Senior Cybersecurity Engineer

What We Do 

The CERT Cyber Mission Readiness (CMR) Modeling, Simulation, and Exercise (MSE) team aims to lower the cost and time required to iteratively develop, test, and evaluate new cybersecurity capabilities for improving cyber mission readiness. To achieve this, we develop and integrate innovative tools and processes to enable teams of cybersecurity professionals to exercise and assess the effectiveness of emerging human-machine-teaming capabilities. In doing so, MSE pioneers research and development efforts designed to counter cybersecurity threats to our nation. 

MSE develops solutions for improving cyber mission readiness. MSE partners with sponsors to identify and resolve gaps that challenge their ability to counter rapidly evolving adversary tactics in cyberspace. We achieve this by guiding teams of cyber operators through the test and evaluation of emerging technologies, while performing mission essential tasks within realistic, virtual environments. 

MSE's core strength is our supportive and highly collaborative culture. Our team recognizes the importance of our mission: to ensure that our nation’s cybersecurity workforce is the best in the world. We are looking for people of character who share our passion, love technology and teamwork, and who have a desire to teach, learn from, and collaborate with others. We provide numerous internal and external training and professional development opportunities for members of our team. We also learn from each other through cross-training and mentoring. 

Position Summary 

As a member of MSE, you will work with other team members to develop and deliver cybersecurity modeling, simulation, and exercise capabilities, programs, and software for US Government departments, agencies and associated organizations.  

Requirements: 

• BS in Computer Science, Data Science, Information Science, Cybersecurity, Computer Engineering, or related discipline with 10-years of applicable work experience; OR MS in the same fields with 8-years of applicable work experience; OR PhD with 5-years of applicable experience; OR an equivalent combination of training or experience. 
• Willingness to travel to various locations in support of the SEI’s overall mission. This includes within the SEI and CMU community, sponsor sites, conferences, and offsite meetings on occasion. Moderate travel (15%). 
• You will be subject to a background check and must be eligible to obtain and maintain a Department of Defense security clearance. 

Duties: 

• Interacting effectively with team members 
• Identifying and understanding customer problems/challenges 
• Collecting requirements and objectives 
• Producing creative and engaging scenario-based simulations 
• Building physical and virtualized network systems 
• Defining, creating, and maintaining solutions in support of government cyberspace responsibilities 
• Defining and solving challenging problems related to effective learning and human-machine teaming 
• Developing software and hardware prototypes 
• Leading and supervising direct reports; providing performance management, career guidance, and corrective actions as required 

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: 

In MSE, we want you to learn new skills and technologies. In this position, you will potentially use the skills and technologies in the following list. Previous experience or exposure to these will be considered a plus. 

• Excellent oral and written communications 
• Understanding of cybersecurity fundamentals and best practices 
• Technical problem-solving, analytical and information organization 
• Network system design, building, maintenance and troubleshooting 
• Server and desktop platforms (e.g., Windows, Linux, MacOS, etc.) 
• Network administration (e.g., routers, switches, firewalls, proxies, etc.) 
• Programming and website design (e.g., Angular, CSS, .NET Core, Python, R, C, C++, C#, Java, etc.) 
• Scripting (e.g., Bash, PowerShell, etc.) 
• Infrastructure-as-Code technologies (e.g., Packer, OpenToFu, Ansible, etc.) 
• DevOps technologies (e.g., Git, Docker, Helm, Kubernetes, etc.) 
• Virtualization and cloud technologies (e.g., VMWare ESX server, Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS, etc.) 
• Security tools (e.g., Splunk, Security Onion, ELK stack, McAfee ePO/HIPS, ArcSight, etc.) 
• Penetration testing (e.g., Kali, Metasploit, Powershell Empire, etc.) 
• Artificial intelligence/machine learning/data science (e.g., large language models, ML.NET, pandas, scikit-learn, pytorch, tensorflow, R, etc.) 
• Learning analytics (e.g., curriculum design, knowledge and performance assessment, feedback, remediation, etc.) 
• Learning management systems (e.g., Moodle) 

Desired Experience: 

• Government/military service in positions involving information technology, cybersecurity, and management of large-scale government networks 

Benefits: 

Our benefits philosophy encompasses three driving priorities: Choice, Control, and Well-being. Learn more at https://www.cmu.edu/jobs/benefits-at-a-glance/. You can join an institution and inspire innovations that change the world. 

Location

Pittsburgh, PA

Job Function

Software/Applications Development/Engineering

Position Type

Staff – Regular

Full time/Part time

Full time

Pay Basis

Salary

More Information: 

• Please visit “Why Carnegie Mellon” to learn more about becoming part of an institution inspiring innovations that change the world. 

• Click here to view a listing of employee benefits

• Carnegie Mellon University is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Disability/Veteran. 

• Statement of Assurance