{"id":2634256,"url":"https://alion.io/job/axleinfo-cybersecurity-research-assistant","title":"Cybersecurity Research Assistant","company":{"id":4416199,"name":"Copyright Axle Informatics","domain":"axleinfo.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/axleinfo","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":80,"open_postings":8,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":1,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":10,"computed_at":"2026-10-24T06:02:35Z"}},"role":"Security","role_family":"Security","seniority":"junior","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"remote","remote_scope":"stated_countries","remote_scope_basis":"posting_text","remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"inferred","locations":[],"countries":[],"hiring_countries":["US"],"hiring_countries_total":1,"salary":{"min":85000,"max":110000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":110000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":1,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Ansible","optional":false},{"name":"Bash","optional":false},{"name":"DNS","optional":false},{"name":"Git","optional":false},{"name":"Kubernetes","optional":false},{"name":"Linux","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"TCP/IP","optional":false},{"name":"Ubuntu","optional":false},{"name":"Configuration Management","optional":true},{"name":"Grafana","optional":true},{"name":"Prometheus","optional":true},{"name":"Terraform","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-08-28T20:20:34Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-08-28","last_verified_at":"2026-10-24T05:47:33Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":56,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":56},"description":"(ID: 2026-1702)\nAxle is a bioscience and information technology company that offers advancements in translational research, biomedical informatics, and data science applications to research centers and healthcare organizations nationally and abroad. With experts in biomedical science, software engineering, and program management, we focus on developing and applying research tools and techniques to empower decision-making and accelerate research discoveries. We work with some of the top research organizations and facilities in the country including multiple institutes at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).\nBenefits We Offer:\n100% Medical, Dental & Vision Coverage for Employees\nPaid Time Off and Paid Holidays\n401K match up to 5%\nEducational Benefits for Career Growth\nEmployee Referral Bonus\nFlexible Spending Accounts:Healthcare (FSA)\nParking Reimbursement Account (PRK)\nDependent Care Assistant Program (DCAP)\nTransportation Reimbursement Account (TRN)\n\nAxle is seeking a Cybersecurity Research Assistant to join our vibrant team supporting rare disease research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This is a Remote position within the United States. \nOverview \nAxle supports AI research systems that run on on-premises Kubernetes clusters and shared high-performance computing infrastructure. This role implements and monitors defined security controls across that environment, and helps develop AI tooling that assists with developing and maintaining cybersecurity controls. \nThis is a hands-on early-career role for someone with a systems or IT background who wants to move into security engineering. You would be jointly supervised by our AI technical lead and by a lead systems administrator, giving you a direct line into both the security engineering side and the day-to-day operation of the infrastructure you are securing. We are looking for a self-motivated person who wants to build a career in cybersecurity, gaining hands-on experience and earning the certifications that go with it. Axle will sponsor the right candidate for those certifications and provides working hours to study for them. \nResponsibilities \nImplement assigned security controls as configuration changes across our Kubernetes, Linux, database, and model-serving environments, working from the control catalog and an assigned task list. \n\nBuild out and operate monitoring and detection coverage, including metrics collection, dashboards, log aggregation, and alert routing. \n\nRun vulnerability scanning across container images, hosts, and application dependencies on a set schedule, track findings to closure, and keep the plan of action and milestones current. \n\nWrite and maintain the automation that applies hardening baselines and checks them for drift, using Ansible and Python. \n\nContribute to secrets management, network policy, and role-based access control work across the cluster environments. \n\nBuild the deterministic collectors that gather control evidence, including cluster API queries, policy engine reports, scan output, access control dumps, and database configuration exports, normalized into a common format and stored with timestamps. \n\nHelp build the internal AI tooling that assists with this work, including retrieval over the control catalog and system documentation, drafting from collected evidence, and triaging scanner output into ranked findings for human review. \n\nKeep security documentation in agreement with the deployed configuration, and raise discrepancies promptly through your supervisors. \n\nTest what you build. Restore a backup and confirm it works, break a policy on purpose and confirm the alert fires, and verify that a control you implemented does what the catalog says it does. \n\nDocument what you did in enough detail that an assessor can follow it a year from now. \n\nPrepare material for security reviews and continuous monitoring reports, working with your supervisors on anything that goes to an assessor or an authorizing official. \n\nMust Have \nOne to three years of professional experience in IT, systems administration, help desk, network operations, or a comparable hands-on technical role. \n\nComfort on the Linux command line. You can read a log, trace a permissions problem, and work out what a service is doing. \n\nScripting ability in Bash and Python. You do not need to be a software engineer, but you should have automated something real and be able to walk us through it. \n\nDemonstrated interest in security. Coursework, a home lab, capture the flag competitions, a Security+ in progress, a personal project, or security work inside a broader IT role all count. \n\nCareful, methodical work habits. Much of this job is doing a procedure correctly, recording what happened, and noticing when the result does not match what was expected. \n\nWillingness to ask questions early and to say plainly when you do not know something. \n\nAbility to work independently on assigned tasks and to give regular updates on what is planned, in progress, and finished. \n\nAbility to obtain and maintain a Public Trust Security clearance. \n\nRequirements \nAssociate’s or Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Cybersecurity, Information Systems, or a related field. We will consider equivalent professional experience or a completed technical certification program in place of a degree. \n\nWorking knowledge of Linux system administration, ideally on RHEL based systems such as Rocky Linux, and on Ubuntu. \n\nBasic understanding of networking, including TCP/IP, DNS, TLS, firewalls, and how a request travels from a browser to a service. \n\nBasic familiarity with containers, and real interest in learning Kubernetes. We will teach it. You should want to learn it. \n\nFamiliarity with version control and comfort working in a shared Git repository. \n\nAbility to follow a written procedure precisely, and to notice when the procedure itself is wrong. \n\nClear written communication. A large part of this role is documenting what was done and why. \n\nInterest in learning how federal security authorization actually works, including NIST security controls, continuous monitoring, and how evidence is assembled and reviewed. \n\nDesired Skills & Experience \nCompTIA Security+, Network+, or Linux+, a Kubernetes certification, or a cloud certification. \n\nCoursework or a degree concentration in cybersecurity or information assurance. \n\nAny exposure to NIST security standards, security frameworks, or compliance work, including academic exposure. \n\nA home lab, capture the flag participation, open-source contributions, or a personal project you can walk us through. \n\nExperience with Ansible, Terraform, or another configuration management tool. \n\nAny experience with Prometheus, Grafana, Elastic, or another monitoring or logging platform. \n\nCuriosity about large language models and about building tools with them. Prior AI experience is not expected. You would learn that here. \n\nPrior work at NIH or another federal agency, or familiarity with federal IT environments. \n\nTraining and Certification \nThis is a training role and we mean it literally. You would work alongside experienced engineers on a real federal authorization effort, with two supervisors invested in bringing you up to speed. Axle pays for certification exams and study materials, and this role includes scheduled working hours for study rather than expecting it on your own time. \nThe expected path is CompTIA Security+ first, then a Linux or Kubernetes credential such as RHCSA or the Certified Kubernetes Administrator, then Kubernetes security through the Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist. Candidates who want to go further toward the authorization side can pursue CGRC. We will build the specific plan with you based on what you already have. \nWhat we need from you is the willingness to do careful work and to build a real skill set over the next two years, rather than to arrive with it. \nDisclaimer: The above description is meant to illustrate the general nature of work and level of effort being performed by individuals assigned to this position or job description. This is not restricted as a complete list of all skills, responsibilities, duties, and/or assignments required. Individuals may be required to perform duties outside of their position, job description or responsibilities as needed.\nThe diversity of Axle’s employees is a tremendous asset. We are firmly committed to providing equal opportunity in all aspects of employment and will not tolerate any illegal discrimination or harassment based on age, race, gender, religion, national origin, disability, marital status, covered veteran status, sexual orientation, status with respect to public assistance, and other characteristics protected under state, federal, or local law and to deter those who aid, abet, or induce discrimination or coerce others to discriminate.\nAccessibility: If you need an accommodation as part of the employment process please contact: \nThis role has a market-competitive salary with an anticipated base compensation range listed below. Actual salaries will vary depending on a candidate’s experience, qualifications, skills, and location.\nSalary Range\n$85,000—$110,000 USD","description_format":"text","description_chars":9232,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":1,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":true,"languages":[]},"benefits":["401k plan"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Cybersecurity","Information Security","Artificial Intelligence","Machine Learning"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-15T16:58:48Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":5,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.18,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":56,"expected_fill_days":10,"reasons":["conf:0","win:tail","crowd:junior"],"computed_at":"2026-10-24T06:02:35Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":110000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/axleinfo-cybersecurity-research-assistant","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/axleinfo-cybersecurity-research-assistant.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-24T06:28:45Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":9372,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-25T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":4416199},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=4416199"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Faxleinfo-cybersecurity-research-assistant"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Faxleinfo-cybersecurity-research-assistant"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Faxleinfo-cybersecurity-research-assistant"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/axleinfo-cybersecurity-research-assistant\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Faxleinfo-cybersecurity-research-assistant"}]}