degree plus 10 years of relevant experience, or a Master's degree plus 8 years of relevant experience, or a Doctoral degree plus 6 years of relevant experience."
We need to preserve all that. Could format as - each bullet? But it's not bullet list originally; it's prose with sub-bullets. We could keep as
for paragraphs and maybe
for the list of areas. However instruction: Use - for any list of duties/requirements/benefits. So we should convert lists to
- . The "specified coursework includes courses in differential and integral calculus and 5 of the following 18 areas:" then list (a) ... (r). That's a list; we should make
- . Also the "Relevant experience must be in one or more of the following: performing engineering or physical sciences work, or conducting academic or independent research in a technical field (for example, mathematics, engineering, cognitive sciences and physical sciences)." That's a short list; we could make
- . Also the SENIOR/EXPERT entry could be list.
We'll need to decide how to structure. Probably easiest: keep the qualifications section as series of
paragraphs, and for lists use
- . Ensure we preserve all info.
Let's break:
Paragraph 1: "The qualifications listed are the minimum acceptable to be considered for the position."
Paragraph 2: "Degree must be in either (1) Engineering, (2) Physics or Astronomy from an accredited college, or (3) a relevant professional technical field (for example, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, geology)."
Paragraph 3: "For Engineering degrees, if program is not ABET accredited, it must include specified coursework.*"
Then we have footnote: "*Specified coursework includes courses in differential and integral calculus and 5 of the following 18 areas: (a) statics or dynamics, (b) strength of materials/stress-strain relationships, (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics, (d) thermodynamics, (e) electromagnetic fields, (f) nature and properties of materials/relating particle and aggregate structure to properties, (g) solid state electronics, (h) microprocessor applications, (i), computer systems, (j) signal processing, (k) digital design, (l) systems and control theory, (m) circuits or generalized circuits, (n) communication systems, (o) power systems,
- maybe.
Pay: includes salary range and description. We'll output
maybe. Benefits: mention comprehensive benefits package. That's substantive? It says "Benefits: NSA offers a comprehensive benefits package." That's specific enough? It's not detailed but it's a statement. According to rule: never emit a heading followed by filler/placeholder text (e.g., "commensurate with experience", "not specified", "N/A", "varies", "TBD") and never create Pay/Schedule/Benefits sections unless the posting actually states them. Here they state benefits: "NSA offers a comprehensive benefits package." That's specific enough? It's not filler; it's a statement. So we can include Benefits section with that sentence. Schedule: includes work schedule description and DCIPS trial period details. That's substantive. So include Schedule section. We must not include application instructions, EEO, etc. We need to output only HTML fragment, no /, no markdown fences. Let's craft. Structure:
About the role
... job summary paragraph ...
Responsibilities
- ... each bullet ... ...
Qualifications
- ... each bullet ... ...
Pay
... salary description ...
Benefits
NSA offers a comprehensive benefits package.
Schedule
... schedule and trial period details ...
We need to ensure we preserve all substantive info from those sections. Let's extract. Job Summary paragraph: "The NSA invites you to be part of an elite research team designing the cryptography that protects our nation's most sensitive communications. As an Engineering and Physical Sciences Researcher, you will translate mission needs into cryptographic solutions. You will partner with customers across space, special operations, tactical, and SWaP constrained domains. You will work alongside world-class mathematicians and engineers to design, prototype, and evaluate new symmetric and public-key algorithms and protocols. Your hardware and software expertise will directly shape how next-generation cryptography, including post-quantum cryptography, is realized and deployed in National Security Systems. Your efforts will help protect U.S. and allied warfighters, deliver critical intelligence to decision makers, and defend vital networks against our adversaries." That's the Job Summary. Now Responsibilities: The block before "Job Summary" includes a paragraph about role and then bullet list. We need to capture all responsibilities content: The paragraph before bullet list: "Do you want to work on the cryptography that protects our nation's most sensitive systems and see it fielded in the real world? We're looking for engineers who can turn cutting-edge cryptographic research into working, deployable capabilities. Within NSA's Research Directorate, the Cryptography for Cybersecurity organization researches and designs secure cryptographic algorithms and drives the integration of modern cryptographic capabilities into U.S. National Security Systems. Our multi-disciplinary team of mathematicians, computer scientists, and engineers designs new public-key and symmetric cryptography for a wide range of mission customers, spanning space and satellite systems, special operations, tactical communications, and low size, weight, and power (SWaP) environments. A significant portion of our current work is focused on the design, evaluation, and transition of post-quantum cryptography, to secure National Security Systems against the threat of quantum computers. We are seeking an Engineering and Physical Sciences Researcher to work at the intersection of cryptographic design and real-world application. In this role, you will serve as the bridge between mission customers and our research team. You will capture operational requirements and system constraints from customer organizations and bring them back to the mathematicians, engineers, and computer scientists who develop cryptography for specialized target environments. These environments frequently present challenges such as low-bandwidth or error-prone channels, tight protocol and interface constraints, and demanding performance targets ranging from high-speed networking to tactical edge devices. You will prototype and implement candidate algorithms in hardware and software, evaluate them on representative systems, and estimate their performance in the customer's operational environment. You will ensure the secure algorithms that are developed can be translated into secure implementations, covering topics such as resilience to implementation mistakes and side-channel attacks. A successful candidate will possess a strong understanding of, and experience in, at least three of the following: - Hardware design and implementation targeting FPGAs (VHDL/Verilog, vendor toolchains); ASIC design experience a plus - Software development in C, Rust, and/or Python for implementation, testing, and tooling - Embedded systems design, including operating systems, real-time constraints, and resource-constrained platforms - Applied cryptography and cryptographic engineering (public-key and/or symmetric algorithms, modes, and protocols) - Performance analysis, modeling, benchmarking, and optimization of algorithms in hardware and/or embedded software - Communications and networking concepts, including error-prone/low-bandwidth links, framing, and protocol design" Then bullet list after "Responsibilities for the Engineering and Physical Sciences Researcher position include, but are not limited to:": - Engaging with customer organizations to elicit requirements, characterize the target system and operating environment, and communicate constraints back to the cryptographic design team - Collaborating with mathematicians, computer scientists, and engineers to develop and refine both symmetric and public-key cryptographic algorithms and protocols for constrained, noisy, low-bandwidth, and high-performance environments - Designing, implementing, and testing candidate symmetric and public-key algorithms in hardware (primarily FPGA, occasionally ASIC) and embedded software to evaluate correctness, performance, and resource utilization - Developing reference and optimized implementations, test vectors, and test harnesses to validate algorithm and protocol behavior - Estimating and modeling algorithm performance (throughput, latency, memory, power, area) in customer environments, and presenting trade studies to inform design decisions - Integrating cryptographic components into protocols and embedded systems, and assessing interface, framing, and error-handling impacts on the overall design - Contributing to the evaluation and transition of post-quantum cryptographic algorithms for National Security Systems - Staying abreast of current research in cryptographic engineering and implementation, and incorporating state-of-the-art techniques into designs and evaluations - Performing side-channel analysis of candidate implementations, including timing and power measurements, and applying countermeasures to produce side-channel-resistant designs We need to include all that as responsibilities. The earlier paragraph also contains responsibilities; we could include that as part of responsibilities section as prose before list. Probably best to include the paragraph asthen
- .
Now Qualifications: extract.
"The qualifications listed are the minimum acceptable to be considered for the position. Degree must be in either (1) Engineering, (2) Physics or Astronomy from an accredited college, or (3) a relevant professional technical field (for example, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, geology). For Engineering degrees, if program is not ABET accredited, it must include specified coursework.* *Specified coursework includes courses in differential and integral calculus and 5 of the following 18 areas: (a) statics or dynamics, (b) strength of materials/stress-strain relationships, (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics, (d) thermodynamics, (e) electromagnetic fields, (f) nature and properties of materials/relating particle and aggregate structure to properties, (g) solid state electronics, (h) microprocessor applications, (i), computer systems, (j) signal processing, (k) digital design, (l) systems and control theory, (m) circuits or generalized circuits, (n) communication systems, (o) power systems, (p) computer networks, (q) software development, (r) Any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, or soil mechanics. Relevant experience must be in one or more of the following: performing engineering or physical sciences work, or conducting academic or independent research in a technical field (for example, mathematics, engineering, cognitive sciences and physical sciences). SENIOR Entry is with a Bachelor's degree plus 7 years of relevant experience, or a Master's degree plus 5 years of relevant experience, or a Doctoral degree plus 3 years of relevant experience. EXPERT Entry is with a Bachelor's degree plus 10 years of relevant experience, or a Master's degree plus 8 years of relevant experience, or a Doctoral degree plus 6 years of relevant experience."
We need to preserve all that. Could format as
- each bullet? But it's not bullet list originally; it's prose with sub-bullets. We could keep as
for paragraphs and maybe
- for the list of areas. However instruction: Use
- for any list of duties/requirements/benefits. So we should convert lists to
- . The "specified coursework includes courses in differential and integral calculus and 5 of the following 18 areas:" then list (a) ... (r). That's a list; we should make
- . Also the "Relevant experience must be in one or more of the following: performing engineering or physical sciences work, or conducting academic or independent research in a technical field (for example, mathematics, engineering, cognitive sciences and physical sciences)." That's a short list; we could make
- . Also the SENIOR/EXPERT entry could be list.
We'll need to decide how to structure. Probably easiest: keep the qualifications section as series of
paragraphs, and for lists use
- . Ensure we preserve all info. Let's break: Paragraph 1: "The qualifications listed are the minimum acceptable to be considered for the position." Paragraph 2: "Degree must be in either (1) Engineering, (2) Physics or Astronomy from an accredited college, or (3) a relevant professional technical field (for example, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, geology)." Paragraph 3: "For Engineering degrees, if program is not ABET accredited, it must include specified coursework.*" Then we have footnote: "*Specified coursework includes courses in differential and integral calculus and 5 of the following 18 areas: (a) statics or dynamics, (b) strength of materials/stress-strain relationships, (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics, (d) thermodynamics, (e) electromagnetic fields, (f) nature and properties of materials/relating particle and aggregate structure to properties, (g) solid state electronics, (h) microprocessor applications, (i), computer systems, (j) signal processing, (k) digital design, (l) systems and control theory, (m) circuits or generalized circuits, (n) communication systems, (o) power systems,
- . Also the SENIOR/EXPERT entry could be list.
We'll need to decide how to structure. Probably easiest: keep the qualifications section as series of
- . Also the "Relevant experience must be in one or more of the following: performing engineering or physical sciences work, or conducting academic or independent research in a technical field (for example, mathematics, engineering, cognitive sciences and physical sciences)." That's a short list; we could make
- . The "specified coursework includes courses in differential and integral calculus and 5 of the following 18 areas:" then list (a) ... (r). That's a list; we should make
- for any list of duties/requirements/benefits. So we should convert lists to