Senior Hardware Security Engineer

MITRE; Albuquerque (NM); On-site; USD 127,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

MITRE, a nonprofit engineering and research organization, is seeking skilled hardware reverse engineers focused on embedded systems. You will perform hands-on security assessments, analyze IC structures, and prototype interfaces to advance security research for national significance.

The role requires deep expertise in semiconductor devices, HDL/VLSI concepts, and a Secret U.S. Government security clearance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering or CS with 5 years of related experience.
• Master’s degree/PhD with relevant experience and ability to contribute immediately.
• Knowledge of semiconductor devices, IC fabrication, and common IC structures.
• Understanding of HDL, digital circuits, VLSI, and computer architecture.
• Understanding protections against physical attacks including secure boot and tamper sensing.
• Ability to independently conduct complex technical work in teams.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Eligible for a Secret U.S. Government security clearance and U.S. citizenship.
• Requires a minimum on-site presence of 4 days/week.

Responsibilities

• Perform hands-on security assessments of embedded systems.
• Analyze SEM imagery to identify microelectronic structures and interconnects.
• Correlate IC structures with schematics and netlists.
• Non-volatile memory extraction.
• Design and prototype interfaces for measurement and instrumentation.
• Advance hardware security through new approaches and countermeasures.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams on embedded research and protection.
• Lead tasks or teams of engineers and mentor junior staff.
• Communicate approaches, risks, and results to sponsors and stakeholders.

Skills

Embedded security

Reverse engineering

C/C++

Python

Digital signal processing

Machine learning

Computer vision

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering/Electrical Engineering/CS or related field

Master’s degree/PhD in similar field

Tools

ASIC design

FPGA design

X-ray imaging

Job description

At MITRE, your passion fuels work that impacts our nation and improves lives. This is where your skills strengthen national security, cybersecurity, health, transportation, and citizen services. We’re a nonprofit engineering, applied research, and advanced technology organization working in the public interest. With objectivity and integrity at our core, we lead federally funded research and development centers for U.S. government agencies – collaborating with industry and academia to deliver integrated, high-impact solutions that advance our nation’s health, security, and prosperity. Our people tackle the toughest technical challenges, supported by competitive benefits, meaningful career development, and a culture of innovation, collaboration, and technical excellence. Choose MITRE for a career with purpose — and help shape the future.

MITRE’s Electronic Systems Security department is seeking to hire talented and creative hardware reverse engineers with a focus on embedded systems. Our researchers tackle the most complex, challenging, and impactful embedded security problems of our customers on projects of national significance. We conduct in-depth technical assessments on embedded operation, research security vulnerabilities, develop exploit proofs-of-concept, and deliver technical capabilities to defend and enable our customers’ missions. Our successes have driven and continue to drive us to develop advanced tools that enable, accelerate, and scale our embedded system vulnerability research and reverse engineering analyses as well as bring differentiated value to our customers.

Qualified candidates will join a department with deep technical expertise across many embedded security disciplines including hardware reverse engineering and vulnerability research, secure computing, and implementation security. Together, this multi-disciplinary group performs hands-on research and analysis and develops proof-of-concept prototypes to demonstrate and advance the state-of-the-art in embedded security.

Roles & Responsibilities

• Perform hands-on security assessments of embedded systems, e.g. by
  • Analyzing scanning electron microscope (SEM) imagery to identify and interpret microelectronic structures, including interconnects, vias, contacts, transistors, and other features within integrated circuits
  • Correlating physical integrated circuit structures with schematics, layouts, netlists, or expected circuit functionality
  • Non-volatile memory extraction
  • Designing and building prototypes to demonstrate advanced capabilities for measuring and instrumenting board-and-component-level interfaces
• Advance the state-of-the-art in hardware security by researching and developing new approaches for, and countermeasures to, emerging threats to embedded systems
• Track, adapt, and apply academic and industry advances in hardware security analysis and protection techniques to secure our sponsors’ systems
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams conducting embedded security research, vulnerability assessment, and hardware/software co-design
• Work as part of a multi-disciplinary team, while leading tasks and/or teams of engineers
• Communicate and document technical approaches, risks, and results to sponsors and stakeholders
• Provide technical mentorship to junior engineers

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field and 5 years of related experience; or Master’s degree/PhD in a similar field and 3 years of related experience
• Typically requires a minimum of 5 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 3 years and a Master’s degree; or a PhD with relevant experience who can immediately contribute at this job step; or equivalent combination of related education and work experience.
• Knowledge of semiconductor devices, integrated circuit fabrication processes, and common IC structures
• Understanding of digital circuit design topics - including hardware description languages, microelectronics, VLSI design automation, and computer architecture
• Understanding of protections against physical attacks including secure boot, tamper sensing, secure key storage, memory encryption/authentication, and debug interface disablement
• Ability to independently execute complex technical work in collaborative environments
• Effective oral and written communication skills
• Must be eligible to obtain and maintain a Secret U.S Government issued Security Clearance. Per the U.S. Government’s eligibility requirements, you must be a U.S Citizen to be considered for a security clearance.
• This position requires a minimum of 4 days a week on-site

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree or PhD in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field
• Active security clearance, especially Top Secret or TS/SCI.
• Demonstrated technical leadership and mentoring experience

Experience with

• Embedded system tear-down, reverse engineering, vulnerability analysis, and circuit/component modifications
• Anti-tamper design, implementation, evaluation, and/or research
• ASIC and/or FPGA design
• Netlist recreation of printed circuit boards and components using X-ray or destructive imaging
• Board-and-component-level instrumentation, measurement, and protocol analysis
• Prototyping printed circuit boards for probing or injecting high-speed signals
• Software development (e.g., C/C++, Python)
• Digital signal and image processing
• Computer vision and machine learning

Familiarity with

• Semiconductor depackaging, delayering, failure analysis, and FIB-SEM techniques
• Application of side-channel analysis and/or fault injection to black-box systems
• Analysis of cryptographic algorithms and protocols
• Analysis of RF protocols
• Analysis of security architectures of modern commercial processors and SoCs
• Embedded firmware reverse engineering

This requisition requires the candidate to have a minimum of the following clearance(s)

None

This requisition requires the hired candidate to have or obtain, within one year from the date of hire, the following clearance(s)

Secret

Salary compensation range and midpoint

$126,800 - $158,500 - $190,200 Annual

Work Location Type

Onsite

Commitment to Non-Discrimination

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, status as a protected veteran or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, local or international law.

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