VULNERABILITY MGMT ANALYST

Arete Associates

Falls Church (VA)

On-site

USD 110,000 - 150,000

Full time

9 days ago

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Benefits offered by this job

Flextime Scheduling

Bereavement

PTO

Paid Parental Leave

401(k) matching

Employee Stock Ownership Plan

Continuing Education Assistance

Medical Insurance

Dental & Vision Insurance

Life Insurance and LTD

Vision Reimbursement

Job summary

Arete Associates in Falls Church, VA is seeking a Vulnerability Management Analyst to own the end-to-end remediation cycle from scanning to verification across desktops, servers, and networks. The role requires hands-on patching, risk-based prioritization, and coordination with system owners to minimize business impact.

The ideal candidate has TS clearance, is proficient with Rapid7/Nessus, and can automate recurring tasks using PowerShell, Bash, or Python.

Qualifications

Active TS clearance and ability to maintain it.
CompTIA Security+ CE within 120 days of employment.
3+ years in a related IT/ Cyber Security role.

Responsibilities

Conduct vulnerability assessments and remediation across multiple systems.
Analyze scan results and create risk-prioritized remediation plans.
Execute patching within change windows and validate rollback plans.
Automate scanning, patching, reporting, and remediation workflows.
Prepare reports for IT and senior management.

Skills

Clearance management

Security+

Vulnerability scanning

Patch orchestration

PowerShell

Bash

Python

Communication

Automation

Education

CompTIA Security+ CE

Bachelor's degree in IT/related field

Tools

Rapid7

Tenable (ACAS/Nessus)

Qualys

PDQ Deploy

SCCM/MECM

WSUS

YUM/DNF

Red Hat Satellite

Job description

Arete is looking for the person who makes sure vulnerabilities actually get closed - not just found. As our Vulnerability Management Analyst in Falls Church, VA, you will own the end-to-end remediation cycle - scanning, prioritization, patch qualification, deployment, and verification - across desktops, servers, network devices, and standalone systems on multiple sites and networks, working closely with Arete's Cyber Security staff.

This is a hands-on execution role, and you will be measured on whether vulnerabilities close on a recurring, risk-prioritized cadence. Equally important is doing so without breaking the business: qualifying patches before they are pushed, understanding which applications depend on pinned or vendor-locked component versions, coordinating maintenance windows with system owners, and having a tested rollback path when a patch goes wrong.

The selected candidate must hold an active Top Secret clearance and be able to maintain it. This position is onsite at our Falls Church, VA facility. The candidate may be required to travel occasionally and provide some afterhours support. This is an exempt non-supervisory full-time position.

Primary Responsibilities:

Conduct regular vulnerability assessments and serve as the technical expert with primary responsibility for vulnerability scanning and remediation of desktops, servers, network devices, and other systems across multiple sites, networks, and standalone environments.
Analyze scan results from Rapid7 and Tenable Security Center (ACAS) and produce a risk-prioritized remediation plan that accounts for severity, exploitability, exposure, asset criticality, and known-exploited-vulnerability status - not raw CVSS alone.
Execute continuous, recurring patching schedules against that prioritization, within maintenance windows authorized by the appropriate change control board.
Qualify patches before deployment: test in a representative environment, identify dependencies on pinned or vendor-supported component versions, assess impact to line-of-business and server applications, and document a rollback plan.
Identify vulnerabilities that cannot be resolved by patching alone - pinned application dependencies, end-of-life software, vendor-locked systems - and develop compensating controls, mitigation strategies, or upgrade recommendations in coordination with system owners and Cyber Security.
Coordinate with system owners and end users on upcoming patches and projected impacts, including reboots, service interruptions, and network-wide effects.
Verify remediation through rescanning and closure validation; track exceptions, deviations, and accepted risks through to resolution or formal acceptance.
Automate recurring scanning, patching, reporting, and remediation workflows to reduce manual effort and improve consistency.
Maintain vulnerability management processes and standard operating procedures, and maintain and report metrics for the function - remediation timeliness, aging, coverage, patch success and failure rates, and recurring problem areas.
Prepare and present reports on vulnerability management activities to IT and senior management, communicating complex technical information to non-technical stakeholders.
Stay current on emerging threats, actively exploited vulnerabilities, and vendor advisories, and recommend proactive measures.
Other duties, as assigned.

Experiences and Background We Look For:

Active Top Secret clearance, with the ability to maintain it.
Must have or be able to obtain a CompTIA Security+ CE certification within 120 days of employment, in accordance with DoDM 8140.03 and DFARS 252.239-7001.
Minimum of 3 years working as a System Administrator, Systems Engineer, Network Administrator, Vulnerability Analyst, or similar role.
Proficient understanding of computer hardware, software, and operating systems - primarily Microsoft Windows Server and Red Hat Enterprise Linux - with strong system troubleshooting skills across both.
Working knowledge of vulnerability scanning products such as Rapid7 (preferred), Tenable Security Center/Nessus (ACAS), or Qualys.
Experience with patch management tools such as PDQ Deploy, SCCM/MECM, WSUS, YUM/DNF, or Red Hat Satellite - including testing and qualifying patches prior to deployment, coordinating change-managed maintenance windows, and executing rollback when required.
Working scripting ability in PowerShell, Bash, or Python sufficient to automate recurring scan parsing, patch orchestration, and reporting tasks.
Strong interpersonal and written communication skills, with the ability to work autonomously, produce technical documentation, and negotiate remediation timelines with system owners who have competing priorities.

Nice to Have:

TS/SCI access with polygraph.
Advanced automation experience building patch orchestration or vulnerability reporting tooling.
Experience patching and maintaining airgapped, standalone, or classified systems, including offline content management and update ingestion.
Familiarity with DISA STIGs, SCAP Compliance Checker, and DoD or federal compliance frameworks (NIST 800-53, NIST 800-171, RMF).
Experience with container and application dependency scanning, and with SBOM-based vulnerability identification.
Experience managing vulnerabilities in third-party and line-of-business applications where a vendor pins supported runtime or library versions.
Industry certifications such as CySA+, Network+, CCNA, RHCSA, Microsoft AZ-800/801 or MD-102, GIAC GCED/GEVA, or vendor certifications in Rapid7 or Tenable/ACAS.
Bachelor's Degree in an Information Technology related discipline.

We have an impressive range of benefits, programs, and perks that we offer:

Generous PTO and Leave Times