Entry-Level Vulnerability Researcher Jobs

Job Summary

Battelle is currently seeking a Vulnerability Researcher I to work in our Columbus, OH location. This position is contingent upon program award/funding.

Do you have a passion for understanding how things work, and ultimately, how they break? Do you enjoy working with discovering vulnerabilities and debugging programs with tools like gdb or QIRA? Does creating automated, scalable, and reverse engineering tools and pipelines excite you? If you answered yes to these questions, this is the job for you!

In this role, you will work with disassemblers and debuggers to quickly understand how embedded devices operate. You will use and build vulnerability research tools that push past the edge of current tools and techniques. In a given, day you will research and debug an embedded device while getting the chance to bounce ideas off of a close-knit team of researchers. You will get to write tools that fuzz, concolically analyze, or process these devices. We have the tools and the mentors you will need to take yourself to the next level and who are eager to learn from your experience.

Responsibilities

• Seeks out technical experts for collaboration and facilitates technical discussions with lower-level staff.
• Demonstrates understanding of business product offerings and contributes to marketing / business development by providing technical expertise during marketing engagements as well as supporting business development efforts led by others.
• Works with internal and external stakeholders to prepare and present technical content tailored to the client's mission. Leads technical discussions, demonstrating command of the technology and adequately fielding questions which arise.
• Contribute to Internal Research and Development (IRAD) studies and may lead small IRAD tasks.
• Demonstrates awareness of deliverables and their role within the project plan. Identifies and executes steps necessary to complete less structured assignments with limited guidance from SMEs.
• Collaborate with the team members to develop software systems that aid in data analytics, network-based applications, reverse engineering tasks, embedded system development, and integration of hardware.
• Forms technical approach and generates technical volumes for small proposals with minimal guidance and leads Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) creation and labor estimates.
• Identifies and articulates strengths and weaknesses of solutions, conclusions, and problem approaches during technical discussions.

Key Qualifications

• Experience with vulnerability research on one or more operating systems: Android, iOS, Windows, Linux, MacOS, VxWorks, QNX, RTOSs, or other custom operating systems
• Develop software to run in user-mode or kernel-mode
• Understand network protocols
• Familiarity with fuzzers
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related field of study; or an equivalent combination of education and experience
• Experience with one or more debuggers (WinDbg, OllyDbg, gdb, etc.)
• Active Secret security clearance
• Ability to use a scripting language (Python, Perl, Ruby, etc.)
• Experience with one or more assembly languages (x86, x64, ARM, MIPS, PowerPC, etc.)
• Knowledge of common mitigation techniques (DEP, ASLR, etc.)
• Must be a sole US citizen
• Experience with a disassembler for vulnerability research (IDA Pro, BinaryNinja, etc.)
• Ability to demonstrate good organization, communication, problem-solving, and teamwork skills
• Ability to code in C or C++
• Experience with PC and embedded systems architecture to include boot processes and OS internals

Preferred Qualifications

• Participation in CTFs
• Background in software engineering and architecture
• Ability to analyze assembly-level code on multiple platforms (x86, x64, ARM, MIPS, PowerPC, etc.)
• Ability to analyze network protocols throughout all layers of the network stack
• Experience with symbolic analysis
• Active Top Secret security clearance

SOME OF THE EXTRAS THAT MAKE WORKING HERE GREAT:

• Mentorship and learning culture
• Learn (tuition assistance, paid training) and teach (get published, speak at a conference)
• Software and Intellectual Property development royalty sharing
• Internally funded and guided research projects with large amounts of individual autonomy

WORK ENVIRONMENT:
Battelle has been trusted by elite government clients to solve some of the world’s hardest security problems. We work in small agile teams to push the bounds of computing technology. Our high-powered labs include specialized software and hardware, so our engineers have everything they need to invent new Cyber solutions.

Our team is casual putting results over formality. Team members can work flexible hours, and Battelle maintains a 9/80 schedule meaning employees have a chance to take every other Friday off.

We encourage new ideas with our large Independent Research and Development (IRAD) program where engineers work on projects they are passionate about. Inventors and innovators are rewarded by our industry leading IP compensation program. Our group works collaboratively with many parts of Battelle’s larger organization on projects ranging from genomics to robotics.