Cyber Security Engineer SME

Sosi1; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

SOSI is seeking a Senior Cybersecurity Engineer to serve as a technical SME supporting an enterprise cyber defense program for a federal customer. This senior role sits at the intersection of security engineering, architecture, and operations in the Washington, DC metro area and requires the ability to obtain a Secret clearance.

You will assess security architectures, identify gaps, and design risk-based improvements across on‑premises, cloud, and mobile environments.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field or equivalent experience.
• Experience implementing offensive and defensive cybersecurity solutions to detect and mitigate threats.
• Experience with incident response methodologies, policies, and remediation planning.
• Understanding of MITRE ATT&CK and D3FEND frameworks and mapping to tool implementations.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a senior technical advisor on enterprise security architecture, engineering, and defensive operations.
• Conduct security architecture reviews, identify gaps, and develop risk management recommendations.
• Translate requirements into security requirements, baselines, and concepts of operation.
• Plan, integrate, and tune security tooling across monitoring, detection, automation, and threat intelligence platforms.
• Lead market research, evaluations, and proofs of concept for emerging cybersecurity technologies.
• Support security of cloud environments (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) and integrate security into DevSecOps pipelines.
• Provide security engineering support for identity, authentication, and mobile security initiatives.
• Advise on cryptographic modernization efforts and secure AI adoption.
• Develop scripts/automation to improve efficiency and document findings for leadership.

Skills

Security architecture

Incident response

Threat detection

DevSecOps

Cloud security

Threat intelligence

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Tools

SIEM tools

Threat intelligence platforms

Job description

*** This position is contingent upon contract award ***

Overview

SOSI is seeking a Senior Cybersecurity Engineer to serve as a technical subject matter expert supporting an enterprise cyber defense program for a federal customer. This senior, highly visible role sits at the intersection of security engineering, architecture, and operations. It shapes how the customer evaluates, integrates, and matures its defensive capabilities. The ideal candidate combines hands-on engineering depth with the judgment to advise government stakeholders on emerging threats and technologies. This position is located in the Washington, DC metropolitan area and requires the ability to obtain a Secret clearance.

Job Description

The Senior Cybersecurity Engineer serves as a trusted technical advisor across a broad defensive cybersecurity portfolio. In this role, you will assess the customer's security architecture, identify gaps, and design practical solutions that strengthen detection, response, and protection across on-premises, cloud, and mobile environments. You will lead technical evaluations and proofs of concept for new security technologies and translate findings into clear recommendations for leadership.

You will work closely with security operations, engineering, and system owner teams. Together, you will turn operational needs into defined security requirements and controls, help integrate security into development and deployment pipelines. The role also supports the customer's adoption of emerging technology areas, including AI-enabled capabilities and cryptographic modernization. Success in this position requires technical breadth, sound engineering judgment, and the ability to communicate complex security concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a senior technical advisor on enterprise security architecture, engineering, and defensive operations
• Conduct security architecture reviews, identify gaps, and develop risk management recommendations
• Translate operational and mission requirements into security requirements, control baselines, and concepts of operation
• Plan, integrate, and tune security tooling across monitoring, detection, automation, and threat intelligence platforms
• Lead market research, technical evaluations, and proofs of concept for emerging cybersecurity technologies
• Support the security of cloud environments (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) and integrate security practices into DevSecOps pipelines
• Provide security engineering support for identity, authentication, and mobile security initiatives
• Support cryptographic modernization efforts, including discovery, inventory, and planning for next-generation encryption standards
• Advise on the secure adoption of AI and generative AI technologies
• Apply incident response methods and support complex investigations as a technical escalation resource
• Develop scripts and automation to improve efficiency in security engineering and operations tasks
• Produce clear technical documentation, briefings, and recommendations for government and program leadership
• Mentor team members and contribute to continuous improvement of engineering processes

Experience

Five (5) years security-related experience

Required

• Experience implementing tools and processes to support comprehensive offensive and defensive cybersecurity solutions to identify, detect and mitigate sophisticated cybersecurity threats
• Experience with incident response methodologies, categories and timelines, cyber defense policies and procedures and the ability to perform damage assessments determine remediation paths
• Experience in intrusion and threat detection methodologies for cloud, host, network and mobile environments
• Experience in the use and tuning of security event correlation tools
• Understanding of attack classes, attack stages and adversary behaviors
• Knowledge of MITRE ATT&CK and D3FEND frameworks and the ability to map those to enterprise cybersecurity tool implementations and investments

Desired

• Experience with digital media analysis and digital forensics
• Experience conducting static and dynamic analysis (sandboxing, reverse engineering) of malicious binaries to understand adversary TTPs, identify C2 infrastructure and extract IOCs
• Experience correlating forensic findings with SOC alerts, threat intelligence, and adversary TTPs
• Knowledge of network security architecture, topology and communication principles
• Understanding of network protocols (TCP/IP, DHCP, DNS, directory services)
• Understanding of clous service models and their impact on incident response capabilities
• Knowledge of system administration, OS hardening and application security threats

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Certifications

Any 1 of: CISSP (associate), CCSP, SSCP, GMON, GCIH, GCIA, or equivalent GIAC certification, CEH, CASP AND any 1 from the CSSP Analyst, Infrastructure Support, or IR from the DOD 8140 list (or other similar certifications as approved by Government)

Clearance/Suitability

Secret (