Associate C Programmer

Carnegie Mellon University; Pittsburgh (Allegheny County); On-site; USD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Carnegie Mellon University is seeking a Software Developer for their Cyber Risk and Resilience Directorate in Pittsburgh. The role involves developing software tools to collect and analyze network data using C and Python, alongside responsibilities like technical support and documentation.

This position requires a BS degree in a relevant field with 3 years of experience or an MS with 1 year. Candidates must be authorized to work in the U.S. and be able to obtain a Department of War security clearance.

Qualifications

• 3 years of applicable experience for BS or 1 year for MS.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Department of War security clearance.
• Legally authorized to work in the United States.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain software tools for collecting and processing network data.
• Provide technical support and troubleshoot software issues.
• Prepare and maintain technical documentation.
• Develop and execute unit, integration, and regression tests.

Skills

C

Python

Bash

Software Development

Technical Support

Documentation

Testing

Linux

Docker

Network Data Analysis

Education

BS in Computer Science, Statistics, Engineering, Mathematics, Economics, Data Science, or related field

Job description

Overview

Our team in the Cyber Risk and Resilience Directorate researches and develops software tools capable of collecting, storing, and analyzing organizational network data to provide security analysts insights into what is traversing their network. We provide both core network tools and prototypes of new ways to present the data effectively. We handle record counts in the tens of billions per day, developing security insights at this scale requires creativity, efficiency, and staying up to date with modern computing platforms. In some cases, the computing has outpaced the methods, and it is incumbent upon us to generate novel views of both the entire data collection, and focused datasets tailored to specific analyst needs. Our network situational awareness security tools are published at https://tools.netsa.cert.org/.

Position Summary

You’ll be responsible for developing software within our network data collection suite and pushing the bounds of the uses of those tools. Much of the software is written in C and some in Python. We are responsible for the entire life‑cycle of the tools: requirements gathering, development, testing, documentation, and user support. There is room for independence for new tools or projects to make our software suite more complete. Making the tools easy to integrate and deploy, along with writing documentation, are additional tasks for the position. You will work on existing projects with more senior developers until you have a grasp of the tool suite and gain domain expertise to take command of new or current tools. You bring the design and software skills, and we’ll bring the domain knowledge to solve the hard network security data problems.

Responsibilities

• Software Development (70% of time): design, develop, and maintain high‑performance software tools for collecting, processing, and analyzing large‑scale network data using C, Python, and Bash; participate in the full software development lifecycle, including requirements analysis, implementation, testing, deployment, and ongoing enhancement.
• Customer Support (10%): provide technical support by troubleshooting software issues, responding to user inquiries, and resolving reported defects; collaborate with customers and stakeholders to gather feedback and recommend improvements.
• Documentation/Publication (10%): prepare and maintain technical documentation, including user guides, installation instructions, and developer documentation; contribute to technical reports, presentations, and publications that communicate software capabilities and research outcomes.
• Testing (10%): develop and execute unit, integration, and regression tests to ensure software quality, reliability, and performance; identify, troubleshoot, and resolve software defects while supporting continuous improvement of testing processes.

Qualifications

• Education: BS in Computer Science, Statistics, Engineering, Mathematics, Economics, Data Science, or related quantitative discipline with 3 years of applicable experience; or MS with 1 year of applicable experience.
• Travel: Periodic travel to customer sites, conferences, workshops, and stakeholder meetings is required to support the mission and research activities.
• Security Clearance: Must be able to obtain and maintain a Department of War security clearance.
• Legal Authorization: Must be legally authorized to work in the United States for CMU.

Desired Experience

• Primary developer or project lead for a completed software project; ownership of the project from requirements gathering to delivery.
• Experience with all phases of software development, including requirements gathering, implementation, testing, revision control, and change management practices.
• Experience developing software on Linux (preferred).
• Experience with containerization tools such as Docker (preferred).
• Experience with network data collection or flow data, or awareness of network cyber threats is a plus.
• Understanding of software or systems development lifecycle, QA testing, revision control, and change management practices.

Additional Information

Location: Pittsburgh, PA. Job Function: Software/Applications Development/Engineering. Position Type: Staff – Regular, Full time. Pay Basis: Salary.

EEO Statement

Carnegie Mellon University is an Equal Opportunity Employer.