Senior Cybersecurity Systems Engineer

About the role

MTSI is seeking a Senior Cybersecurity Systems Engineer to support Special Access Programs (SAPs) for the Department of Defense (DOD) and Headquarters United States Air Force. The position will provide direct security engineering support throughout the system development lifecycle (SDLC).

Responsibilities

• Understanding operational needs of systems at various stages of the SDLC through participation in acquisition meetings (PMR, PDR, CDR, etc.) and concept of operation (CONOP) working groups.
• Designing and developing security requirements that drive down risk while maintaining operational capability.
• Working between architecture-level and implementation-level engineering meetings to maintain a system-wide view of security functions and apply risk mitigation strategies at the appropriate level.
• Guiding and verifying defense contractors' work against program requirements and goals, including participating in technical discussions, trade studies, and working groups, and conducting research on industry best practices for potential implementation.
• Interfacing with program managers to explain security goals and mitigations relative to their priorities of cost and schedule.
• Select and tailor controls from the NIST SP 800-53 control catalog in view of system needs and constraints.
• Review system and network artifacts and conduct assessments against selected control baselines, assessing residual risk and providing recommendations to the Authorizing Official.
• Evaluate software and hardware prior to entry to networks.

Requirements

• 20+ years' of related technical experience.
• Firm understanding of the DoD 8500.1-M, Joint SAP Implementation Guide (JSIG), and NIST Special Publication 800-53.
• Demonstrated ability to assess and articulate risk, including to non-technical audiences.
• Demonstrated history finding unique mitigations to varied systems' security challenges.
• Demonstrated technical proficiency in at least one area of security (e.g. communications, networks, embedded systems, software, system testing or assessment, etc.).
• Strong research skills and a desire to learn new (emerging OR existing but unfamiliar) technologies.
• Strong communication skills, written and oral.
• Able to travel ~30% of time for program meetings.

Desired Experience

• Special Access Programs, acquisition programs, software engineering or code review.
• Certifications: IAM II (e.g. CISSP, CISM) DESEDED
• Sub-field specific certifications: e.g. cloud (CCSP, AWS Solutions Architect), offensive security (OSCP, GPEN), operating systems (Microsoft/Linux administration), etc.

Education

• Masters Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering or related engineering discipline.

Clearances

• An active TS/SCI clearance is required.

Pay and Benefits

• The pay range for this position is $160,000/year to $210,000/year; however, base pay offered may vary depending on established government contract ranges, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience, and other factors.
• MTSI offers a full range of medical benefits, 401k, ESOP, paid time off, and other benefits, dependent on the position offered.