Senior Cyber Defense Engineer

Downtown Boulder Partnership; Sterling (VA); On-site; USD 104,650 - 189,175; Full time

Job summary

Leidos is seeking a Senior Cyber Security Engineer in Sterling, VA to design and implement advanced security solutions protecting critical systems and data. You will work across software and hardware domains, conducting threat research and vulnerability analyses while ensuring secure SDLC and CI/CD integration.

The role requires 8+ years of experience with Python/C/C++/Java, offensive and defensive cybersecurity, and familiarity with standards such as NIST RMF.

Qualifications

• Requires TS/SCI with Poly clearance.
• Bachelor’s degree in CS, Cybersecurity, Software Engineering, or related field, with 8+ years of experience.
• Experience with Python, C/C++, Assembly, or Java.
• Proven offensive and defensive cybersecurity experience.
• Experience with vulnerability research, reverse engineering, and malware analysis.
• Knowledge of code analysis, code manipulation, and payload development.
• Knowledge of defensive tool development, threat detection, and incident response.
• Working knowledge of web application vulnerability assessment, penetration testing, and fuzzing techniques.
• Experience conducting cyber threat intelligence research to stay informed on emerging technologies and threat trends.

Responsibilities

• Research and analyze cyber threat trends, vulnerabilities, and exploits to identify risks to critical mission systems.
• Design and implement defensive cyber security solutions to protect data, networks, and applications from unauthorized access, modification, or destruction.
• Perform vulnerability assessments, penetration testing, fuzzing, and malware analysis to detect and mitigate risks.
• Secure development environments by implementing application security architecture and evaluating software for security compliance.
• Collaborate with development, IT, and operations teams to integrate security into the SDLC and CI/CD pipelines.
• Identify, detect, and respond to cyber attacks and incidents, including investigation and remediation efforts.
• Ensure cyber solutions comply with relevant standards, frameworks, and regulatory requirements.
• Maintain up-to-date documentation of security architecture, findings, and mitigation strategies.

Skills

Python

C/C++

Java

Assembly

Malware analysis

Reverse engineering

Vulnerability research

Threat detection

Incident response

Code analysis

CI/CD pipelines

Secure SDLC

Web app testing

OSCP

CISSP

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Software Engineering, or related technical field

Tools

Ghidra

IDA Pro

Radare2

x64dbg

Job description

Leidos is seeking a Senior Cyber Security Engineer in Sterling, VA to design and implement advanced security solutions protecting critical systems and data. You will work across software and hardware domains, conducting threat research and vulnerability analyses while ensuring secure SDLC and CI/CD integration.

The role requires 8+ years of experience with Python/C/C++/Java, offensive and defensive cybersecurity, and familiarity with standards such as NIST RMF.