Technical Engagement Lead

Software Engineering Institute | Carnegie Mellon University•Pittsburgh, PA

3d•Onsite

About The Position

The CERT Threat Analysis (TA) Directorate conducts research and development activities to identify, analyze, coordinate disclosure, and mitigate threats and vulnerabilities in systems and software. The TA Directorate is currently comprised of three teams: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Security, Malware and Vulnerability Exploitation, and Platform and Mission Engineering. The AI Security team works on advancing the state of the art in AI security at a national and global scale. The Malware and Vulnerability Exploitation (MVE) team works to improve cyber-tradecraft analysis within strategic target communities to counter adversarial use of the Internet and related technologies. The vulnerability side of MVE (home of the CERT Coordination Center) works with an expansive network of vendors, partners, and collaborators to reduce the societal harm of vulnerable software and systems. The Platform and Mission Engineering team develops and maintains tools, environments, and operational support for the malware analysis, reverse engineering, vulnerability analysis, and AI security domains. As a Technical Engagement Lead in Threat Analysis, you will work closely with the TA leadership team to oversee the planning, execution, and delivery of a portfolio of technical projects supporting our Intelligence Community (IC) mission partners. You will partner with our Cybersecurity Innovations and Initiatives (CII) team to coordinate with our IC mission partners, ensuring project performance meets expectations, deliverables are on schedule, and technical approaches remain aligned with partner needs. You will monitor project health through regular reviews, track milestones and risks, and provide TA leadership with clear assessments of how our work is landing with the sponsors. You will partner across SEI technical and support staff, to create and sustain a culture of technical excellence, creativity, cross-enterprise collaboration, innovation within the portfolio, and secure capability transitions. Finally, you will also contribute technically, helping shape approaches to analyzing, assuring, and countering software systems in support of National Security.

Requirements

BS in computer science, software engineering, networking, information systems, or a related technical field with eight (8) years of experience; MS in computer science or technical/engineering field with five (5) years of experience; PhD in computer science or technical/engineering field with two (2) years of experience or equivalent combination of training and experience. Other educational backgrounds of a technical nature with experience as described may be considered.
Willingness to travel (25%) outside of your office location to other SEI offices, sponsor sites, conferences, and offsite meetings.
Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a Department of War security clearance.

Nice To Haves

Technical Leadership: Experience managing complex technical projects from initiation through delivery, including planning and scheduling, resource coordination, risk tracking, milestone management, and assessments. Ability to organize cross-functional teams and keep execution on track across multiple concurrent efforts.
Solutions Engineer: Partner with CII team to create and maintain strong working relationships with mission partners, conducting regular check-ins to assess satisfaction, gather feedback, and ensure alignment between delivered work and partner priorities. Translate partner needs into actionable technical requirements for project teams.
Quality-Driven: Ensure deliverables meet both mission partner expectations and SEI standards. Conduct regular project reviews, identify quality gaps, develop corrective actions, and verify that SEI standards for safety, security, and compliance are satisfied.
Outcome-Focused: Driven by a sense of duty to deliver outcomes that advance the state-of-the-art and practice for analyzing, assuring, and countering software systems to enhance National Security.
Communicator and Collaborator: Outstanding written and oral communication skills. Ability to synthesize complex technical information into clear status updates, risk assessments, and executive briefings for both internal leadership and external mission partners.
Culture: Help develop a team culture that fosters innovation, technical excellence, and leadership.

Responsibilities

Develop an IC mission partner technical strategy in alignment with TA’s and CERT’s broader technical strategy.
Lead the technical execution of TA's portfolio of projects for IC mission partners ensuring our plans are sound and aligned with the state-of-the-art in malware analysis, vulnerability research, and/or AI security. This includes conducting regular internal TA project reviews, evaluating technical progress, delivery quality, and team performance. Approve externally delivered products, ensuring all internal quality, safety, and security requirements are met.
Foster a team culture of technical rigor, accountability, and cross-team collaboration.
Coordinate across SEI and CMU support functions (including security, IT, contracting, and human resources) to ensure project teams have what they need to execute.
Serve as a primary technical liaison to IC mission partners alongside our CII team, conducting regular project reviews to assess how TA work is meeting their operational needs and where adjustments are required.
Cultivate a culture on projects that encourage team members to create and pursue new initiatives for future transition to our intelligence community mission partners.
Contribute to strategic planning by synthesizing customer feedback and project performance data into recommendations for future technical direction.
Represent the CERT technical portfolio of work and operations; communicate with external mission partners and internal collaborators in concert with CERT directorates and teams.