Engineering and Physical Sciences Researcher with Security Clearance

CNSS • National Security Systems; Fort Meade (MD); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

CNSS • National Security Systems, part of the NSA Cryptography for Cybersecurity organization, seeks an Engineering and Physical Sciences Researcher to translate mission needs into cryptographic solutions. You will design, prototype, and evaluate symmetric and public‑key algorithms for secure, SWaP‑constrained environments and field post‑quantum cryptography across critical National Security Systems.

You will work with mathematicians, engineers, and customers, delivering deployable cryptographic

Qualifications

• Degree in engineering/physical sciences with relevant coursework or experience.
• Experience in cryptographic engineering, both public-key and symmetric algorithms.
• Knowledge of post‑quantum cryptography and hardware/software integration.

Responsibilities

• Engage with customers to elicit requirements and constraints for cryptographic design.
• Collaborate with researchers to refine symmetric and public‑key algorithms for constrained environments.
• Design, implement, and test crypto algorithms in hardware (FPGA/ASIC) and embedded software.
• Develop reference implementations, test vectors, and validation harnesses.
• Model and present performance trade‑offs (throughput, latency, power, area).
• Integrate cryptographic components into protocols and embedded systems.
• Support evaluation and transition of post‑quantum cryptography for national security systems.
• Stay current with cryptographic research and apply state‑of‑the‑art techniques.

Skills

Hardware design

C & systems programming

Embedded systems

Applied cryptography

Performance analysis

Networking concepts

Education

Engineering degree (ABET-accredited or with specified coursework)

Physics or Astronomy degree

Other relevant technical field

Job description

Requirements

The NSA invites you to be part of an elite research team designing the cryptography that protects our nation's most sensitive communications. As an Engineering and Physical Sciences Researcher, you will translate mission needs into cryptographic solutions. You will partner with customers across space, special operations, tactical, and SWaP constrained domains. You will work alongside world‑class mathematicians and engineers to design, prototype, and evaluate new symmetric and public‑key algorithms and protocols. Your hardware and software expertise will directly shape how next‑generation cryptography, including post‑quantum cryptography, is realized and deployed in National Security Systems. Your efforts will help protect U.S. and allied warfighters, deliver critical intelligence to decision makers, and defend vital networks against our adversaries. Do you want to work on the cryptography that protects our nation's most sensitive systems and see it fielded in the real world? We’re looking for engineers who can turn cutting‑edge cryptographic research into working, deployable capabilities. Within NSA’s Research Directorate, the Cryptography for Cybersecurity organization researches and designs secure cryptographic algorithms and drives the integration of modern cryptographic capabilities into U.S. National Security Systems. Our multi‑disciplinary team of mathematicians, computer scientists, and engineers designs new public‑key and symmetric cryptography for a wide range of mission customers, spanning space and satellite systems, special operations, tactical communications, and low size, weight, and power (SWaP) environments. A significant portion of our current work is focused on the design, evaluation, and transition of post‑quantum cryptography, to secure National Security Systems against the threat of quantum computers. We are seeking an Engineering and Physical Sciences Researcher to work at the intersection of cryptographic design and real‑world application.

Required Skills

• Hardware design and implementation targeting FPGAs (VHDL/Verilog, vendor toolchains); ASIC design experience a plus
• Software development in C, Rust, and/or Python for implementation, testing, and tooling
• Embedded systems design, including operating systems, real‑time constraints, and resource‑constrained platforms
• Applied cryptography and cryptographic engineering (public‑key and/or symmetric algorithms, modes, and protocols)
• Performance analysis, modeling, benchmarking, and optimization of algorithms in hardware and/or embedded software
• Communications and networking concepts, including error‑prone/low‑bandwidth links, framing, and protocol design

Responsibilities

• Engaging with customer organizations to elicit requirements, characterize the target system and operating environment, and communicate constraints back to the cryptographic design team
• Collaborating with mathematicians, computer scientists, and engineers to develop and refine both symmetric and public‑key cryptographic algorithms and protocols for constrained, noisy, low‑bandwidth, and high‑performance environments
• Designing, implementing, and testing candidate symmetric and public‑key algorithms in hardware (primarily FPGA, occasionally ASIC) and embedded software to evaluate correctness, performance, and resource utilization
• Developing reference and optimized implementations, test vectors, and test harnesses to validate algorithm and protocol behavior
• Estimating and modeling algorithm performance (throughput, latency, memory, power, area) in customer environments, and presenting trade studies to inform design decisions
• Integrating cryptographic components into protocols and embedded systems, and assessing interface, framing, and error‑handling impacts on the overall design
• Contributing to the evaluation and transition of post‑quantum cryptographic algorithms for National Security Systems
• Staying abreast of current research in cryptographic engineering and implementation, and incorporating state‑of‑the‑art techniques into designs and evaluations
• Performing side‑channel analysis of candidate implementations, including timing and power measurements, and applying countermeasures to produce side‑channel‑resistant designs

Qualifications

Degree must be in either (1) Engineering, (2) Physics or Astronomy from an accredited college, or (3) a relevant professional technical field (for example, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, geology). For Engineering degrees, if program is not ABET accredited, it must include specified coursework. Specified coursework includes courses in differential and integral calculus and 5 of the following 18 areas: (a) statics or dynamics, (b) strength of materials/stress‑strain relationships, (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics, (d) thermodynamics, (e) electromagnetic fields, (f) nature and properties of materials/relating particle and aggregate structure to properties, (g) solid state electronics, (h) microprocessor applications, (i), computer systems, (j) signal processing, (k) digital design, (l) systems and control theory, (m) circuits or generalized circuits, (n) communication systems, (o) power systems, (p) computer networks, (q) software development, (r) Any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, or soil mechanics. Relevant experience must be in one or more of the following: performing engineering or physical sciences work, or conducting academic or independent research in a technical field (for example, mathematics, engineering, cognitive sciences and physical sciences).

Entry is with a Bachelor's degree plus 7 years of relevant experience, or a Master's degree plus 5 years of relevant experience, or a Doctoral degree plus 3 years of relevant experience.

Entry is with a Bachelor's degree plus 10 years of relevant experience, or a Master's degree plus 8 years of relevant experience, or a Doctoral degree plus 6 years of relevant experience.

Competencies

• Engage with internal stakeholders, including partner and customer organizations, and individual employees.
• Develop functional, process, operational, or user requirements.
• Perform high‑level design, specifying system and component performance and interface requirements.
• Translate conceptual designs into technical specifications.
• Create computer algorithms, data models, and protocols.
• Evaluate technical proposals.
• Use modeling or simulation to evaluate designs.
• Characterize systems performance properties, capabilities, and vulnerabilities.
• Optimize system performance through repeated adjustment, testing, and re‑adjustment.
• Evaluate research for practical application.
• Research emerging technologies for application(s) within the Agency.
• Review scientific or technical literature to support research efforts.

Pay, Benefits, & Work Schedule

Pay: Salary offers are based on candidates' education level and years of experience relevant to the position and also take into account information provided by the hiring manager/organization regarding the work level for the position.