Cyber-Physical Systems Reverse Engineer

Leidos • Columbia, MD

9d • $107,900 - $195,050 • Onsite

About The Position

Kudu Dynamics, a Leidos Owned Company, is seeking a Cyber-Physical Systems Reverse Engineer to support a new project focused on researching and developing novel capabilities for maritime cybersecurity. This role involves hands-on work with real embedded systems and operational technology in a lab environment, analyzing hardware, firmware, communications interfaces, and component interactions. The engineer will reverse engineer and emulate embedded devices, develop automated methods for exploring system behavior, and design experiments to identify unexpected or emergent behaviors, undocumented features, or bugs. This position requires a creative application of skills across embedded systems, firmware, software, hardware, and cybersecurity, potentially involving building test harnesses, automating workflows, instrumenting systems, integrating physical devices with analysis tools, and developing code.

Requirements

• Experience developing embedded firmware in C/C++, including real-time systems, RTOS concepts, interrupts, concurrency, memory-mapped I/O, device drivers, and hardware peripherals.
• Experience with embedded hardware and common communications interfaces such as SPI, I2C, UART, CAN, USB, Ethernet, or wireless interfaces, including debugging hardware/software interactions.
• Experience developing simulation, emulation, automated testing, or hardware/software test harnesses for embedded systems.
• Proficiency with Python or similar scripting languages for automation, testing, analysis, and development of engineering tools.
• Experience using embedded development and diagnostic equipment such as JTAG/SWD debuggers, logic/protocol analyzers, oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, function generators, or similar instrumentation.

Nice To Haves

• Experience reverse engineering embedded devices and firmware, including use of tools such as Ghidra, Binary Ninja, IDA Pro, or similar tools and the ability to analyze assembly for one or more processor architectures.
• Experience with program analysis and vulnerability research techniques such as fuzzing, symbolic execution, static/dynamic analysis, binary exploitation, and modern exploit mitigations.
• Experience with processor or full-system emulation, hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), software-in-the-loop (SIL), or development of custom models for processors, peripherals, sensors, or other embedded components.
• Experience with digital signal processing, RF systems, software-defined radio, wireless communications, audio/signal processing, or MATLAB-based modeling and analysis.
• Understanding of digital and analog circuits, hardware reverse engineering, low-level computer architecture, and the interaction between software, firmware, and physical system behavior.

Responsibilities

• Develop, integrate, and debug embedded firmware for real-time and resource-constrained systems, including RTOS-based applications, device drivers, hardware interfaces, and low-level system software.
• Design and implement simulation, emulation, and automated test environments for embedded and cyber-physical systems, including tools for exploring system behavior, reproducing observed effects, and exercising hardware and firmware.
• Analyze and reverse engineer embedded devices, firmware, communications protocols, sensors, and other system components to understand both intended functionality and real-world behavior.
• Develop production-quality C/C++ and Python software to automate testing, instrumentation, experimentation, and analysis, including integration with laboratory hardware and software-based analysis tools.
• Conduct hands-on laboratory testing using embedded debugging tools and analog/digital instrumentation; critically analyze, document, and communicate technical findings.

Benefits

• Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed