Embedded Systems Developer, Cyber Research
About The Position
Battelle is seeking an Embedded Systems Developer to support its Cyber research teams in Columbus, OH or Chantilly, VA. This role involves working closely with vulnerability researchers and reverse engineers who analyze embedded platforms. The focus will be on building tooling, firmware modifications, and development infrastructure to enable deeper system analysis. This includes creating instrumentation, modifying firmware for experimentation, developing debugging utilities, and assisting researchers in interacting with hardware at a low level. The developer will leverage embedded expertise to support research efforts, bridging the gap between development and reverse engineering by designing systems and tools for easier analysis of complex embedded devices. The team is described as elite, multi-disciplinary, bringing together experts in physics, computer science, electrical engineering, and mathematics to develop embedded security solutions for government and industrial customers. Battelle's high-powered labs are equipped with specialized software and hardware, and the company encourages new ideas through its Internal Research and Development (IRAD) program and rewards inventors through an IP compensation program. The group collaborates with various parts of Battelle on diverse projects.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field with 5 years of experience; or Master’s degree with 2 years of experience; or PhD in related field; or equivalent combination of education and experience
- Strong experience developing software for embedded systems in C or C++
- Experience working with microcontrollers, SoCs, or embedded Linux systems
- Experience debugging low-level code using tools such as gdb, JTAG/SWD debuggers, or hardware debugging tools
- Familiarity with assembly language for common embedded architectures (ARM, MIPS, PowerPC, etc.)
- Experience building scripts or tooling in Python or similar languages
- Ability to analyze firmware behavior and modify embedded software for testing or instrumentation
- Ability to work individually and within small fast-paced research teams
- Passion for understanding how complex systems work at a low level
- Must be a US Citizen with the ability and willingness to obtain a DoD Secret or higher clearance
Nice To Haves
- Experience working with firmware extraction or firmware analysis workflows
- Familiarity with reverse engineering tools such as Ghidra, IDA Pro, or BinaryNinja
- Experience working with embedded operating systems such as Linux, VxWorks, QNX, or RTOS environments
- Experience with hardware interfaces such as UART, SPI, I2C, JTAG, or SWD
- Experience emulating embedded systems or developing simulation environments
- Experience building internal developer tools or research tooling
- Experience supporting security research, vulnerability research, or hardware security analysis
- Active DoD Secret security clearance
Responsibilities
- Develop low-level firmware, instrumentation, and tooling to support reverse engineering and vulnerability research efforts
- Modify existing firmware and embedded software to enable analysis, debugging, and experimentation
- Build internal tools and automation pipelines that assist researchers working with embedded devices
- Interface directly with hardware platforms including microcontrollers, SoCs, and custom embedded systems
- Develop scripts and utilities to support firmware extraction, analysis workflows, and device interaction
- Assist vulnerability researchers with debugging complex behaviors across embedded platforms
- Work closely with reverse engineers to understand system behavior and design tools that improve analysis capabilities
- Prototype and test techniques for interacting with embedded systems including debugging interfaces and emulation environments
- Contribute to collaborative research efforts across multidisciplinary teams
Benefits
- Tuition assistance
- Paid training
- Software and Intellectual Property development royalty sharing
- Mentorship and learning culture
- Internally funded and guided research projects with large amounts of individual autonomy
- Compressed work schedule (every other Friday off)
- Hybrid work arrangement (60% in-office, 40% remote)
- Paid time off
- Medical coverage
- Dental coverage
- Vision coverage
- Wellness incentives and benefits
- Variety of optional supplemental benefits
- Coverage for partners
- Gender-affirming care and health support
- Family formation support
- Industry-leading 401(k) retirement savings plan (5% company contribution regardless of employee contribution, plus matching)
- Tuition assistance for higher education
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
