vulnerability researcher

Full-Time | On-Site | St. Petersburg, FL (preferred), Melbourne, FL, San Antonio, TX

Active US Top Secret clearance required (must be eligible for TS/SCI with SAP). U.S. citizenship required; visa sponsorship is not available. Relocation assistance available.

About The Opportunity

Our client is seeking an experienced Senior Vulnerability Researcher to join a highly technical team focused on advanced vulnerability discovery, reverse engineering, and exploit development. This is a hands-on research role for professionals who thrive on solving complex technical challenges and uncovering previously unknown vulnerabilities across a wide range of platforms.

Responsibilities

• Lead advanced vulnerability research across operating systems, kernels, firmware, hypervisors, embedded platforms, and complex application stacks.
• Independently identify and evaluate new attack surfaces, driving research from initial hypothesis through validated findings.
• Perform deep reverse engineering and in-memory analysis of compiled binaries across x86, x64, ARM, and PowerPC architectures.
• Develop and validate novel exploitation techniques while evaluating modern security mitigations, including ASLR, DEP/NX, and CFI.
• Analyze undocumented system behavior and enhance internal research tools and automation.
• Collaborate with senior researchers to drive technical innovation and improve overall research quality.
• Communicate technical findings clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Mentor team members and contribute to research methodologies, tooling, and knowledge sharing.

Requirements

• 6+ years of hands-on vulnerability research or exploit development experience.
• Demonstrated success independently leading complex research projects with minimal direction.
• Strong background in reverse engineering and exploit development rather than defensive security or security operations.
• Experience supporting cyber operations, offensive security, or government research programs is highly valued.
• Contributions to the security community, including CVEs, conference presentations, research publications, malware analysis, deobfuscation work, or CTF achievements, are a plus.
• Active U.S. Top Secret clearance with the ability to obtain TS/SCI with Special Access Program eligibility.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical discipline preferred.

Skills

• Expert-level reverse engineering of operating systems, kernels, firmware, and compiled binaries.
• Strong knowledge of assembly language across x86/x64, ARM, and PowerPC architectures.
• Experience developing proof-of-concept exploits, vulnerability research, and mitigation bypass techniques.
• Strong programming skills in C/C++ and Python.
• Experience researching embedded systems, hypervisors, mobile platforms, RTOS, or networking protocols.
• Proficiency with industry-standard research tools such as IDA Pro, Ghidra, fuzzing frameworks, symbolic execution tools, and related technologies.

Pay

Annual salary range: $156,000 – $234,000 USD.

Benefits

"Let your geek flag fly" is a core value here—technical depth and curiosity are celebrated over titles or hierarchy.