SCI with Poly Required)

GCI Careers•Chantilly, VA

About The Position

GCI is hiring a Cyber Exploiter/Vulnerability Assessment Engineer to support operational and analytical requirements. The role reviews, manipulates, triages, and analyzes large datasets; performs detailed log analysis, network traffic monitoring, and vulnerability risk assessment; and assesses networks, software tools, and systems to identify vulnerabilities. The engineer works with internal and external technical stakeholders to develop solutions that enrich analysis and follows the targeting life cycle from requirements collection and data exploitation through analysis, documentation, and dissemination of actionable information. Responsibilities vary by seniority. Senior engineers execute complex assessments across enterprise networks, applications, databases, virtualization and cloud environments, industrial control systems, and emerging technologies; develop custom scripts and automation; lead testing; and turn scan data into findings and remediation recommendations. Mid-level engineers conduct assessments, perform tool-based scanning and manual testing, produce draft findings, and support senior engineers. Junior engineers support collection, artifact management, documentation, configuration reviews, testing, reporting, and assessment preparation. The position also involves designing and integrating government-off-the-shelf, commercial-off-the-shelf, and free/open-source assessment tools; maintaining the Mobile Packet Capture Toolkit (MPT); developing scripts and automation; sustaining assessment toolsets; and supporting tool accreditation and authorization in classified environments. The role requires communicating findings and recommendations to technical and non-technical audiences, tracking remediation, and supporting CI/CD integration for DevSecOps. A candidate must be a U.S. citizen and hold an active/current TS/SCI clearance with polygraph.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of education, technical certifications, training, and work or military experience.
U.S. citizenship and an active/current TS/SCI clearance with polygraph.
Demonstrated relationship-management and communication experience.
Experience managing issues and knowledge, and staying current on vulnerability assessment issues, tools, and technological advancements.
Experience developing assessment or case reports with recommendations, and building briefings and reports for technical and non-technical audiences.
Experience planning and hosting technical exchange meetings and meetings with staff leadership.
Experience conducting security assessments of Windows 10/11 desktop systems and Windows Server 2016/2019/2022 using industry-standard tools.
Experience assessing Linux systems, including RHEL, Ubuntu, and CentOS; familiarity with BSD-based systems such as macOS and FreeBSD.
Experience assessing hypervisors such as VMware vSphere and Hyper-V; virtual desktop infrastructure such as Citrix Virtual Apps & Desktops and VMware Horizon; hyperconverged infrastructure such as Nutanix and VMware vSAN; and containerized environments such as Docker and Kubernetes.
Experience or knowledge of mainframe security concepts, including z/OS and RACF.
Experience conducting network vulnerability assessments, including configuration reviews of routers, switches, and firewalls against standards such as CIS benchmarks and vendor best practices; protocol analysis and traffic inspection with tools such as Wireshark and tcpdump; network architecture reviews; and analysis of device configuration files such as Cisco IOS, Palo Alto, and Juniper.
Experience assessing web applications against OWASP Top 10, REST and GraphQL APIs, authentication and authorization, and application security implications of languages such as Java, Python, .NET, and JavaScript.
Experience assessing middleware, including WebSphere, WebLogic, and JBoss, and distributed architectures such as APIs, microservices, and message brokers; understanding of legacy SOA and contemporary service-to-service security patterns.
Experience assessing relational databases such as Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, and PostgreSQL, including configuration reviews, access-control audits, and encryption validation.
Experience or familiarity assessing Wi-Fi security, basic Bluetooth vulnerabilities, and RFID-based access-control systems.
Experience or familiarity with ICS and SCADA security concepts, including Modbus, DNP3, OPC, and operational technology security considerations.
Experience assessing AWS security, including EC2, S3, RDS, VPC configurations, IAM policies and permissions, security groups, NACLs, VPC segmentation, CIS AWS Benchmarks, AWS security best practices, and classified environments.
Experience or familiarity assessing Azure security, including virtual machines, storage accounts, SQL Database, virtual networks, Azure AD, RBAC, Conditional Access, NSGs, Application Security Groups, CIS Azure Benchmarks, Azure security best practices, and classified environments.
Experience integrating GOTS, COTS, and FOSS vulnerability assessment tools, including API integration, workflow orchestration, data normalization and correlation, report aggregation, and vulnerability management platforms such as Tenable.sc and Qualys VMDR.
Experience assessing enterprise directory, naming, authentication, and authorization systems, including Active Directory, LDAP, Kerberos, SAML, OAuth 2.0, SSO, MFA, RBAC, and ABAC; configuration reviews, privilege escalation analysis, account security, and tools such as BloodHound and PingCastle.
Experience or familiarity assessing SAN technologies, including Fibre Channel, iSCSI, FCoE, enterprise storage arrays, SAN switches, HBAs, zoning, LUN masking, access controls, CHAP authentication, and encryption.
Experience developing or tailoring custom vulnerability assessment solutions using scripting languages such as Python, PowerShell, or Bash; creating automated scanning workflows and scheduled assessments; and developing specialized vulnerability checks and scripts.
Experience developing metrics and tracking remediation progress, analyzing scan data for false positives and risk-based prioritization, correlating findings across sources, and assessing business impact to provide risk-based remediation recommendations.
Experience integrating vulnerability assessment into CI/CD pipelines for DevSecOps.
Experience or familiarity assessing Cross Domain Solutions, including guards, data diodes, secure transfer systems, information-flow policies, data sanitization, content filtering, domain separation, segmentation, and relevant compliance requirements.
Experience or familiarity conducting supply-chain risk management assessments, including vendor security evaluations, software composition analysis, SBOMs, hardware provenance verification, and supply-chain security frameworks.
Experience or familiarity assessing VoIP and teleconferencing security, including SIP/H.323, IP-PBX systems, video conferencing platforms, SRTP encryption, authentication, and access controls.
Experience or ability to sustain custom vulnerability assessment toolsets, including maintenance, updates, configuration management, and integration.
Operational experience with the Mobile Packet Capture Toolkit (MPT) or similar mobile assessment tools.
General knowledge of AI and machine learning technologies, including model architectures, training and inference, TensorFlow or PyTorch, and AI security risks.
Experience with RMF tool accreditation, security compliance validation, maintaining tools under government security requirements, and supporting tool authorization in classified environments.
One or more certifications listed in the posting: CISSP, OSCP, GPEN, CEH, GREM, Python, Linux+, Network+, or Security+.

Nice To Haves

Software engineering background.
GIAC GREM, OSWE, or developer certifications.
Experience or familiarity with Cross Domain Solution products such as Owl, Forcepoint, or BAE Systems.
Familiarity with BSD-based systems, mainframe security, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, RFID, ICS/SCADA, Azure, SAN technologies, supply-chain risk management, VoIP, teleconferencing, and AI/ML as described in the qualifications.

Responsibilities

Review, manipulate, triage, and analyze large datasets in support of operational and analytical requirements.
Conduct detailed log analysis, network traffic monitoring, and vulnerability risk assessments.
Assess networks, software tools, systems, and diverse IT assets to identify vulnerabilities and recommend solutions.
Follow the targeting life cycle, including requirements collection, data exploitation, analysis, documentation, and dissemination of actionable information.
Identify, triage, and exploit data collections.
Execute complex assessments of enterprise networks, applications, databases, virtualization platforms, cloud environments, ICS, and emerging technologies.
Develop custom assessment scripts and automation tooling; lead testing in areas such as privilege escalation, SQL injection, remote code execution, cross-site scripting, misconfiguration analysis, wireless security, and cloud security.
Transform scan data into actionable findings and remediation recommendations.
Conduct tool-based scanning using tools such as Nessus, Retina, RedSeal, and HBSS, as well as manual testing methods.
Produce draft findings and support deeper exploitation and testing led by senior engineers.
Support pre-assessment coordination, data collection, artifact generation and management, documentation, configuration reviews, findings spreadsheets, and reporting.
Maintain vulnerability assessment toolkits and prepare systems for assessment events.
Design and integrate GOTS, COTS, and FOSS vulnerability assessment tools; maintain the Mobile Packet Capture Toolkit (MPT); and develop and sustain assessment scripts and automation.
Integrate assessment tools and workflows, normalize and correlate data across tools, and aggregate reports into consolidated assessments.
Communicate findings through technical reports, executive summaries, briefings, and presentations for technical and non-technical audiences.
Develop metrics, track remediation progress, assess business impact, and provide risk-based remediation recommendations.
Integrate vulnerability assessment capabilities with CI/CD pipelines for DevSecOps.
Support tool accreditation, security compliance validation, and authorization in classified environments.