Cyber Defense Data Scientist

Punch Cyber Corp; Reston, Northern (VA, KY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Punch Cyber Corp in Reston, VA seeks a data science/ML engineer to develop and evaluate machine-learning analytics for cyber defense using network telemetry, alerts, and asset data.

You will build unsupervised models for clustering, anomaly detection, and baselining, and apply graph analytics and time-series methods to large cyber datasets, balancing false positives with actionable insights.

Qualifications

• BS or MS in Data Science, CS, statistics, or related quantitative field.
• Strong Python skills with scientific/ML tooling (pandas, NumPy, scikit-learn, SciPy).
• Solid understanding of unsupervised ML and feature engineering.
• Experience with graph analytics, time-series, and anomaly detection.
• Experience with large, noisy heterogeneous datasets and limited ground truth.

Responsibilities

• Develop and evaluate ML analytics for cyber defense using telemetry and alerts.
• Build unsupervised models for clustering, anomaly detection, and baselining.
• Apply graph analytics, embeddings, and nearest-neighbor methods to large datasets.
• Design features for concept drift, noisy data, and high false positives.
• Support asset discovery and entity resolution across data sources.
• Develop contextual features from security alerts and network telemetry.
• Turn analyst questions into measurable features and experiments.
• Evaluate model effectiveness with quantitative metrics and validation.
• Develop production-quality Python code for sensor-side and enterprise platforms.
• Understand LLMs vs conventional ML and deterministic rules where needed.

Skills

Python

Unsupervised ML

Feature engineering

Time-series analysis

Anomaly detection

Graph analytics

Statistical baselining

Data processing

NASA networking?

Education

BS or MS in Data Science/CS/Statistics/Engineering

Tools

Pandas

NumPy

scikit-learn

SciPy

Graph libraries

SQL/Data stores

Elasticsearch/Splunk

Job description

Punch Cyber Corp in Reston, VA seeks a data science/ML engineer to develop and evaluate machine-learning analytics for cyber defense using network telemetry, alerts, and asset data.

You will build unsupervised models for clustering, anomaly detection, and baselining, and apply graph analytics and time-series methods to large cyber datasets, balancing false positives with actionable insights.