Postdoctoral Researcher (f/m/d) – Confidential Computing for Edge & Embedded Systems

Siemens; Garching bei München; On-site; EUR 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Siemens is seeking a Postdoctoral Researcher to advance security architectures for future edge and embedded systems, with a focus on Confidential Computing and hardware-backed isolation (Intel TDX, AMD SEV-SNP). You will address attestation, key release and offline scenarios, and explore portability of applications into confidential environments.

Your work covers architecture to implementation and evaluation on real hardware, with opportunities for publications and technology transfer.

Qualifications

• PhD in CS, cybersecurity, electrical engineering or related field.
• Strong background in systems security, OS, virtualization, embedded/real-time systems.
• Hands-on Linux and system-level software development across hardware/software boundaries.
• Experience with Confidential Computing, virtualization, containers, attestation, TPMs.
• Experience with performance analysis, real-time scheduling or hardware accelerators.
• Ability to conduct independent research and publish results.

Responsibilities

• Develop architectures for remote/offline attestation, secure key provisioning, and lifecycle management in distributed edge environments.
• Evaluate trust models and protection mechanisms and determine appropriate deployment scenarios.
• Research application portability and developer experience for Confidential Computing, enabling containerised apps in hardware-protected environments.
• Investigate real-time Confidential Computing, latency, jitter, scheduling, memory, and device access issues.
• Design, implement and evaluate concepts using Intel TDX, AMD SEV-SNP, Kata Containers, Confidential Containers and KVM/QEMU; explore IP protection and latency-critical workloads.

Skills

Systems security

Operating systems

Virtualization

Embedded systems

Real-time systems

Linux development

Confidential Computing

Performance analysis

Real-time scheduling

Education

PhD in CS/Cybersecurity/EE

Tools

Kata Containers

Confidential Containers

KVM/QEMU

Intel TDX

AMD SEV-SNP

Job description

Change the future with us. We are looking for a

Change the future with us. We are looking for a Postdoctoral Researcher (f/m/d) to advance security architectures for future edge and embedded systems, with a particular focus on Confidential Computing. Modern hardware technologies such as Intel TDX and AMD SEV-SNP provide strong isolation for applications and data during execution. Bringing these mechanisms into industrial and embedded environments, however, raises new research questions around trust, connectivity, application portability and real-time behavior. How can attestation and key release work when devices are intermittently connected or fully offline? Which trust assumptions and protection mechanisms are appropriate for different deployment scenarios? How can existing applications be moved into confidential environments with minimal changes to development and deployment workflows? And how can hardware-protected workloads retain predictable latency and real-time behavior? You will investigate these questions and turn promising concepts into working system architectures and prototypes.

As part of our team, you will have:

• The opportunity to shape research at the intersection of systems security, Confidential Computing and real-time edge computing
• Access to modern Confidential Computing hardware and realistic industrial application scenarios
• Collaboration with experts in cybersecurity, virtualization, real-time systems and industrial AI
• Opportunities for scientific publications, patents, open-source contributions and technology transfer

Since each of over 300,000 team members feels that other benefits are particularly important, and we cannot list our entire benefit portfolio here, you can find more information here. The individual benefits are subject to regulatory, contractual, or corporate conditions.

Your research may include:

• Developing architectures for remote and offline attestation, secure key provisioning and lifecycle management in distributed edge environments
• Evaluating different trust models and protection mechanisms - from secure boot, encrypted workloads and TPM-based attestation to Confidential Computing - and deriving which mechanisms are appropriate for different threat models and deployment scenarios
• Researching application portability and developer experience for Confidential Computing, with the goal of enabling existing containerised applications to move into hardware-protected environments with minimal changes. This includes technologies such as Kata Containers and Confidential Containers, as well as packaging, image encryption, attestation and key-release workflows
• Investigating real-time Confidential Computing, including the impact of confidential virtualization on latency and jitter, CPU scheduling and isolation, memory, interrupts, device access and hardware accelerators, and developing methods to preserve predictable execution
• Designing, implementing and experimentally evaluating concepts based on technologies such as Intel TDX, AMD SEV-SNP, Kata Containers, Confidential Containers and KVM/QEMU, including use cases such as application IP protection, confidential AI and latency-critical industrial workloads

Your work will span from security concepts and system architecture to implementation, performance characterization and experimental validation on real hardware. A key objective is to make strong hardware-backed security practical to adopt: not only secure in principle, but usable within realistic application development, deployment and operation workflows. You will help shape our research direction, collaborate with internal and external research partners, and transfer promising results into future platforms and applications.

Your profile:

• Education: You hold a PhD in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Electrical Engineering or a related field
• Experience & Skills:
  • You have a strong background in systems security, operating systems, virtualization, embedded systems, real-time systems or related areas
  • You have hands-on experience with Linux and system-level software development and are comfortable working across hardware and software boundaries
  • Experience with Confidential Computing, virtualization, containers, attestation, TPMs or hardware-backed security is highly beneficial
  • Experience with performance analysis, real-time systems, scheduling or hardware accelerators is an advantage
• Ways of working:
  • You have demonstrated your ability to conduct independent research and communicate results through scientific publications or comparable research output
  • You enjoy developing new concepts and validating them through working implementations and experiments
• Languages:
  • You speak English fluently

You are much more than your qualifications, and we believe in the potential of every single candidate. We look forward to getting to know you!
At Siemens, we believe that feeling valued and included is the foundation for doing great work. That's why we aim to create an inclusive workplace where everyone feels a sense of belonging, and where individual perspectives and experiences are celebrated. Our commitment to fairness and respect extends to every applicant.
As an equal opportunity employer, we welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds and particularly encourage applications from persons with disabilities.

About Us

We know that our business thrives only when our people thrive and unlock their full potential. That's why you are always our top priority. Our global, diverse team is ready to support, challenge, and inspire you, helping you grow in countless ways. Together, we'll embark on an exciting journey of discovery. Who knows where this path will lead? Join us and take an active role in shaping your future!

www.siemens.de/careers – if you would like to find out more about jobs & careers at Siemens.
FAQ – if you need further information on the application process.