Cyber Systems Exploitation Researcher ( Fort Meade, MD)

MIT Lincoln Laboratory; Fort Meade (MD); On-site; USD 114,000 - 148,000; Full time

Job summary

MIT Lincoln Laboratory in Fort Meade, MD is seeking a Level 3 Associate Staff in Cyber System Exploitation Research. You will independently contribute to multi-disciplinary efforts, lead small projects, and prepare sponsor briefings and technical documentation across hardware and software domains.

Your work includes data analyses, reverse engineering, vulnerability discovery, and prototype development to support national security missions. Strong problem-solving and communication are essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline or other relevant technical field; typically 2+ years of relevant experience; or Master’s degree and typically 0+ years of relevant experience.
• Solid technical depth in a primary engineering, research, or other technical domain with ability to apply knowledge independently.
• Demonstrated ability to solve complex technical problems and manage components of project work.
• Experience contributing to technical documentation, analyses, reports, presentations, or project deliverables.
• Ability to collaborate across project teams and communicate technical information clearly to appropriate audiences.
• Emerging ability to guide less experienced colleagues and contribute to team capability development.

Responsibilities

• Owns and executes discrete design and development tasks such as data analyses, programming, designs, tests, models, simulations, or integration tasks within broader project or program efforts.
• Applies relevant technical knowledge to solve less-defined and moderately complex problems, independently identifying appropriate methods and adapts existing approaches as needed.
• May contribute to system, subsystem, or component-level development activities that may span multiple disciplines, mission needs, products, or technical focus areas.
• Develops, reviews, and contributes to technical documentation, program reporting, data analyses, design materials, and presentations based on ambiguous policies and procedures.
• Collaborates with project team members to ensure milestones, assumptions, dependencies, and technical risks are understood and addressed.
• Begins to provide practical guidance to less experienced staff by explaining technical concepts, sharing methods, and reviewing selected work products for accuracy, providing feedback as needed.
• Consistently demonstrates initiative by seeking opportunities to lead new assignments and improve technical approaches, while continuously deepening mission‑aligned engineering expertise.

Skills

Engineering depth

Independent problem solving

Technical writing

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in STEM

Master’s degree (preferred)

Tools

Git

C/C++

Python

Docker

Kubernetes

Wireshark

tcpdump

Job description

Select how often (in days) to receive an alert: JOIN OUR TALENT NETWORK

The Cyber System Assessments Group performs software and hardware reverse engineering, vulnerability research and discovery, and system exploitation. We develop and prototype cutting-edge capabilities for our operational partners in the U.S. government. We look for, find, and demonstrate cyber vulnerabilities so that vulnerabilities in U.S. systems can be corrected, and so that vulnerabilities in other systems are better understood. Top U.S. Government leadership relies on us for our expert guidance, and our technical role with our U.S. Government sponsors is considered essential to the success of their missions.

Job Overview

MIT Lincoln Laboratory Level 3 Associate Staff provide critical multi-domain innovative research to the Laboratory’s national security mission. They prototype solutions for state-of-the art technology and engage in many steps of a program(s) lifecycle with increasing independence and responsibility in collaboration with project leaders. As a successful Level 3 Associate Staff candidate, you will independently contribute to multi-disciplinary efforts, may lead small projects/teams, contribute to sponsor briefings, write test plans and reports, apply complex and creative solutions to solving technical problems, ultimately improving the Laboratory’s advanced technologies. You will bring technical depth to a singular several areas of expertise/specialty, build a broader more robust understanding of adjacent disciplines, program objectives and sponsor needs, and integrate it all through the lens of the Laboratory’s mission.

As a successful Level 3 Associate Staff, you will have solid technical depth, sound judgment, and the initiative to work independently on less-defined assignments. You will adapt established approaches, own discrete project/program components of technical work, contribute to program documentation and reporting, and collaborate with project/program teams across the Laboratory. Your work will include multiple activities such as hardware and software development, systems analysis, data analysis, component fabrication, system integration, testing, and documentation.

Additional Job Overview Details

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.

Job Duties & Responsibilities

• Owns and executes discrete design and development tasks such as data analyses, programming, designs, tests, models, simulations, or integration tasks within broader project or program efforts.
• Applies relevant technical knowledge to solve less-defined and moderately complex problems, independently identifying appropriate methods and adapts existing approaches as needed.
• May contribute to system, subsystem, or component-level development activities that may span multiple disciplines, mission needs, products, or technical focus areas.
• Develops, reviews, and contributes to technical documentation, program reporting, data analyses, design materials, and presentations based on ambiguous policies and procedures.
• Collaborates with project team members to ensure milestones, assumptions, dependencies, and technical risks are understood and addressed.
• Begins to provide practical guidance to less experienced staff by explaining technical concepts, sharing methods, and reviewing selected work products for accuracy, providing feedback as needed.
• Consistently demonstrates initiative by seeking opportunities to lead new assignments and improve technical approaches, while continuously deepening mission‑aligned engineering expertise.

Additional Job Duties & Responsibilities

• Contribute to the development of cyber security tools and techniques.
• Reverse engineer and exploit software and hardware systems important to U.S. government operations and critical to the defense of our nation.
• Conduct research in 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.
• Communicate research to non‑domain experts through writing, public presentations, and hands‑on training sessions.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline or other relevant technical field and typically 2+ years of relevant experience; or Master’s degree and typically 0+ years of relevant experience; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Solid technical depth in a primary engineering, research, or other technical domain with ability to apply knowledge independently.
• Demonstrated ability to solve complex technical problems and manage components of project work.
• Experience contributing to technical documentation, analyses, reports, presentations, or project deliverables.
• Ability to collaborate across project teams and communicate technical information clearly to appropriate audiences.
• Emerging ability to guide less experienced colleagues and contribute to team capability development.

Additional Minimum Qualifications

• 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.

Preferred Qualifications

Preferred Qualifications [ADDED]

Familiarity with, and expertise in some of, the following:

• Version control systems (Git)
• Programming languages (C/C++, Python)
• Infrastructure/container provisioning and orchestration (Ansible, Kubernetes, Docker)
• Network protocol analysis (Wireshark, tcpdump)
• 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
• Network and host security products

Associate Staff 3 Hiring Range: $114,000 - $148,000
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 training, internal equity considerations and applicable legal requirements. This range reflects base salary only and does not include additional forms of compensation or benefits.

At MIT Lincoln Laboratory, our exceptional career opportunities include many outstanding benefits to help you stay healthy, feel supported, and enjoy a fulfilling work‑life balance. Benefits offered to employees include:

• 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

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.