Senior Cyber Range Engineer (Infrastructure/Cloud)

Nighthawk Cyber, LLC; Hanover (MD); On-site; USD 130,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Tuition Reimbursement

401(k) Matching

Employee Assistance Program

Performance Bonuses

Paid Holidays

Job summary

Nighthawk Cyber, LLC is seeking a Senior Cyber Range Engineer to lead cyber range validation and range control for the Joint Cyber Training Enterprise. This role requires expert guidance on development, systems administration, cybersecurity, and cross-team coordination at Fort Meade, MD.

Ideal candidates bring 6+ years of infra and virtualization, DoD 8570 IAT II certification, and strong DNS/TCP/IP/Linux experience. On-site work, high-pressure environments, and travel up to 10% are expected.

Qualifications

• Minimum 6 years of hands-on technical infrastructure (networking/cloud) and virtualization experience.
• CCNA, AWS Certified (Associate), VMware VCP-Cloud, or equivalent certs.
• 3+ years of experience with CNO/CNE/CND platforms.
• 3+ years of experience with cyber training, validation exercises, and CPTs.
• DoD 8570 IAT Level II or greater certification (e.g., Security+).
• Bachelor's degree in a technical discipline (IT/CS/SE).
• Strong knowledge of Joint Event Life Cycle (JELC) and cyber tools.

Responsibilities

• Support execution of cybersecurity training and testing events within cyber ranges.
• Assist offensive-based cyber range content development (VMs, networks, hardware in the loop).
• Provide customer-facing support for red cell exercise events and track priorities for multinational exercises.
• Support design and execution of cyber range events and provide expert IT, virtualization, and network support.
• Translate training goals into actionable event environments and ensure deliverables meet contractual criteria.

Skills

Networking

Cloud

Virtualization

CCNA

AWS Certified

VMware VCP-Cloud

CNO/CNE/CND

Security+

DoD 8570 IAT II

JavaScript/LDAP/IdM

DNS

TCP/IP

RHEL IdM

Education

Bachelor's degree in a technical discipline

Tools

VMware

Security Onion

Splunk

Active Directory

Job description

Nighthawk Cyberis a premier solutions provider, delivering Cybersecurity, Enterprise IT, & Data Analytics Solutions to the Federal, Defense, and Intelligence communities. Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, our team of professionals boasts an array of industry-leading certifications and decades of experience supporting clients across a wide range of domains and environments. Nighthawk offers a sophisticated approach to normalization and integration of various cyber capabilities with a depth of expertise developing, enhancing, integrating, and transitioning operational cyber capabilities.

Nighthawk is a recipient of the Department of Labor Gold Medallion award and the VETS Indexes Award in recognition of our commitment to support the hiring and professional development of U.S. Veterans.

Position Overview

We are looking for a Senior Cyber Range Engineer for the Joint Cyber Training Enterprise (JCTE) who will be a subject matter expert for cyber range validation and range control. The successful candidate will be able to provide senior expert guidance on cyber range development and execution, systems administration, cybersecurity, and account management and address ad-hoc customer-related technical requirements and synchronize priorities across the platform’s functional areas. The ability to thrive within high pressure situations and drive relevant teams to take the right actions are a must.

The position is full-time on-site in Fort Meade, MD.

Responsibilities

Support the execution of cybersecurity training and testing events within cyber ranges.

Support the implementation of offensive based cyber range content, to include virtual machines, networks, hardware in the loop, training materials, applications and scenarios.

Provide customer facing support for red cell exercise events and develop visual products tracking priorities for small to large multi-national cyber exercise.

Assist content developers and managers in the configuration and employment of red cell applications in support of training events and exercises.

Support the development, testing, documentation, fielding and support of complex cyber and IT training systems and equipment.

Ensure the highest quality of task completion, meeting contractual performance criteria and deliverables in accordance with the contract.

Support cyber range event design and execution.

Provide subject matter expertise on architecture, authentication and system security.

Drive continuous process improvement across all event activities.

Provide expert-level IT, virtual environment, and network support functions.

Interact with vendors/users/customers and developers to understand needs and operational requirementschanges that will impact the production environment.

Required Experience/Qualifications

Minimum 6 years of hands-on technical infrastructure (networking/cloud) and virtualization experience (Cisco, AWS, VMware)

Must possess CCNA, AWS Certified (Associate Level), VMware VCP-Cloud, or equivalent certs

3+ years of experience with CNO/CNE/CND platforms

3+ years of experience with cyber training, validation exercises, and working with cyber protection teams (CPTs), including planning, coordinating, and execution.

Current DoD 8570 IAT Level II or greater certification such as Security+, GSEC, CISSP or other equivalent certification.

Bachelor's degree in a technical discipline such as information technology, computer science, systems or software engineering from an accredited college or university.

Intermediate knowledge of the Joint Event Life Cycle (JELC) and defensive and offensive cyber tools

Expert working knowledge of networking, to include DNS, routing, basic to advanced TCP/IP skills and troubleshooting.

Background in MS, AD, Security Onion, and VMWare.

Demonstrated understanding of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Identity Management (IdM) and Single Sign On (SSO) using Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP).

Ability to translate cyber mission force training and mission rehearsal goals into actionable event environments.

Must be a self-starter in a fast-paced environment and able to work with a range of engineers holding a diverse set of skills at differing levels of experience.

Be sensitive and flexible to the needs and requirements of the customer.

Ability to solve technical problems involving a variety of integrated software and hardware platforms.

Effective written and oral communication with multiple levels of leadership involving both business and technical sides of the business.

Able to prioritize multiple tasks, projects, and demands.

Preferred Experience:

Intermediate to advanced knowledge of DNS: Authoritative vs. Recursive servers, SOA, NS, MX, A, and CNAME records.

Intermediate to advanced knowledge of routing: OSPF static, BGP, route maps, access lists, prefix lists, advertise maps, and route weights.

Intermediate to advanced knowledge of exchange: Edge servers, recipient e-mail addressing, mailboxes, auto-configuration for Exchange clients.

Intermediate knowledge of Security Onion or Splunk: interface requirements, scalability landmines, Enterprise configurations (sensor and master). VMWare port properties and how they are tied to sensor ports and promiscuous modes.

Special Requirements/Security Clearance:

Please note that pursuant to a government contract, this specific position requires U. S. Citizenship status and a TS/SCI security clearance with the ability to successfully pass a CI polygraph if requested. Security Clearance requirements will be specified in the Government's Task Order.

Occasional travel may be required up to 10% of the time.

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee. The above is intended to describe the general contents of and requirements for the performance of this job.

Benefits Overview

Our total compensation package was strategically designed to reward employees with competitive benefits including:

• Options for supplemental life, disability, accident, critical illness, pet, and other policies
• Generous Leave Policy (11 Federal Holidays, 3 weeks PTO, Unlimited Sick Leave, Military Leave, Bereavement and Jury Duty)
• Tuition Reimbursement (Education & Training)
• 401(k) Matching and no vesting period
• Employee Assistance Program
• Referral & Performance bonuses