Capabilities Development Specialist

CNSS • National Security Systems; Mitchellville (MD); On-site; USD 105,000 - 197,000; Full time

Job summary

NSA seeks a Capabilities Development Specialist (CDS) to join a world-class team at Fort Meade, MD. You will develop and analyze offensive and defensive capabilities for highly sensitive national security networks, including malware analyses and hardware design tasks.

The role emphasizes deep expertise in software/hardware reverse engineering, OS internals, and prototyping, with a path from junior to expert levels depending on experience.

Qualifications

• Degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, Engineering, or related field with relevant coursework.
• Experience in hardware or software lifecycle: requirements, design, development, testing, and maintenance.
• Certifications or military training (e.g., JCAC) may count toward experience.

Responsibilities

• Develop offensive and defensive capabilities for national security networks.
• Analyze and reverse engineer sophisticated malware and hardware components.
• Collaborate with cross-disciplinary teams to deliver capabilities for decision makers.

Skills

C programming

C++

Assembly

ARM

RE/interactive debugging

Operating system internals

Algorithmic analysis

Prototyping

Education

Bachelor's in CS/Engineering

Tools

Ghidra

OllyDbg

gdb

JTAG

Oscilloscopes

Job description

NSA seeks a Capabilities Development Specialist (CDS) to join a world-class team at Fort Meade, MD. You will develop and analyze offensive and defensive capabilities for highly sensitive national security networks, including malware analyses and hardware design tasks.

The role emphasizes deep expertise in software/hardware reverse engineering, OS internals, and prototyping, with a path from junior to expert levels depending on experience.