Senior/Principal R&D Cybersecurity Researcher - Cyber Threat Center, Onsite

About the Role

Sandia National Laboratories is the nation's premier science and engineering lab for national security and technology innovation. The laboratory offers challenging work with global impact, extraordinary colleagues, world-class tools and facilities, career advancement opportunities, and flexible work arrangements including 9/80 and 4/10 compressed workweeks, part-time options, and telecommuting (though this position requires onsite work). Benefits include generous vacation, strong medical coverage, competitive 401(k), learning opportunities, relocation assistance, and work/life balance programs (benefits vary by job classification).

This role focuses on research to keep systems safe and thwart cyber intrusions. You will develop protective technologies, conduct threat assessments, and analyze government, military, and civilian computer networks across embedded, mobile, desktop, enterprise, and cloud systems, as well as globally connected networks. Applicants may be interviewed by multiple organizations within Sandia.

Responsibilities

• Perform manual and automated reverse engineering, vulnerability assessment, malware analysis, and intrusion detection
• Manage network operations, ensure information protection and resiliency, and implement authentication and authorization
• Apply cryptography techniques to secure systems and data
• Conduct side channel analysis to identify potential security weaknesses
• Perform failure analysis to diagnose and resolve hardware and software issues
• Gather and analyze threat intelligence to support security operations
• Develop and utilize modeling, simulation, and emulation tools for system evaluation
• Apply data science, information theory, and streaming and behavioral analytics to extract insights
• Ensure hardware and software trust and assurance throughout development and deployment
• Design, develop, and maintain real-time operating systems (RTOS) and embedded systems, including Internet of Things (IoT) devices
• Deploy and manage virtualization technologies (system and network) and cloud platforms
• Support mobile devices, smart technologies, and autonomous systems integration and security
• Operate and secure industrial control systems and SCADA systems
• Research, develop, and implement Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI security solutions

Pay

Salary range: $117,500 – $235,700. The range is estimated; actual salary will be determined based on the selected candidate's experience and qualifications, and application of any approved geographic salary differential.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline and five (5) years of directly relevant experience, or an equivalent combination of education and engineering/scientific experience demonstrating the ability to perform independent research and development
• Ability to obtain and maintain a DOE Q and SCI clearance, which may require a polygraph test

Preferred Qualifications

• Graduate degree in Computer Science/Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Information Systems, Computer Forensics, Mathematics, or a directly related field where an independent research project (thesis, dissertation, or independent project) was a graduation requirement
• Experience in one or more of: reverse engineering, software vulnerability assessment, web application assessment, computer networking, computer architecture, compilers, hardware analysis, microelectronics, or similar computer security topics
• Proficiency in scripting or high-level programming
• Familiarity with secure-system design principles and information assurance principles
• Excellent communication skills with demonstrated ability to develop and present technical ideas and results concisely in oral and written form
• Assembly or operating system programming, application layer programming, DevOps programming, and/or network layer programming
• Experience with high-consequence high-trust systems, mobile systems, embedded systems, OT/ICS/SCADA devices and systems, virtualization technologies, or firmware environments
• Experience with one or more of: operating system design and security, driver development, low-level software debugging, hypervisor implementations, or memory management
• Demonstrated experience and application of one or more of: data science, machine learning, information theory, streaming and behavioral analytics, and network protocols
• Defining new research directions, crafting research proposals, and presenting research results in a relevant area of cybersecurity
• Cyber-relevant experience in Artificial Intelligence (AI) including AI security, data engineering, and machine learning models
• Active DOE Q or DoD TS security clearance and SCI access, with willingness to take a polygraph exam if requested

About the Team

As a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC), Sandia addresses the country's most pressing national security needs. In the Threat Intelligence Center, the Information Operations Program assesses, designs, implements, and influences the development of national security-related information systems and technologies for Defense and Intelligence customers. This requisition may lead to placement in one of several groups:

• Cyber-Physical Mission R&D: Researches and develops protections for Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), analyzing from system view down to individual components
• Cyber Intelligence Research: Develops and applies software and hardware tools to analyze complex information systems for vulnerabilities and transfers solutions for critical information system challenges, including computer security, network security, and vulnerability assessments
• Microelectronics Protection Technologies: Assesses, designs, and influences national-security-related information systems by analyzing microelectronic devices and next-layer assemblies for vulnerabilities and developing protective solutions
• Emerging Cyber Capabilities: Develops innovative cyber capabilities by synthesizing operational, experimental, threat, and vulnerability data into complex systems understanding for assessment and protection of high-consequence national security systems

Security Clearance

Sandia is required by DOE to conduct a pre-employment drug test and background review including personal references, credit, law enforcement records, and employment/education verifications. Applicants must be able to obtain and maintain a DOE Q-level security clearance and SCI access, both requiring U.S. citizenship. SCI access may also require a polygraph examination. Dual citizenship may impact clearance eligibility. Substance abuse, illegal drug use, falsification, criminal activity, serious misconduct, or other indicators of untrustworthiness can cause clearance denial or termination.

If you have a Medical Portable Electronic Device (MedPED) such as a pacemaker, defibrillator, drug-releasing pump, hearing aids, or diagnostic/monitoring equipment, you may be required to comply with NNSA security requirements