Cyber Systems Exploitation Researcher (Assoc, Fort Meade, MD)

MIT Lincoln Laboratory; Lexington (MA); On-site; USD 116,400 - 182,200; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive health, dental, and vision plans

MIT-funded pension

Matching 401K

Paid leave

Tuition reimbursement

Mentorship programs

Work-life balance options

Job summary

MIT Lincoln Laboratory is seeking a Cyber Systems Exploitation Researcher to work onsite in Fort Meade, MD. The role focuses on developing cyber security tools and techniques, including reverse engineering software and hardware crucial for national defense. Ideal candidates will have a strong background in computer science along with relevant technical skills and are expected to communicate their findings effectively.

The position offers a competitive salary, comprehensive benefits including health and retirement plans, and opportunities for further education and mentorship.

Qualifications

• MS in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related discipline or BS with 3+ years of directly related experience.
• Able to obtain and maintain a Secret level DoD security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Develop and contribute to cyber security tools and techniques.
• Reverse engineer and exploit software and hardware systems.
• Communicate research findings to non-domain experts.

Skills

Version Control Systems (Git)

Disassemblers/Decompilers (Ghidra, IDAPro)

Debuggers (WinDbg, GDB)

Programming Languages (C/C++, Python)

Infrastructure/Container Provisioning/Orchestration (Ansible, Kubernetes, Docker)

Network Protocol Analysis (Wireshark, Tcpdump)

Emulator/Virtualization Technologies (VMWare, QEMU)

Operating System Internals

Reverse Engineering of Embedded Systems Firmware, Malicious Code, Mobile Applications

Vulnerability Assessment

Statistics and Metrics

SAT/SMT Solvers

Symbolic Execution

Data-flow Analysis for Compiled Binaries

Binary Intermediate Representations

Binary Translation

Compiler Construction

Anti-debugging/Anti-instrumentation Techniques

Network and Host Security Products

Education

MS in Computer Science

BS with 3+ years of experience

Job description

Cyber Systems Exploitation Researcher (Assoc, Fort Meade, MD)

Date: May 11, 2026

Location: Lexington, MA, US

Company: MIT Lincoln Laboratory

Located onsite in Fort Meade, MD

When you join our team as a Cyber System Exploitation Researcher, you'll be contributing to the development of cyber security tools and techniques. You'll be reverse engineering and exploiting software and hardware systems important to U.S. government operations and critical to the defense of our nation. Your main areas of research will include cyber tool prototyping and technical analysis of offensive or defensive cyber tools and systems, automated vulnerability discovery, reverse engineering, software protection mechanisms, static analysis, and dynamic instrumentation. Once you're on our team, you will communicate your research to non-domain experts through your writing, public presentations, and hand‑on training sessions.

Requirements

• MS in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or related discipline or BS and 3+ years of directly related experience
• Selected candidate will be subject to a pre-employment background investigation and must be able to obtain a Secret level DoD security clearance. Additionally, must be eligible and willing to apply for a Top Secret SCI level DoD security clearance and be able to maintain this clearance level once obtained.

Desired Technical Skills

• Version Control Systems (Git)
• Dissassemblers/Decompilers (Ghidra, IDAPro)
• Debuggers (WinDbg, GDB)
• Programming Languages (C/C++, Python)
• Infrastructure/Container Provisioning/Orchestration Systems (Ansible, Kubernetes, Docker)
• Network Protocol Analysis (Wireshark, Tcpdump)
• Emulator/Virtualization Technologies (VMWare, QEMU)
• Operating System Internals
• Reverse Engineering of Embedded Systems Firmware, Malicious Code, Mobile Applications, and More
• Vulnerability Assessment
• Statistics and Metrics
• SAT/SMT Solvers
• Symbolic Execution
• Data-flow Analysis for Compiled Binaries
• Binary Intermediate Representations
• Binary Translation
• Compiler Construction
• Anti-debugging/Anti-instrumentation Techniques
• Network and Host Security Products

Salary Ranges

Recent Graduate Hiring Range: $116,400 - $140,000

Experienced Hiring Range: $116,400 - $182,200

Disclaimer: MIT Lincoln Laboratory provides a typical hiring range as a good faith estimate of what we reasonably expect to offer for this position at the time of posting. The final salary offered to a selected candidate will depend on various factors, including-but not limited to-the scope and responsibilities of the role, the candidate's experience, skills and education/training, internal equity considerations and applicable legal requirements. This range reflects base salary only and does not include additional forms of compensation or benefits.

Benefits Offered to Employees

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision plans
• MIT-funded pension
• Matching 401K
• Paid leave (including vacation, sick, parental, military, etc.)
• Tuition reimbursement and continuing education programs
• Mentorship programs
• A range of work-life balance options
• ... and much more!

Selected candidate will be subject to a pre-employment background investigation and must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret level DoD security clearance.

MIT Lincoln Laboratory is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, veteran status, disability status, or genetic information; U.S. citizenship is required.

Requisition ID: 42582