Senior Vulnerability Researcher (5G & Protocol Security)

The Opportunity

We are seeking a Senior Vulnerability Researcher with deep expertise in telecommunications security, 3GPP protocols, and advanced reverse engineering. This role is ideal for a specialist who thrives on technical ambiguity and enjoys probing the 5G stack for critical flaws. You’ll play a key role in evaluating the security and robustness of proprietary telecom systems—reverse-engineering "closed-box" binaries, developing stateful fuzzers, and uncovering vulnerabilities that contribute directly to national cybersecurity efforts.

Responsibilities

• Investigate edge-case behaviors and low-level protocol signaling to reveal attack surfaces in proprietary telecom and embedded systems.
• Apply advanced binary analysis to reverse-engineer proprietary 5G baseband firmware and Network Function (NF) binaries where source code is unavailable.
• Develop custom tools and scripts in Python3 to automate protocol decoding, firmware unpacking, and analysis workflows.
• Develop and deploy custom stateful fuzzers for 3GPP protocols (e.g., NGAP, HTTP/2, PFCP, GTP-U) to identify crashes and stability issues in the 5G Core.
• Utilize concolic and symbolic execution (e.g., Angr, Manticore) to map complex state machines and uncover logic flaws in 5G session management and authentication flows.
• Create reliable Proof-of-Concept (PoC) exploits for discovered vulnerabilities in critical components such as AMF, SMF, or UPF.
• Document findings clearly and translate technical protocol complexity into actionable reports for security and engineering teams.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional experience in vulnerability research, protocol analysis, or reverse engineering.
• Deep understanding of 5G/4G architecture and 3GPP security standards.
• Detailed understanding of networking and telecom protocol stacks, including signaling, management and data plane components.
• Experience with Linux kernel internals or RTOS environments used in telecom hardware.
• Hands-on experience with disassembly and decompilation tools (e.g., IDA Pro, Ghidra, Binary Ninja) and hardware-assisted debugging.
• Must be a US Citizen, and able to obtain/maintain a security clearance.

Skills

• An active TS//SCI clearance is highly desired.
• Experience in exploit development and vulnerability discovery in embedded or telecom environments.
• Proven track record of reconstructing proprietary binary protocols and analyzing "closed-box" telecom equipment.
• Mastery of C/C++ and high proficiency in Python for automation and tool development.
• Familiarity with radio access network (RAN) components and baseband security.
• Ability to build scalable fuzzing infrastructure and analysis tools in a team setting.
• Background in hardware-level analysis, including firmware extraction and inspecting hardware state via JTAG or UART.

Benefits

• Flexible time off benefit and access to robust learning resources.
• Comprehensive benefits including healthcare, wellness, financial, retirement, family support, continuing education, and time off benefits.

Pay

The proposed salary range for this position is $113,200 - $237,800. There are a host of factors that can influence final salary including, but not limited to, geographic location, Federal Government contract labor categories and contract wage rates, relevant prior work experience, specific skills and competencies, education, and certifications.

What You Can Expect

• A culture of integrity, placing character and innovation at the center of everything we do.
• An environment of trust, valuing unique contributions and providing autonomy through flexible time off.
• A focus on continuous growth, advancing critical missions and building on a lengthy track record of business success.