Senior Solutions Engineer

Who We Are

You will work within the CERT Division of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI). Carnegie Mellon University’s 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.

What We Do

The CERT Situational Awareness team 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.

Position Summary

• Provide strategic technical support to senior decision makers.
• Lead teams in the development of security architectures.
• Perform mission engineering, system‑of‑systems (SoS) architectures, systems requirements development, engineering, analysis, technology evaluation and deployment guidance.
• Develop and evaluate advanced analytical techniques, including artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), behavioral analytics, and data‑driven approaches for cyber operations.
• Document current‑state architectures, identify capability and coverage gaps, evaluate technology integration strategies, recommend security solutions, and develop mission threads/workflows.
• Support organizations in planning, assessing, and implementing Zero Trust and cyber resilience strategies.
• Evaluate, pilot, and transition new technologies into operational environments.
• Develop cybersecurity, technology, and architecture roadmaps aligned with mission and business objectives.
• Assess organizational capabilities, security architectures, operational processes, and cyber resilience to identify strengths, weaknesses, risks, and opportunities for improvement.
• Act in a managerial capacity when needed by leading, mentoring, and motivating less‑senior staff; oversee multiple projects.
• Operate independently with general direction and limited guidance from SEI senior management while working in an environment where requirements are not well defined.

Requirements

• BS with ten (10) years of experience, or MS with eight (8) years, or equivalent combination of training and experience.
• Willingness to travel to various locations to support SEI’s mission (moderate travel, ~20%).
• Eligibility to obtain and maintain a Department of War security clearance; subject to a background check.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• 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 cloud technologies.
• Ability to work at the SoS architecture level to identify and understand trade‑offs.
• Experience working with the government or within a critical infrastructure sector.
• Strong research and writing skills.

Desired Experience

• PhD in Computer Science & Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related discipline 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:
  • Security and/or enterprise architecture
  • Security operations deploying or supporting large‑scale network security monitoring infrastructures
  • Security research
  • Programming or software engineering
  • Networking
  • Testing
• Prior responsibility for leading a body of work consisting of numerous large‑scale projects and multiple customers or external sponsors.
• History of contributions to the broader industry or research community and experience in a variety of network security areas.

Job Function Breakdown

• 75% – Lead support to government program offices in strategy; process/policies; requirements elicitation; design and architecture; operations; outreach; and training.
• 15% – Enable the transition and appropriate focus of situational awareness analysis and engineering approaches and tools into operational environments.
• 10% – Design, prototype, and transition tactical analysis studies and tools appropriate for operational use in situational awareness.

Location

Arlington, VA, and Pittsburgh, PA.

Position Type

Staff – Regular, Full‑time.