Cyber-Physical Systems Reverse Engineer

Leidos; Chantilly (VA); On-site; USD 108,000 - 195,000; Full time

Job summary

Kudu Dynamics, a Leidos-owned company, seeks a Cyber-Physical Systems Reverse Engineer to explore and develop capabilities for maritime cybersecurity. You will work hands-on with embedded systems, reverse engineer hardware and firmware, and build automated workflows to analyze system behavior.

The role emphasizes cross-disciplinary work across firmware, software, hardware, and cybersecurity to identify emergent behaviors and undocumented features.

Qualifications

• Experience developing embedded firmware for real-time systems and RTOS concepts.
• Experience with SPI, I2C, UART, CAN, USB, Ethernet, or wireless interfaces.
• Experience developing simulation, emulation, or automated test harnesses for embedded systems.
• Proficiency with Python or scripting for automation, testing, and analysis.
• Experience using embedded development and diagnostic equipment (JTAG/SWD, analyzers, oscilloscopes).

Responsibilities

• Develop, integrate, and debug embedded firmware for RTOS-based systems and hardware interfaces.
• Design simulation, emulation, and automated test environments for CPS.
• Analyze and reverse engineer embedded devices and protocols to understand behavior.
• Develop C/C++ and Python software to automate testing and analysis.
• Conduct lab testing using embedded debugging tools and instrumentation.

Skills

Embedded firmware

RTOS concepts

C/C++ programming

Python scripting

Debugging tools

Tools

Ghidra

Binary Ninja

IDAL Pro

JTAG/SWD

Oscilloscopes

Job description

Description

Who We Are:

Kudu Dynamics is Leidos Owned Company, forged out of a decade of experience in computer network operations and staffed with talent who have built, overseen, and enhanced capabilities throughout the entire USG arsenal. Our team of hackers and engineers have experience spanning centuries of research, development, and operations missions - across desktop, mobile, IoT, and embedded platforms. Kudu Dynamics, a Leidos company is uniquely qualified to anticipate tomorrow’s threats and build the next generation of capabilities.

We are looking for a Cyber-Physical Systems Reverse Engineer to support a new project researching and developing novel capabilities for maritime cybersecurity. This is the kind of job where you get to poke at real systems, ask why something behaved differently than expected, and keep digging when the answer is, “Huh, that's weird.”

This role focuses on understanding how complex embedded and cyber-physical systems actually behave, not just how they were intended to behave. On our team, you will work hands-on with real embedded systems and operational technology in a lab environment, analyzing hardware, firmware, communications interfaces, and interactions between components. You will reverse engineer and emulate embedded devices, develop automated methods for exploring system behavior, and design experiments to identify unexpected or emergent behaviors, undocumented features, or even bugs and misconfigurations. This role calls for the creative application of multiple skill sets across embedded systems, firmware, software, hardware, and cybersecurity. You may find yourself building test harnesses and automated workflows, instrumenting analog and digital systems, integrating physical devices with software analysis and cyber reasoning tools, and developing code.

Responsibilities Include:

• Develop, integrate, and debug embedded firmware for real-time and resource-constrained systems, including RTOS-based applications, device drivers, hardware interfaces, and low-level system software
• Design and implement simulation, emulation, and automated test environments for embedded and cyber-physical systems, including tools for exploring system behavior, reproducing observed effects, and exercising hardware and firmware
• Analyze and reverse engineer embedded devices, firmware, communications protocols, sensors, and other system components to understand both intended functionality and real-world behavior
• Develop production-quality C/C++ and Python software to automate testing, instrumentation, experimentation, and analysis, including integration with laboratory hardware and software-based analysis tools
• Conduct hands-on laboratory testing using embedded debugging tools and analog/digital instrumentation; critically analyze, document, and communicate technical findings

Minimum Qualifications:

• Experience developing embedded firmware in C/C++, including real-time systems, RTOS concepts, interrupts, concurrency, memory-mapped I/O, device drivers, and hardware peripherals
• Experience with embedded hardware and common communications interfaces such as SPI, I2C, UART, CAN, USB, Ethernet, or wireless interfaces, including debugging hardware/software interactions
• Experience developing simulation, emulation, automated testing, or hardware/software test harnesses for embedded systems
• Proficiency with Python or similar scripting languages for automation, testing, analysis, and development of engineering tools
• Experience using embedded development and diagnostic equipment such as JTAG/SWD debuggers, logic/protocol analyzers, oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, function generators, or similar instrumentation

Nice-to-Have Qualifications:

• Experience reverse engineering embedded devices and firmware, including use of tools such as Ghidra, Binary Ninja, IDA Pro, or similar tools and the ability to analyze assembly for one or more processor architectures
• Experience with program analysis and vulnerability research techniques such as fuzzing, symbolic execution, static/dynamic analysis, binary exploitation, and modern exploit mitigations
• Experience with processor or full-system emulation, hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), software-in-the-loop (SIL), or development of custom models for processors, peripherals, sensors, or other embedded components
• Experience with digital signal processing, RF systems, software‑defined radio, wireless communications, audio/signal processing, or MATLAB-based modeling and analysis
• Understanding of digital and analog circuits, hardware reverse engineering, low-level computer architecture, and the interaction between software, firmware, and physical system behavior

If you’re looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo - because the mission demands it. We’re not hiring followers. We’re recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We’re already at step 30 - and moving faster than anyone else dares.

Original Posting

September 9, 2026

For U.S. Positions: While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.

Pay Range

Pay Range $107,900.00 - $195,050.00

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline onlyand not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.

About Leidos

Leidos is an industry and technology leader serving government and commercial customers with smarter, more efficient digital and mission innovations. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, with 47,000 global employees, Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $16.7 billion for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2025. For more information, visit www.Leidos.com.

Pay and Benefits

Pay and benefits are fundamental to any career decision. That’s why we craft compensation packages that reflect the importance of the work we do for our customers.

• competitive compensation
• Health and Wellness programs
• Income Protection
• Paid Leave and Retirement

Securing Your Data

Beware of fake employment opportunities using Leidos’ name. Leidos will never ask you to provide payment‑related information during any part of the employment application process (i.e., ask you for money), nor will Leidos ever advance money as part of the hiring process (i.e., send you a check or money order before doing any work). Further, Leidos will only communicate with you through emails that are generated by the Leidos.com automated system - never from free commercial services (e.g., Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail) or via WhatsApp, Telegram, etc. If you received an email purporting to be from Leidos that asks for payment‑related information or any other personal information (e.g., about you or your previous employer), and you are concerned about its legitimacy, please make us aware immediately by emailing us at [e-mail].

If you believe you are the victim of a scam, contact your local law enforcement and report the incident to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

Commitment to Non-Discrimination

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, ethnicity, age, national origin, citizenship, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy, family structure, marital status, ancestry, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran or military status, or any other basis prohibited by law. Leidos will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with relevant laws.