Security Engineer (211941)

Aquent; Redmond (WA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, vision, and dental plans

Paid sick leave

401(k) retirement plan with company‑mÂ

Free online training via Aquent Gym (A

Job summary

Aquent is partnering with a leading technology company to build a groundbreaking firmware security analysis platform in Redmond, WA. You will contribute to automated analysis, IR transformations, and fuzzing workflows across hardware ecosystems.

The role spans from low-level compiler infrastructure to AI-assisted development, collaborating with security researchers, compiler engineers, and platform teams. You will write tested, maintainable code, participate in design reviews, and help drive

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Strong professional experience developing software in C/C++.
• Hands-on experience with compiler technologies, IR, or low-level systems programming.
• Experience working with fuzzing frameworks such as libFuzzer, AFL, AFL++ or similar technologies.
• Strong understanding of software security principles, including memory-safety vulnerabilities and root-cause analysis.
• Proficiency with Python for automation and tooling development.
• Experience using Git-based development workflows.
• Demonstrated ability to write well-tested, maintainable, and documented production code.

Responsibilities

• Build and enhance security analysis pipelines, including preprocessing C/C++ firmware code into IR.
• Implement and maintain IR-based transformations for off-target analysis and fuzzing.
• Create and improve code-analysis workflows, including call-graph extraction and metadata generation.
• Design and maintain fuzzing campaigns using modern frameworks and AI-assisted techniques.
• Improve crash triage systems for automated identification and deduplication of findings.
• Develop automated mechanisms to classify code semantics and improve analysis accuracy.
• Build scalable automation combining compiler infrastructure, security tooling, and AI-driven workflows.
• Enhance vulnerability detection and reduce false positives through improved analysis techniques.
• Improve reporting systems to turn findings into actionable engineering insights.
• Validate analysis approaches across diverse firmware targets and environments.
• Write clean, well-tested code and participate in design reviews and architecture discussions.

Skills

C/C++ development

Python scripting

Git workflows

Security principles

Automation tooling

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related

Tools

libFuzzer

AFL

AFL++

Job description

Aquent is partnering with a leading technology company at the forefront of innovation, dedicated to shaping the future of computing. This is an unparalleled opportunity to join a pioneering team and make a profound impact on the security posture of critical hardware ecosystems. You will play a pivotal role in developing a next-generation platform that leverages cutting-edge AI, compiler technology, and automated fuzzing to secure firmware at scale, transforming how vulnerabilities are identified and mitigated across the industry.

About the Role

Step into a dynamic engineering role where your expertise will directly contribute to building and advancing a groundbreaking firmware security analysis platform. This platform addresses a critical industry challenge by automating the rigorous analysis of third-party firmware, ensuring a robust security posture across a broad ecosystem of hardware and firmware providers. You will be instrumental in bridging research ideas with production-quality engineering solutions, working alongside security researchers, compiler engineers, and platform developers.

This role offers a unique chance to work across multiple layers of the technology stack, from low-level compiler infrastructure to modern AI-assisted development workflows. You will contribute to long-term technical strategy and platform evolution, driving innovation that secures critical firmware ecosystems through advanced analysis technologies.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and enhance security analysis pipelines, including developing preprocessing pipelines for C/C++ firmware code into Intermediate Representation (IR).
• Implement and maintain IR-based transformations to prepare firmware for off-target analysis and fuzzing.
• Create and improve code-analysis workflows, encompassing call-graph extraction, metadata generation, and static-analysis integrations.
• Design and maintain systems for generating and executing fuzzing campaigns using modern frameworks and AI-assisted techniques.
• Improve crash triage systems for automated identification, deduplication, and analysis of security findings.
• Develop automated mechanisms to classify code semantics and enhance analysis accuracy.
• Build scalable automation combining compiler infrastructure, security tooling, and AI-driven workflows.
• Enhance vulnerability detection pipelines and reduce false positives through improved analysis techniques.
• Improve reporting systems to transform raw security findings into actionable engineering insights.
• Validate analysis approaches across diverse firmware targets and environments.
• Improve system reliability, modularity, test coverage, and CI/CD automation.
• Create developer documentation, onboarding guides, and architectural references.
• Support dependency review, reproducible builds, and general open-source readiness activities.
• Help establish contribution workflows, issue triage practices, and release processes for external contributors.
• Write clean, maintainable, and well-tested code.
• Participate in design reviews and technical architecture discussions.
• Collaborate closely with engineers across security, hardware, and platform teams.
• Contribute to long-term technical strategy and platform evolution.

What Success Looks Like

• Security analysis pipelines operate reliably across targeted firmware platforms.
• Vulnerability findings are actionable, accurate, and produce significantly fewer false positives than traditional approaches.
• New firmware targets can be onboarded efficiently through documented, repeatable processes.
• The project achieves a high-quality, sustainable open-source release supported by robust tooling, testing, and documentation.
• Engineering improvements directly increase scalability, coverage, and usability for both internal and external contributors.

Must-Have Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Strong professional experience developing software in C/C++.
• Hands-on experience with compiler technologies, IR, or low-level systems programming.
• Experience working with fuzzing frameworks such as libFuzzer, AFL, AFL++, or similar technologies.
• Strong understanding of software security principles, including memory-safety vulnerabilities and root-cause analysis.
• Proficiency with Python for automation and tooling development.
• Experience using Git-based development workflows.
• Demonstrated ability to write well-tested, maintainable, and documented production code.

Nice-to-Have Qualifications

• Experience with firmware, embedded systems, device software, or bare-metal development.
• Knowledge of hardware abstraction layers (HALs), MMIO, emulation, rehosting, or cross-compilation techniques.
• Experience with static-analysis platforms such as CodeQL.
• Familiarity with program-analysis concepts such as call graphs, data-flow analysis, or IR transformations.
• Experience integrating AI, machine learning, or large language model technologies into engineering workflows.
• Previous open-source contributor or maintainer experience.
• Experience building CI/CD pipelines and release automation.
• Familiarity with GitHub or similar development platforms.

About Aquent:

Aquent connects the best talent in marketing, creative, and design with the world's biggest brands.

Our eligible talent get access to amazing benefits like subsidized health, vision, and dental plans, paid sick leave, and retirement plans with a match. We also offer free online training through Aquent Gymnasium. More information on our awesome benefits!

Aquent is an equal-opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics. We're about creating an inclusive environment-one where different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives are valued, and everyone can contribute, grow their careers, and thrive.

Client Description:

Join a global technology leader driving innovation and empowering people and organizations worldwide to achieve more. Here, you'll collaborate with passionate, diverse teams to create impactful solutions that shape the future. The culture prioritizes growth, inclusion, and purpose—where your ideas are valued, and your work drives real change. Wherever your passion lies and wherever your career is headed—you’ll play a role in projects that touch billions of lives. With flexible work options and a supportive environment, you'll have the tools to thrive both personally and professionally. Be part of something that truly matters.

Why work with AQUENT? Check out our awesome benefits: https://aquent.com/talent/talent-benefits

Aquent is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics.