Security Researcher

About the SEI

For over three decades, the Software Engineering Institute has been helping government and industry organizations acquire, develop, operate, and sustain innovative, affordable, enduring, and dependable software systems. SEI serves the nation as a not-for-profit, Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC), specifically established by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to focus on software, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence. The SEI is embedded within Carnegie Mellon University, a global research academic institution annually rated among the best for computer science and engineering programs.

As an FFRDC, the SEI fills voids where in-house and private-sector research and development centers are unable to meet DoD core technology needs. For government and industry, the SEI is an objective, unbiased, honest broker that maintains a critical mass of top-caliber software and cyber professionals, provides a central repository for information about software engineering and cybersecurity, develops and maintains core competence in areas critical to the DoD, and serves as an intellectual crossroads and catalyst for change.

Our team, Platform Insight, seeks individuals with strong interest in understanding and resolving technical challenges in the national security space. Our group focuses on applied research into the functionality of emerging and already ubiquitous technologies at all constituent logical layers, from component-level aspects through system and software implementation to communication protocols. We examine the variation between expected and actual functionality that results from real-world implementation. Finally, in support of stakeholders throughout the US Government, we reason about and advise on the implications of our findings.

Qualified individuals will have a strong aptitude to reformulate open questions; devise creative solutions; deliver concise, rigorous prototype implementations; and clearly articulate this process in discussions, presentations, and formal reports. Recent examples of our work have included novel approaches to analyzing network traffic, reasoning about automated imaging analysis, and software implementation of novel file and format extraction techniques.

Requirements:

• BS in Computer Science or related quantitative discipline with eight (8) years of applicable work experience; OR MS in the same fields with five (5) years of applicable work experience; OR PhD in Computer Science or related quantitative discipline with two years of experience.
• Willingness to occasionally travel to customer sites, conferences, and offsite meetings. (5%) 
• You will be subject to a background investigation and you must have the ability to obtain and maintain a Department of Defense security clearance.
• Applicants for this position must be currently legally authorized to work for CMU in the United States. CMU will not sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa for this opportunity.

Desired Expertise:

The Platform Insight team values experience in the following areas:

• Hardware and software reverse-engineering
• Deep technical knowledge of Internet protocols
• Contemporary vulnerability exploitation techniques and respective mitigation
• Data structures and algorithms
• Operating System internals (esp. UNIX and Linux)
• Development of Proofs of Concept
• Mobile and embedded platforms
   

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. 

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