Associate Solutions Engineer

Software Engineering Institute | Carnegie Mellon University • Pittsburgh, PA

41d

About The Position

The Associate Solutions Engineer will work within the CERT Division of Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute (SEI). The SEI researches complex software engineering, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence problems; creates and tests innovative technologies; and transitions mature solutions into practice for the Department of War and federal government.

The role supports CERT Situational Awareness work helping organizations, particularly those in the Department of War, federal government, and critical infrastructure sectors, understand cyber-hybrid environments across cloud, on-premises, and mobile systems, identify risks, and make informed decisions about cybersecurity, cyber resiliency, and cyber survivability. The team applies cybersecurity, systems engineering, and operational analysis to examine complex architectures and relationships among systems, missions, workflows, data, and stakeholders.

The engineer provides technical support for security architecture development, mission engineering, systems-of-systems architectures, requirements development, engineering and analysis, technology evaluation, and deployment guidance. The role also advances cybersecurity architecture practices; develops and evaluates analytical techniques such as AI, machine learning, behavioral analytics, and data-driven approaches; documents architectures and gaps; supports Zero Trust and cyber resilience strategies; and helps evaluate, pilot, and transition technologies into operational environments. Work is performed with colleagues, customers, and subject matter experts. The position is based in Arlington, Virginia, or Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and involves moderate travel (20%).

Requirements

• Bachelor of Science degree with three years of experience, or Master of Science degree with one year of experience, or an equivalent combination of training and experience.
• Willingness to travel to various locations to support the SEI’s mission; moderate travel of 20%.
• Must undergo a background check and be eligible to obtain and maintain a Department of War security clearance.
• Ability to present technical topics to audiences ranging from senior leadership to technical experts.
• Ability to work with multiple stakeholders to promote practical solutions to difficult security problems.
• Strong understanding of networking, security, systems administration, programming, and/or cloud technologies.
• Ability to work at the systems-of-systems architecture level and identify and understand tradeoffs among approaches.
• Strong research and writing skills.

Nice To Haves

• Degree in Computer Science and Engineering or Systems Engineering with two years of experience in cybersecurity/network operations, Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), or workflow/process analysis, or an equivalent combination of training and experience.
• Experience in enterprise, system-of-systems, system, or security architecture.
• Experience in security operations.
• Experience in security research.
• Experience in programming or software engineering.
• Experience in networking.
• Experience in testing.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical support as a team member in developing security architectures, particularly for cybersecurity operations and cybersecurity systems.
• Support mission engineering, systems-of-systems architectures, systems requirements development, engineering, analysis, technology evaluation, and deployment guidance.
• Advance cybersecurity and cybersecurity architecture practices.
• Develop and evaluate advanced analytical techniques, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, behavioral analytics, and data-driven approaches for cyber operations.
• Document current-state architectures, identify capability and coverage gaps, evaluate technology integration strategies, recommend security solutions, and develop mission threads and workflows.
• Support organizations in planning, assessing, and implementing Zero Trust and cyber resilience strategies.
• Evaluate, pilot, and transition new technologies into operational environments.
• Contribute to diverse teams of colleagues, customers, and subject matter experts to deliver projects.
• Support government program offices in strategy, processes and policies, requirements elicitation, design and architecture, operations, outreach, and training.
• Enable transition and appropriate focus of situational-awareness analysis and engineering approaches and tools into operational environments.
• Design, prototype, and transition tactical analysis studies and tools appropriate for operational use in situational awareness.
• Travel occasionally to SEI and CMU community locations, sponsor sites, conferences, and offsite meetings.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level