Senior CNO Exploit Engineer | Operational Cyber

X8; Columbia (MD); On-site; USD 135,000 - 165,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus potential

401(k) match 10%

Paid time off 24 PTO days + 13holidays

Medical benefits

Job summary

X8 is seeking a Senior CNO Exploit Developer in Columbia, MD to transform proof-of-concept exploits into operational capabilities for specialized military cyber operations on the PURPLEPIRANHA contract. The role emphasizes stability, reliability, and collaboration with researchers and mission stakeholders to meet exact operational requirements.

Required are an active TS/SCI with polygraph, 8+ years in related fields, and 5+ years in exploit or CNO tool development.

Qualifications

• Active TS/SCI clearance with polygraph; CI polygraph required for this requisition.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Assurance, Information Security Systems Engineering, or a related discipline, and 8+ years of experience.
• At least 5 years of exploit development or Computer Network Operations (CNO) tool development experience.
• At least 2 years of programming experience with languages or low-level technologies such as Python, C, C++, or x86 assembly.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze proof-of-concept exploits or CVEs and engineer stable, repeatable capabilities.
• Extensive reverse-engineering experience of binaries and source code to identify vulnerabilities; CNO analytic or cloud-related software experience.

Responsibilities

• Engineer, stabilize, and productize proof-of-concept exploits and CVE-based vulnerabilities for operational use.
• Analyze exploit behavior and improve reliability, repeatability, and suitability for live infrastructure.
• Collaborate with vulnerability researchers to understand findings and constraints.
• Work with mission stakeholders to validate capabilities meet operational requirements.
• Reverse-engineer binaries and source code to support exploit development.

Skills

Exploit development

CNO tool development

Reverse engineering

Vulnerability research

Operational requirements analysis

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Assurance, Information Security Systems Engineering, or related discipline

Tools

Python

C

C++

x86 assembly

Job description

X8 is seeking a Senior CNO Exploit Developer in Columbia, MD to transform proof-of-concept exploits into operational capabilities for specialized military cyber operations on the PURPLEPIRANHA contract. The role emphasizes stability, reliability, and collaboration with researchers and mission stakeholders to meet exact operational requirements.

Required are an active TS/SCI with polygraph, 8+ years in related fields, and 5+ years in exploit or CNO tool development.