CNO Software Engineer — Windows & Network

Accenture PLC; Herndon (VA); On-site; USD 106,000 - 206,000; Full time

Job summary

Accenture Federal Services seeks a mid-level Computer Network Operations (CNO) Developer to design, develop, and test sophisticated software for national security missions. You will work with a team of developers, reverse engineers, and vulnerability researchers to build tools that run across Windows, Linux, and embedded targets.

The role requires strong low-level programming skills, deep Windows internals knowledge, and adherence to strict legal and operational constraints.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of relevant software development experience.
• Strong C/C++ skills with memory management, concurrency, and performance tuning in production code.
• Deep Windows internals knowledge — Win32/NT API, processes and threads, virtual memory, synchronization, and the I/O subsystem.
• Hands-on low-level Windows development, such as kernel-mode or user-mode driver work.
• Comfortable with Windows debugging tools — WinDbg, the Visual Studio debugger, Sysinternals, and similar.
• Experience writing secure code and tracing memory corruption, race conditions, crashes from dumps.
• Working knowledge of Python for tooling and automation.
• Familiarity with reverse engineering tools (IDA Pro, Ghidra, GDB) and Windows-native debugging tools.
• Understanding of networking fundamentals (TCP/IP, DNS, HTTP/S) and common network protocols.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, test, and maintain custom software capabilities used in computer network operations.
• Perform low-level software development in C/C++, Python, and/or Assembly for Windows, Linux, and/or embedded targets.
• Analyze target systems and network architectures to identify technical requirements and constraints for capability development; collaborate with vulnerability researchers to integrate exploits.
• Develop and maintain command‑and‑control (C2) communication protocols.
• Produce clear technical documentation, including design specs, test plans, and operations guides.
• Support integration, test, and evaluation events and provide technical support during operations.
• Stay current on OS security features, offensive cyber technologies, and tradecraft to inform capability design.
• Adhere to all legal, policy, and oversight requirements governing CNO development and employment.

Skills

C/C++

Python

Assembly

Windows internals

Kernel‑mode driver

WinDbg

Ghidra

IDA Pro

memory management

networking basics

Tools

IDA Pro

Ghidra

GDB

WinDbg

Sysinternals

Visual Studio

Job description

Accenture Federal Services seeks a mid-level Computer Network Operations (CNO) Developer to design, develop, and test sophisticated software for national security missions. You will work with a team of developers, reverse engineers, and vulnerability researchers to build tools that run across Windows, Linux, and embedded targets.

The role requires strong low-level programming skills, deep Windows internals knowledge, and adherence to strict legal and operational constraints.