Senior Systems Security Engineer

Nou Systems•Huntsville, AL

About The Position

nou Systems, Inc. (nSI), a 100% employee-owned company, is seeking a Senior Systems Security Engineer to lead the integration of security into the engineering of complex mission systems. The engineer will translate customer protection needs into requirements, shape system architectures and designs, and develop evidence supporting confidence in system security. The role collaborates with systems, hardware, software, test, safety, and program teams throughout the system life cycle, from concept development and acquisition through operation, sustainment, and disposal. This senior technical role requires independent engineering judgment, hands-on development and review of technical artifacts, and the ability to explain security tradeoffs and residual risk to customers and program leadership. The engineer will also guide multidisciplinary teams, integrate security activities into engineering processes, support customer acceptance and authorization decisions, and mentor colleagues in repeatable systems security engineering practices. Travel to customer or nSI locations may be required. The position requires completion of applicable pre-employment checks and employment eligibility verification, and the ability to obtain and maintain any security clearance or customer access required by the assigned program. U.S. citizenship is required for most positions.

Requirements

Substantial experience in systems security engineering or security architecture for complex systems, including responsibility for requirements, design decisions, technical reviews, and evaluation activities.
Ability to apply NIST SP 800-160 Volume 1 principles and System Security Engineering (SSE) life cycle processes within a multidisciplinary systems engineering effort.
Experience developing verifiable requirements, architecture descriptions, interface specifications, engineering analyses, and traceability records.
Practical understanding of trust boundaries, security mechanisms, threat and vulnerability analysis, and interactions among hardware, software, network, physical, and human system elements.
Experience planning or conducting security verification and validation, assessing test and analysis results, and developing reasoned conclusions from technical evidence.
Ability to lead technical work independently, resolve competing engineering priorities, mentor colleagues, and communicate tradeoffs and residual risk to technical and executive audiences.
A degree in systems engineering, electrical or computer engineering, computer science, cybersecurity, or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant professional experience.
Must complete applicable nSI pre-employment checks and employment eligibility verification.
Must be able to obtain and maintain any security clearance or customer access required for the assigned program.
Must follow applicable customer security policies, technical data handling requirements, and program procedures.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting DoD or other Federal missions.
Experience with embedded or cyber-physical systems.
Experience using Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and Requirements Management tools.
Experience developing security assurance cases and familiarity with ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288.
Experience connecting SSE artifacts to Risk Management Framework and Program Protection activities.
Relevant systems engineering or security engineering certifications.

Responsibilities

Lead stakeholder discussions to define mission context, assets, loss concerns, protection priorities, operational environments, and measurable security objectives.
Develop and analyze stakeholder and system security requirements; allocate requirements to system elements and interfaces; and maintain traceability to protection needs, design decisions, and verification evidence.
Develop and evaluate security architectures and designs across hardware, software, networks, physical elements, and human interactions, including system boundaries, trust relationships, and external dependencies.
Apply secure design principles such as least privilege, isolation, least functionality, and protective failure; document the rationale for selected mechanisms and the assumptions on which protection depends.
Perform threat, vulnerability, and system security analyses to identify paths to unacceptable loss, including malicious activity, errors, faults, and misuse; recommend mitigations and characterize remaining uncertainty.
Conduct engineering trade studies balancing protection and assurance needs with mission performance, safety, reliability, cost, schedule, and life cycle constraints.
Guide implementation and integration of security requirements; review technical specifications and supplier deliverables; and assess whether composed system elements preserve required security properties.
Develop security verification and validation strategies, acceptance criteria, and test procedures; evaluate whether implementation satisfies requirements and the delivered system meets stakeholder protection needs in its intended environment.
Develop and maintain security assurance cases linking explicit claims, structured arguments, assumptions, and credible evidence; identify evidence gaps and communicate their effect on confidence and risk.
Integrate security activities into engineering plans, technical reviews, configuration management, and change control; assess the security effects of design changes, upgrades, supplier substitutions, and sustainment actions.
Support secure transition, operation, maintenance, and disposal, including protection of sensitive assets.
Provide engineering evidence for customer acceptance and authorization decisions, and mentor engineers in repeatable SSE practices.
Establish reusable SSE artifacts and review practices and help engineering teams apply them to active program work.
Follow applicable customer security policies, technical data handling requirements, and program procedures.
Travel to customer or nSI locations as required by the assignment.