Critical Infrastructure Cyber Protection & Defense Analyst

Idaho National Laboratory • Idaho Falls, ID

6d • Onsite

About The Position

This role involves delivering professional advice, expertise, and strategic insight to advance industrial control systems (ICS) cybersecurity for critical infrastructure. The analyst will provide guidance on cybersecurity designs, implementation, vulnerability identification, and mitigation techniques to protect critical infrastructure systems from current and emerging threats. Responsibilities include monitoring critical infrastructure sector networks for unauthorized activities, responding to crises, and developing advanced mitigation, preparedness, and response strategies. The position also entails leading cybersecurity efforts, managing teams in creating cybersecurity products, conducting technical analysis projects, and filling gaps in situational awareness across sectors. The analyst will develop products for a diverse customer set spanning multiple classification levels, federal, private, and international organizations.

Requirements

• Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical or electrical engineering, cyber security/computer sciences, and/or business/financial management from an accredited institution.
• Expertise in Splunk SPL, including advanced search commands, statistical functions, data models, and performance optimization.
• Hands-on experience with Splunk Enterprise Security, including correlation searches, risk-based alerting (RBA), notable events, and the ES framework.
• Hands-on experience with using the Splunk Monitoring Console to monitor and maintain the health of a distributed Splunk ecosystem.
• Hands-on experience with data transformation using props and transforms configurations and Splunk regular expressions.
• Working knowledge of the Splunk AI Toolkit (AITK) for building and applying ML-based detections.
• Experience with the Splunk App for Data Science and Deep Learning (DSDL), including custom model development and deployment.
• Strong understanding of the MITRE ATT&CK framework and detection engineering methodology.
• Must be a US citizen.
• Must be eligible for a DOE Q clearance (equivalent to Top Secret) and SCI access.
• Must be able to work under pressure, simultaneously addressing multiple complex tasks to meet commitments while maintaining quality of work and a professional interface.
• Must be able to work in a secure work environment to include handling/storing/processing classified and CUI information, and adhere to physical and electronic projection standards.

Nice To Haves

• Professional Engineer and/or Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certifications.
• Relevant experience to include program/project management here at INL, particularly in the cyber security realm, and familiarity with industrial control systems.
• In-depth knowledge of the US energy sector and experience working with DOE, DOD and DHS and private industry on grid security-related projects is beneficial.
• Experience with detection-as-code practices and tools (Git, CI/CD pipelines).
• Proficiency in Python for data processing and model development.
• Knowledge of SOAR platforms and detection automation.
• Relevant certifications (Splunk Certified Power User/Admin, Splunk Enterprise Security Certified Admin, GIAC, etc.).

Responsibilities

• Deliver professional advice, expertise, and strategic insight to advance industrial control systems (ICS) cybersecurity for critical infrastructure.
• Provide advice and expertise in cybersecurity designs, implementation, vulnerability identification, and mitigation techniques and procedures.
• Monitor critical infrastructure sector networks to actively remediate unauthorized activities.
• Respond to crises or urgent situations within critical infrastructure sectors to mitigate immediate and potential threats.
• Develop, research, and apply advanced mitigation, preparedness, and response and recovery approaches.
• Lead cyber security efforts and deliver capability to customers.
• Promote an open and informal communication environment with both internal and external stakeholders at all levels.
• Conduct information collection and analysis of United States critical infrastructure with particular emphasis on control systems and technology-controlled processes.
• Manage teams in the creation of cyber security products.
• Create related reports and provide briefings related to these issues.
• Conduct technical analysis projects.
• Work to fill gaps in current situational awareness across sectors and develop products to address the needs of a diverse customer set spanning multiple classification levels, federal, private, and international organizations.
• Other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• While performing the duties of this classification, the employee is frequently required to stand, walk, sit, stoop, kneel, bend, use hands to handle materials, manipulate tools, keyboard and type, reach with hands and arms, and operate job-related equipment.
• The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 30 pounds.
• Sufficient visual acuity and hearing capacity to perform the essential functions and interact with people is required.
• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• This position includes information security and privacy responsibilities as defined by NIST SP 800 53, OMB Circular A 130, and DOE Order 206.1A.
• Position must complete initial and annual role-specific training as required.
• The incumbent must sign and comply with all required access agreements prior to being granted access to organizational systems or data.
• Comply with all applicable information security and privacy policies and procedures by following established protocols, with an understanding that non-compliance may result in sanctions.

What This Job Offers

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