Senior CNO Developer

MANTECH•Annapolis Junction, MD

1d•$165,900 - $295,300•Onsite

About The Position

MANTECH seeks a motivated, career- and customer-oriented Senior CNO Developer to join its team in Annapolis Junction, Maryland. This is an onsite position supporting mission-critical national security objectives at the intersection of hardware, software, and embedded systems. The hands-on role transforms proof-of-concept exploits and disclosed vulnerabilities into reliable, operationally ready capabilities, addressing complex and unconventional technical challenges. The position involves developing custom hardware- and software-based Computer Network Operations capabilities, reverse engineering systems, researching vulnerabilities, and engineering operational exploits. The developer works with mission stakeholders to design and validate capabilities against operational requirements, applies network and security concepts to capability architecture and deployment, reviews code for quality and performance, and maintains Linux-based development and analysis environments.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in a STEM field; the degree may be substituted based on additional experience and seven years of position-relevant work experience and DoD 8570.01-m IAT Level II certification.
Demonstrated experience in CNO capability development, access development, vulnerability research, and exploit development.
Strong programming proficiency in C/C++ and Assembly, with Python scripting skills for automation and tool development.
Expertise in advanced binary analysis and reverse engineering using tools such as Ghidra, IDA Pro, or Binary Ninja.
Deep understanding of low-level operating system internals, memory models, and security architectures across one or more platforms, such as Linux/Unix, Windows, mobile, or network devices.
Deep expertise configuring, managing, and troubleshooting Linux/Unix environments, including navigating and bypassing complex security constraints.
Extensive experience with embedded architectures such as ARM, MIPS, or PowerPC, and RTOS environments.
Current/active DoD TS/SCI clearance.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Linux kernel development and network socket programming.
Hands-on knowledge of IoT device architectures and firmware extraction and analysis.
Strong networking background and network protocol analysis skills.
Experience with virtualization platforms and hypervisor technologies.
Experience integrating security and testing tools into automated CI/CD pipelines.
Familiarity with machine learning techniques to accelerate capability development or vulnerability discovery.

Responsibilities

Design, develop, document, and test custom hardware- and software-based Computer Network Operations (CNO) capabilities and tools, particularly for embedded and resource-constrained systems.
Reverse engineer complex hardware, firmware, and software systems to understand their functionality and identify vulnerabilities.
Conduct in-depth vulnerability research and engineer operational exploits against diverse targets and architectures.
Collaborate with mission stakeholders to design and validate capabilities against operational requirements.
Apply core network and security concepts to capability architecture and deployment.
Conduct code reviews to ensure software quality, operational security, and runtime performance.
Build, manage, and troubleshoot advanced Linux-based development and analysis environments.