Senior Firmware Security Researcher

Roles & Responsibilities

• Develop and apply technical expertise in reverse engineering software binaries/embedded firmware.
• Prototype technical capabilities in hardware and software, including proof-of-concept software exploit development.
• Research emerging threats to embedded systems and countermeasures.
• Provide technical leadership within project teams and help define research approaches that deliver impactful solutions for our customers.
• Design, develop, and lead key efforts to build software infrastructure and tools that enable, accelerate, and scale reverse engineering, vulnerability research, and security capability development for embedded systems.
• Communicate technical approach, risks, and results to MITRE program leaders and customers.
• Mentor junior engineers in reverse engineering, vulnerability research, and capability development.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical or Computer Engineering, Computer Science or similar field with 5 years of related experience; Master’s degree in the same with 3 years of related experience; or PhD in the same with 3 years of related experience.
• Expertise in reverse engineering software binaries/embedded firmware and practical experience with disassemblers, decompilers, firmware unpacking, common executable file formats, and debuggers.
• Expertise in reverse engineering for one or more embedded processor architectures, preferably ARM.
• Expertise in modern binary exploitation techniques and countermeasures with practical experience in software vulnerability analysis and exploitation development.
• Experience developing software with C/C++ and Python.
• Experience developing low-level software (e.g., embedded systems/microcontrollers, kernels, and/or device drivers).
• Effective oral and written communication skills.
• US citizen with active Secret security clearance.
• A minimum of 3 days on site each week.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical or Computer Engineering, Computer Science or similar field with 8 years of related experience; Master’s degree in the same with 6 years of related experience; or PhD in the same with 3 years of related experience.
• Possess an active Top Secret security clearance.
• Experience leading teams developing or evaluating secure embedded systems.
• Experience with one or more of the following technical areas:
• Fuzz testing software applications or embedded firmware.
• Instrumentation/debug of embedded software or firmware.
• Firmware rehosting and peripheral modeling.
• Symbolic analysis.
• Linux kernel, kernel derivators, or real-time operating systems.
• Commercial embedded and/or hardware security technologies such as ARM TrustZone, Trusted Platform Modules, Boot Guard, Secure Boot, etc.