2026 Graduate - Cybersecurity/Reverse Engineering - Systems Exploitation

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory • Laurel, MD

80d • $85,000 - $155,000

About The Position

Are you curious about how systems work, where they are vulnerable, and how they behave when they break? Are you passionate about developing solutions to complex engineering challenges? We are seeking motivated developers, computer scientists, computer engineers, and cyber researchers who are passionate about advancing the field of cybersecurity. Specifically, we are searching for candidates with interest and experience in software, hardware, and/or firmware reverse engineering. We work hard to build a team with a variety of perspectives and experiences to tackle cross-discipline problem sets. The Systems Exploitation team performs vulnerability research, develops novel cyber capabilities, and pioneers groundbreaking approaches to defeat sophisticated security protections. As a member of our team, you will perform deep investigation of software, hardware, and firmware. You will build forward-thinking solutions for prototype and operational systems. You will gain experience and circulate knowledge by articulating your ideas in papers and presentations to technical staff, management, and government decision makers. We strongly encourage our team to take advantage of opportunities to participate in working groups, customer meetings, proposal writing, and conferences. For over 80 years, the United States government has turned to APL for help in solving the toughest national security problems. APL provides the unique opportunity to work on multi-disciplined projects alongside world-class scientists and engineers in fields such as space exploration, radio communications, and additive manufacturing technologies. We'd love to have you join our team!

Requirements

• Have a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Cybersecurity, Electrical Engineering, or similar.
• Are skilled in and/or have knowledge of vulnerability analysis and reverse engineering of software, hardware, and/or firmware.
• Are able to acquire a Secret level security clearance by your start date and can ultimately obtain TS/SCI level clearance or higher.

Nice To Haves

• Understand the internals of any major operating system, exploitation techniques, and exploit mitigations.
• Have experience reading or writing assembly (x86/x64, Arm, PowerPC, MIPS, or others).
• Understand wire-level protocols and radio frequency communications.
• Have used debuggers such as gdb, WinDbg, or OllyDbg, and you have worked with reverse engineering tools such as IDA, Binary Ninja, or Ghidra.
• Enjoy crafting and prototyping hardware, including PCB design and leveraging on-chip instrumentation standards such as JTAG.
• Hold a TS/SCI clearance with full-scope polygraph.
• Have prior experience working with government agencies or in a government agency setting.

Benefits

• Generous benefits including a robust education assistance program.
• Unparalleled retirement contributions.
• Healthy work/life balance.
• Comprehensive benefits package including retirement plans, paid time off, medical, dental, vision, life insurance, short-term disability, long-term disability, flexible spending accounts, education assistance, and training and development.

What This Job Offers

• Industry: Educational Services
• Education Level: Bachelor's degree
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees