Senior Vulnerability Researcher/Hardware Reverse Engineer/CNO Developer (Onsite)

慨正橡扯; San Antonio (TX); On-site; USD 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Parental leave

Flexible work schedules

Education assistance

Job summary

Nightwing is looking for Vulnerability Researchers to analyze systems, assisting with both development and security techniques. This onsite position demands collaboration in small teams and involves both coding and reverse engineering tasks. Candidates must possess the ability to obtain a U.S. Government TS/SCI Clearance and demonstrate strong technical aptitude in a fast-paced environment.

With over 40 years of operational excellence, Nightwing offers a competitive rewards package, emphasizing career development and wellbeing.

Qualifications

• 5 years of prior engineering experience or equivalent experience or MS with minimum of 3 years of experience.
• Understanding of exploit mitigations such as DEP and ASLR.

Responsibilities

• Analyze systems to understand their behavior during failures.
• Engage in both developing and defeating security techniques.
• Collaborate closely with customers on projects.

Skills

Ability to obtain a U.S. Government TS/SCI Clearance

Experience with C or C++

Experience with Python

Basic hardware reverse engineering of embedded systems

JTAG, CAN, SWD experience

Education

Bachelor's in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics

Tools

Ghidra

IDA Pro

WinDbg

Job description

Nightwing provides technically advanced full‑spectre cyber, data operations, systems integration and intelligence mission support services to meet our customers’ most demanding challenges. Our capabilities include cyber space operations, cyber defense and resiliency, vulnerability research, ubiquitous technical surveillance, data intelligence, lifecycle mission enablement, and software modernization. Nightwing brings disruptive technologies, agility, and competitive offerings to customers in the intelligence community, defense, civil, and commercial markets.

When we formed Nightwing, we brought a deep set of credentials and an unfaltering commitment to the mission. For over four decades, our team has been providing some of the world’s most technically advanced full‑spectre cyber, data operations, systems integration and intelligence support services to the U.S. government on its most important missions.

At Nightwing, we value collaboration and teamwork. You’ll have the opportunity to work alongside talented individuals who are passionate about what they do. Together, we’ll leverage our collective expertise to drive innovation, solve complex problems, and deliver exceptional results for our clients.

Job Summary

Vulnerability Researchers at NightWing CODEX analyze systems to understand how they work and how they behave when they break. Candidates must be able to play both sides of the fence, both developing and defeating new and advanced security techniques. Projects are undertaken in small teams with close coordination with customers. All our engineers write code, but many of our engineers spend as much time taking systems apart as building new ones. A typical day can involve studying disassembly or writing Python to audit a piece of C++ code.

Role Type

This position is an onsite role.

Required Skills

• Ability to obtain a U.S. Government TS/SCI Clearance
• Experience with C or C++ Experience with Python
• Basic hardware reverse engineering of embedded systems
• JTAG, CAN, SWD, or other hardware interface experience
• Requires a Bachelor’s in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM preferred) and a minimum of 5 years of prior engineering experience or equivalent experience, or MS with minimum of 3 years of experience
• 4 or more of the following desired skills

Desired Skills

• Existing U.S. Government DOD TS or TS/SCI Clearance
• Understanding of OS Internals (any major OS)
• Experience reading or writing assembly (x86, x64, ARM, PPC, MIPS, SPARC, 68k, or others)
• Familiarity with stack frames, calling conventions, and memory management
• Experience developing embedded systems
• Understanding of network protocols (TCP/IP stacks, wire‑level protocols, RF communications, BGP, routing protocols, or others).
• Understanding of exploit mitigations such as DEP and ASLR
• Experience using reverse engineering tools such as Ghidra, IDA Pro, HexRays, Binary Ninja, or objdump.
• Experience using debuggers such as gdb, WinDbg, OllyDbg
• Experience building and using tools to find, exploit, and productize vulnerabilities in complex software systems
• Utilizing full system emulation for research and analysis

Education Required

BS/MS in technical discipline (Equivalent work experience will be considered)

What We Offer

Whether you’re just starting out on your career journey or are an experienced professional, we offer a total rewards package that goes above and beyond with compensation; healthcare, wellness, retirement and work/life benefits; career development and recognition programs. Some of the benefits we offer include parental (including paternal) leave, flexible work schedules, achievement awards, educational assistance and child/adult backup care.

Company Background

Previously part of a leading Fortune 100 company and headquartered in Dulles, VA; Nightwing became independent in 2024 but continues to support the nation’s most mission impactful initiatives.

EEO Statement

Nightwing is An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status, age or any other federally protected class.