External Job Posting Title Senior Information System Security Officer (ISSO)

Peraton; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 135,000 - 216,000; Full time

Job summary

Peraton Labs seeks a Senior Information System Security Officer for a high-security HPC research environment. You will own day-to-day RMF activities, drive continuous monitoring, and maintain ATO posture while partnering with subcontractors and customers on security operations.

The role requires strong leadership, experience with RMF/ATO, and the ability to mentor junior ISSOs. On-site in Laurel, MD area with complex security responsibilities and potential sign-on bonus.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience in information security/compliance or equivalent
• Experience leading RMF deliverables and ATO events for complex systems
• Proven leadership coordinating across security, engineering, and customer stakeholders
• Mentorship and direction to team members
• Ability to write risk decisions and packages that stand up to assessor scrutiny
• Deep understanding of continuous monitoring at scale and RMF artifact maintenance
• Hands-on RMF tasks and authorization artifacts (SSP, POA&Ms)
• Experience with NIST SP 800-53 mappings to technical implementations
• Familiarity with Linux-based enterprise environments and hardening concepts
• Active/current TS/SCI w/ Polygraph required

Responsibilities

• Lead or co-lead ATO/reauthorization efforts for complex boundary systems
• Mentor junior ISSOs and shape security operations playbooks
• Perform risk analysis and author formal recommendations to leadership
• Drive security engineering outcomes with scalable compliance patterns
• Brief senior stakeholders on security posture, risk trends, and authorization readiness
• Act as the Senior ISSO across development, operations, and modernization
• Execute and maintain RMF activities (control implementation, evidence, POA&Ms)
• Maintain authorization artifacts (SSP, control narratives, diagrams)
• Operate continuous monitoring: vulnerability management, config compliance, patching, scans, risk acceptance
• Review and approve security-relevant changes through change control
• Support incident response and post-incident lessons learned
• Ensure least privilege governance and audit compliance
• Translate security requirements into actionable engineering guidance

Skills

Leadership

Mentorship

Risk decisions

RMF knowledge

Continuous monitoring

NIST SP 800-53

Vulnerability management

Linux hardening

Risk communication

Active TS/SCI

Education

BS in Computer Science or related field

MS in related field

PhD in related field

Tools

eMASS

GRC tooling

Job description

Responsibilities

Peraton Labs is seeking a poly cleared Senior Information System Security Officer for a mission-critical, highly complex HPC environment enabling research across multiple security domains. You will own day-to-day security operations aligned to RMF, drive continuous monitoring, maintain ATO posture, and partner closely with subcontractor and customer personnel.

This position requires full-time on-site work in Laurel, or a customer site near College Park, MD.

Key responsibilities may include

• Lead or co-lead ATO/reauthorization efforts for complex boundary systems
• Mentor junior ISSOs and shape security operations playbooks
• Perform risk analysis and author formal recommendations to leadership
• Drive security engineering outcomes by partnering with internal teams on scalable compliance patterns
• Brief senior internal and customer stakeholders on security posture, systemic risk trends, remediation burn-down, and authorization readiness
• Act as the Senior ISSO supporting the system security lifecycle across development, operations, and modernization
• Execute and maintain RMF activities (e.g., control implementation oversight, evidence collection, assessment support, POA&M management, continuous monitoring)
• Maintain security authorization artifacts (e.g., SSP, control narratives, diagrams, inheritance/leverage controls, CM plan, incident handling plan, contingency artifacts, user/admin procedures)
• Operate continuous monitoring: vulnerability management, config compliance, patching coordination, scan result triage, risk acceptance, and remediation verification.
• Review and approve security-relevant changes through configuration/change control and validate security configurations after major upgrades
• Support incident response and reporting: participate in investigations, coordinate containment actions, preserve evidence, and contribute to post-incident lessons learned
• Ensure least privilege/access governance: account management oversight, privileged access workflows, periodic access reviews, and audit compliance requirements
• Translate security requirements into implementation guidance that engineering teams can operationalize (clear, testable, and automatable where possible)

*This position may be eligible for an increased sign-on bonus. Eligibility, bonus amount, and applicable terms and conditions will be discussed during the recruiting process*

#MDFSP

#PLABS26

Qualifications

Required qualifications

• 12+ years of experience and a BS in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, or related technical discipline, MS and 10+ years of experience, or a PhD and 8+ years of experience. Four years of additional experience is required in lieu of a Bachelors’ degree for a total of 16 years of experience
• 8+ years of experience in information security/compliance supporting DOD/IC or government systems, including ownership of major RMF deliverables and ATO events for complex systems
• Demonstrated leadership experience coordinating across security, engineering, and customer stakeholders
• Ability to provide mentorship and direction to team members
• Proven ability to write risk decisions and packages that stand up to assessor/AO scrutiny
• Deep understanding of continuous monitoring at scale (recurring evidence, metrics, audit readiness, remediation governance)
• Hands-on experience executing RMF tasks and maintaining authorization artifacts (SSP, POA&Ms, continuous monitoring evidence)
• Strong working knowledge of NIST SP 800-53 controls and how they map to technical implementations and procedures
• Experience with vulnerability and configuration compliance workflows
• Familiarity with Linux-based enterprise environments and common hardening concepts
• Ability to communicate risk clearly to both technical engineers and non-technical leadership
• One or more active/current certifications such as: CISSP, CISM, CAP, GSLC, Security+, CCSP, INCOSE, CCNA, RHCE, MCSE, VCP, ITIL, PMP, Agile, and etc.
• This position requires an active/current TS/SCI w/ Polygraph.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience securing or assessing containerized workflows (e.g., container runtime hardening, image governance, supply chain considerations)
• Experience with eMASS (or comparable GRC tooling), security control inheritance models, and assessor engagement.
• Familiarity with vulnerability tooling and security monitoring concepts
• Experience with data protection requirements relevant to sensitive environments

Peraton Overview

Peraton is a next-generation national security company that drives missions of consequence spanning the globe and extending to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. As the world’s leading mission capability integrator and transformative enterprise IT provider, we deliver trusted, highly differentiated solutions and technologies to protect our nation and allies. Peraton operates at the critical nexus between traditional and nontraditional threats across all domains: land, sea, space, air, and cyberspace. The company serves as a valued partner to essential government agencies and supports every branch of the U.S. armed forces. Each day, our employees do the can’t be done by solving the most daunting challenges facing our customers. Visit peraton.com to learn how we’re keeping people around the world safe and secure.

Target Salary Range

$135,000 - $216,000. This represents the typical salary range for this position. Salary is determined by various factors, including but not limited to, the scope and responsibilities of the position, the individual’s experience, education, knowledge, skills, and competencies, as well as geographic location and business and contract considerations. Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay.

EEO

EEO: Equal opportunity employer, including disability and protected veterans, or other characteristics protected by law.