Senior Research Scientist - Cyber Network Security

Peraton•College Park, MD

4d•Onsite

About The Position

Peraton Labs is seeking a poly cleared Senior Research Scientist to support cleared research and development efforts for a Maryland-based customer. This role will focus on the research, design, development, and demonstration of advanced network security prototypes across classified and unclassified environments. This position is ideal for a hands-on researcher or senior engineer who can combine software development, networking, automation, virtualization, and cyber systems knowledge to rapidly build mission-focused prototypes. Within this role you will work in a dynamic R&D environment, collaborate directly with government leadership and technical stakeholders, and help shape next-generation research efforts in cyber network defense, secure networking, experimentation platforms, and emerging network technologies. This position requires full-time on-site work at a customer site near College Park, MD.

Requirements

Minimum of 12+ years of experience with a Bachelor’s degree, 10+ years of experience with a Master’s degree, or 8+ years of experience with a PhD in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Cybersecurity, or a related technical field. In lieu of a Bachelors, an additional 4 years of experience is required for a total of 16+ years relevant experience.
Strong hands-on experience in software development, network security research, cyber systems engineering, or advanced network prototyping
Programming experience in one or more languages such as Python, Go, Java, C/C++, or similar
Experience with Linux-based development
Understanding of network protocols, network devices, routing, switching, firewalls, packet analysis, and network troubleshooting
Experience with virtualization, containers, or cloud-native infrastructure such as Docker, Kubernetes, Vagrant, OpenStack or similar tools
Experience with automation or configuration management tools such as Ansible, Helm, Puppet, Terraform, or similar
Ability to rapidly learn new technologies, prototype solutions, redirect research as needed, and apply new technical concepts to mission problems
Ability to clearly document and communicate technical concepts, research outcomes, and prototype demonstrations to government customers and stakeholders
Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced classified R&D environment
US Citizenship is a requirement for this position
This position requires an active/current TS/SCI w/ Polygraph

Nice To Haves

Experience working directly with IC or DoD research customers, government PMs, and multi-contractor technical teams
Experience serving as a technical lead, task lead, principal investigator, or senior technical contributor on government R&D programs
Experience with cyber network defense, secure networking, network security research, cyber operations, or cyber experimentation platforms
Experience with high-speed networking, wireless networking, software-defined networking, network function virtualization, or cloud-native network functions
Experience building large-scale testbeds, cyber ranges, experimentation environments, or prototype evaluation platforms
Experience with CI/CD and team development workflows using tools such as GitLab CI, GitHub Actions, Jenkins, Git, Jira, or similar tools
Experience with network/system monitoring and data collections tools such as Zeek, Suricata, Wireshark, tcpdump, Prometheus, Grafana, ELK/OpenSearch, or similar tools
Experience with reverse engineering or malware analysis tools such as Ghidra, IDA Pro, Binary Ninja, Redare2, or similar
Experience with embedded systems development, Linux kernal development, device driver development, or low-level systems programming
Familiarity with RF, wireless security, SDR, 5G/LTE, tactical networks, or constrained/edge environments
Familiarity with AI/ML, neural networks, anomaly detection, traffic classification, or applying machine learning to cyber/network security problems
Experience contributing to proposals, whitepapers, technical reports, customer briefings, or publications
Strong curiosity, adaptability, and desire to acquire new technical skills in support of emerging mission needs

Responsibilities

Research, design, develop, and demonstrate network security prototypes for government research customers
Develop software, scripts, tools, documentation, and test environments to demonstrate new cyber and networking capabilities
Build prototypes involving high-speed networks, wireless networks, cloud infrastructure, containers, virtualization, and network function virtualization
Design and integrate large-scale experimentation environments using technologies such as Docker, Kubernetes, Helm, Ansible, OpenStack, Vagrant, or similar tools
Support research involving network protocols, traffic analysis, network monitoring, data collection, cyber defense, secure-by-design networking, and cyber operations
Apply software development skills in languages such as Python, Go, Java, C/C++, or similar
Work with government leadership and technical stakeholders to shape research direction, explain technical approaches, and identify new prototype opportunities
Collaborate with government, Peraton Labs, and contractor teams to integrate research prototypes into larger experimentation platforms
Analyze, troubleshoot, and refine prototypes in fast-moving R&D environments
Document technical designs, prototype capabilities, test results, and research findings for customer briefings and technical reports