Cyber Embedded Software Engineer

About the position

We are seeking a Senior Embedded Software Engineer with deep expertise in embedded systems, telecommunications protocols, reverse engineering, and cybersecurity. This role is ideal for someone who thrives on technical ambiguity, enjoys uncovering how complex systems really work, and excels in low-level software and hardware analysis. You’ll play a key role in evaluating security and robustness of proprietary telecom and embedded systems—developing custom tools, uncovering vulnerabilities, and contributing directly to national cybersecurity efforts.

Responsibilities

• Reverse engineer embedded firmware, device drivers, and proprietary telecom systems to identify undocumented functionality and potential security issues.
• Analyze telecom protocol stacks—including signaling, control plane, and data plane components—to support vulnerability discovery.
• Perform firmware extraction, binary diffing, static and dynamic analysis, and hardware-assisted debugging.
• Collaborate with hardware engineers to access debug interfaces (e.g., JTAG, SWD), extract flash images, and inspect hardware state.
• Develop custom tools and scripts (e.g., in Python3) to automate analysis workflows such as firmware unpacking, protocol decoding, and memory analysis.
• Investigate edge-case behaviors, error-handling routines, and low-level system initialization logic to reveal attack surfaces.
• Document findings clearly and translate technical complexity into actionable reports for security and engineering teams.

Requirements

• An active Top Secret clearance.
• 7+ years of professional experience in embedded software development with reverse engineering skills.
• Strong proficiency in C, C++, and assembly programming for embedded architectures such as ARM, MIPS, x86, or RISC-V.
• Experience with RTOS environments, including VxWorks and embedded Linux device driver development.
• Deep understanding of embedded software IPC mechanisms, such as message queues, shared memory, and semaphores.
• Familiarity with embedded hardware interfaces, including SPI, I2C, PCIe, UART, and memory-mapped I/O.
• Proficient in Python3 for scripting and automation.
• Hands-on experience with disassembly and decompilation tools (e.g., IDA Pro, Ghidra, Binary Ninja) and debugging tools (GDB, JTAG).
• Detailed understanding of networking protocols, including Ethernet, TCP/IP, UDP, PPP, HDLC, MPLS.
• Experience using Wireshark or similar tools for packet analysis.
• Knowledge of embedded security concepts, including secure boot, firmware encryption, and hardware authentication.

Nice-to-haves

• An active SCI clearance is highly desired.
• Experience in cybersecurity research, vulnerability discovery, or exploit development in embedded or telecom environments.
• Familiarity with PowerPC assembly, including QUICC-based systems.
• Experience with ARM assembly and debugging of SoC-based embedded platforms.
• Exposure to telecom equipment (e.g., routers, switches, optical transport, base stations), including OTN, SONET/SDH, DWDM systems.
• Understanding of Linux kernel internals and/or VxWorks internals.
• Hands-on experience with FPGA-based systems, including those with embedded ARM or PowerPC cores.
• Background in embedded hardware design and debug, including the use of oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and firmware extraction techniques.
• Ability to build tools and infrastructure to support analysis workflows in a team setting.

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits such as healthcare, wellness, financial, retirement, family support, continuing education, and time off benefits.