Senior Cybersecurity Researcher

Posting TitleSenior Cybersecurity Researcher

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LocationCO - Golden

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Position TypeRegular

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Hours Per Week40

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Working at NRELThe National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), located at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Golden, Colorado is the nation's primary laboratory for energy systems research and development.

Join the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), where world-class scientists, engineers, and experts are accelerating energy innovation through breakthrough research and systems integration. From our mission to our collaborative culture, NREL stands out in the research community for its commitment to an affordable and secure energy future. Spanning foundational science to applied systems engineering and analysis, we focus on solving complex challenges to deliver advanced, secure, reliable, and cost-effective energy solutions. Our work helps strengthen U.S. industries, support job creation, and promote national economic growth.

At NREL, you’ll find a mission-driven environment supported by state-of-the-art facilities, multidisciplinary research teams, and strong collaborations with industry, academia, and other national laboratories. We offer robust professional development opportunities, and a competitive benefits package designed to support your career and well-being.

Learn about NREL’s critical objectives: NREL's Mission and Vision.

Job Description

NREL’s Cybersecurity Research Center (CRC) performs research with the goal of building resiliency and reducing risk across the energy sector. This is primarily accomplished through engaging with energy sector partners, government program offices, and national security organizations. Research and focus areas within the CRC include energy system and threat actor modeling and simulation, OT cyber risk analysis, red team or blue team testing and evaluation, exercise and planning, hardware & software security, and supply chain security.

Researchers within the CRC have the opportunity to drive NREL research in energy system security and advance a rapidly growing cybersecurity portfolio. Team members work alongside current NREL research staff to utilize the best-in-class resources to deploy applicable large-scale test environments, perform cybersecurity experiments, and collaborate with other laboratory and government partners.

CRC is seeking an experienced senior cybersecurity research security professional to lead various cybersecurity research portfolios. The successful candidate will demonstrate a deep knowledge of offensive and defensive cybersecurity principals as well as an ability to accomplish strategic and technical research objectives, directly task and coordinate on-site resources and individual contributors, collaborate with partners from across national labs, the Department of Energy, industry, and national security partners, and have expertise in the nexus of energy and cybersecurity systems.

Responsibilities, knowledge, and experiences include:

• Advance laboratory cybersecurity capabilities, including cyber threat emulation, modeling, simulation, testing, and evaluation
• Lead development and execution of cybersecurity research using modeling and simulation tools, as well as testing and evaluation capabilities and metrics
• Expert understanding of adversarial tactics, techniques, and procedures
• Skill in writing scripts and developing applications to automate data collection, processing, and analysis tasks in cybersecurity contexts
• Experience in working with critical infrastructure systems and software, including knowledge of industry hardware and software commercial vendors and their associated configuration and maintenance practices
• Skill in systems integration testing
• Skill in performing and interpreting test results
• Ability to collaborate with fellow researchers, Department of Energy staff as well as industrial partners to ensure research relevance and impact
• In addition to technical research, the role requires technical writing skills as well as the ability to represent the NREL CRC team by presenting research results both internally and externally to sponsors and partners
• Assist with staff planning, recruiting, mentoring, and team building
• Support cyber business development efforts
• Build research collaborations with the energy industry, other DOE labs and national security partners

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Basic QualificationsRelevant PhD and 15 or more years of experience . Or, relevant Master's Degree and 18 or more years of experience . Or, relevant Bachelor's Degree and 20 or more years of experience . Exhibits an exceptional degree of ingenuity, creativity, and resourcefulness. Apply and/or develop highly advanced technologies, scientific principles, theories and concepts. Viewed as an international expert within the field. Demonstrates leadership of complex technical projects. Project management competence. Demonstrated management of complex and/or high impact projects. Outstanding technical writing, interpersonal and communication skills.

* Must meet educational requirements prior to employment start date.

Additional Required Qualifications

• Must be able to obtain and maintain a DOE security clearance at the Q/TS/SCI level. A polygraph may be required.  Eligibility requirements: To obtain a clearance, an individual must be at least 18 years of age; U.S. citizenship is required except in very limited circumstances. See DOE O 472.2A  for additional information.
• Existing relationships within DOE program offices (e.g., DOE CESER) and/or the energy sector space with a focus on electric utilities
• Experience working with Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDC) with a preference in DOE National Laboratories
• Deep experience using relevant cybersecurity standards and tools included but not limited to MITRE ATT&CK Framework, NIST CSF, detection tools, penetration testing and red teaming tools, and encryption
• Expert knowledge of technical field and related disciplines
• Experience leading and mentoring technical teams
• Expert understanding and application of project management principles, concepts, practices, and standards
• Exhibits an exceptional degree of ingenuity, creativity, resourcefulness, and teamwork
• Ability to travel as needed up to 10%

Preferred Qualifications

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Job Application Submission Window

The anticipated closing window for application submission is up to 30 days and may be extended as needed.

Annual Salary Range (based on full-time 40 hours per week)Job Profile: Researcher VI / Annual Salary Range: $140,900 - $253,600

NREL takes into consideration a candidate’s education, training, and experience, expected quality and quantity of work, required travel (if any), external market and internal value, including seniority and merit systems, and internal pay alignment when determining the salary level for potential new employees. In compliance with the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, a potential new employee’s salary history will not be used in compensation decisions.

Benefits SummaryBenefits include medical, dental, and vision insurance; short*- and long-term disability insurance; pension benefits*; 403(b) Employee Savings Plan with employer match*; life and accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurance; personal time off (PTO) and sick leave; paid holidays; and tuition reimbursement*. NREL employees may be eligible for, but are not guaranteed, performance-, merit-, and achievement- based awards that include a monetary component. Some positions may be eligible for relocation expense reimbursement. Limited-term positions are not eligible for long-term disability or tuition reimbursement.

* Based on eligibility rules

Badging RequirementNREL is subject to Department of Energy (DOE) access restrictions. All employees must also be able to obtain and maintain a federal Personal Identity Verification (PIV) card as required by Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12), which includes a favorable background investigation.

Drug Free Workplace

NREL is committed to maintaining a drug-free workplace in accordance with the federal Drug-Free Workplace Act and complies with federal laws prohibiting the possession and use of illegal drugs. Under federal law, marijuana remains an illegal drug.

If you are offered employment at NREL, you must pass a pre-employment drug test prior to commencing employment. Unless prohibited by state or local law, the pre-employment drug test will include marijuana. If you test positive on the pre-employment drug test, your offer of employment may be withdrawn.

Submission Guidelines

Please note that in order to be considered an applicant for any position at NREL you must submit an application form for each position for which you believe you are qualified. Applications are not kept on file for future positions. Please include a cover letter and resume with each position application.

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Equal Opportunity Employer

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard basis of age (40 and over), color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, domestic partner status, military or veteran status, national origin/ancestry, race, religion, creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding), sexual orientation, and any other applicable status protected by federal, state, or local laws.

Reasonable Accommodations

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