Cybersecurity ISSE

Are you ready for your next career challenge?

The Non-Kinetic Effects Business Area, part of the Defense Sector at Leidos, currently has an opening for a cleared Cybersecurity Information System Security Engineer (ISSE) to work in our Beavercreek, OH near Wright Patterson AFB. This is an exciting opportunity to use your experience helping the Air Force Research Lab, Air Force Lifecycle Management Center, and other DoD missions. Your role will be to support our diverse portfolio of programs through a combination of software design and development, hardware interfacing and integration, laboratory experimentation, ground and flight testing to deploy cutting edge, next generation solutions.

Primary Responsibilities:

As part of the Leidos Cybersecurity Engineering Team, the Cybersecurity Information System Security Engineer (ISSE) will serve as a cybersecurity engineering contributor responsible for designing, integrating, assessing, and maturing cybersecurity solutions across mission systems, software/hardware designs, lab environments, and operational test configurations. The ISSE will work closely with system owners, software engineers, hardware engineers, network engineers, test teams, ISSMs, and program leadership to ensure cybersecurity requirements are engineered into system architectures, implemented through technical controls and secure configurations, validated through testing, and documented in support of RMF authorization activities.

• Engineer cybersecurity solutions into mission systems, software applications, networks, lab environments, and integrated hardware/software platforms throughout the system lifecycle.
• Train junior engineers on the basics of solid cybersecurity practices and methods of generating artifacts and gathering evidence for RMF packages.
• Translate cybersecurity requirements, NIST SP 800-53 controls, RMF objectives, customer requirements, and mission needs into implementable technical designs, configurations, and verification methods.
• Develop, review, and maintain cybersecurity architecture artifacts, including security design descriptions, network/security boundary diagrams, data flow diagrams, control implementation details, interface descriptions, and system hardening approaches.
• Support cybersecurity design decisions for tactical networking and communications environments, including boundary protection, segmentation, authentication, encryption considerations, logging visibility, and performance or storage tradeoffs in constrained environments.
• Partner with software, hardware, network, and systems engineering teams, and customer stakeholders both locally and remote, to design and implement secure configurations, authentication and authorization mechanisms, logging/auditing, encryption, boundary protections, vulnerability mitigations, and secure system interfaces.
• Support secure system integration in Software Integration Laboratory and test environments, including Linux system hardening, scripting/automation, vulnerability remediation, tool integration, and security configuration management.
• Perform technical security assessments of systems, components, and configurations to identify design gaps, implementation weaknesses, vulnerabilities, and cyber risk; recommend and implement engineering-based remediation plans.
• Lead vulnerability management activities, including interpreting Tenable Nessus, SCAP, STIG, ACAS, or similar scan results; validating findings; developing and directly implementing technical fixes; coordinating remediation with engineers; and verifying closure.
• Design and implement mitigations for vulnerabilities discovered during system scans, security audits, integration events, ground testing, and flight-test preparation.
• Support implementation and validation of security controls, including documenting how controls are technically satisfied, identifying residual risk, and providing objective evidence for RMF authorization packages.
• Participate in design reviews, engineering review boards, configuration control boards, cyber risk reviews, and test readiness events to ensure cybersecurity considerations are addressed before system deployment.
• Develop or contribute to cybersecurity test procedures, security verification methods, risk assessments, and technical inputs for RMF artifacts, POA&Ms, system security plans, and authorization documentation.
• Assess cybersecurity events, anomalies, and system deficiencies to determine technical impact, root cause, mission risk, and corrective actions.
• Collaborate with ISSMs, ISSOs, system owners, and customer stakeholders to align technical cybersecurity implementation with program compliance, authorization, and operational objectives.
• Architect and implement continuous improvement of cybersecurity engineering practices, including automation, secure configuration baselines, vulnerability remediation playbooks, and repeatable lab/test environment security processes.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, IT, cybersecurity or closely related field with 8+ yearsof experience in the Cybersecurity ISSE technical/professional discipline. An additional 4 years of experience may be considered in lieu of a degree
• Must be a US Citizen
• Must have an active DoD Top Secret clearance with the ability to obtain and maintain TS/SCI
• Possess a Security+ 8570 certification
• Experience working in a Software Integration Laboratory environment
• Strong understanding of Linux systems. Ability to write bash scripts and alter Linux security configurations
• Strong understanding of information security and cybersecurity policies, principles, and practices in the delivery of all IT services
• Well versed in the understanding and implementation of security controls within the NIST SP 800-53A
• Experienced with policies and procedures to ensure information systems confidentiality, integrity, and accessibility
• Experience in risk and vulnerability assessments of information systems to identify vulnerabilities, risks, and protection needs
• Experience in documenting system deficiencies and recommending solutions for remediation
• Familiar with automated vulnerability scans using Tenable Nessus, SCAP, or other similar applications
• Experience with participating in security evaluations, audits, and reviews
• Be able to learn and apply new technologies, tools, and engineering practices that support ISSE responsibilities, including secure system design, security control implementation, vulnerability remediation, system hardening, and cybersecurity test/validation activities. Strong desire to grow and learn new technologies
• Ability to communicate effectively in writing and verbally from informal one-on-one discussions or in a small group environment
• Ability to work within a dynamic work environment, ability to handle multiple tasks at once (multi-task)

Preferred Qualifications:

• Familiar with Agile Methodologies, preferably SCRUM or Kanban
• Experience with Atlassian tools such as JIRA, Confluence, Bitbucket
• Experienced with Splunk, Tenable Nessus, SCAP applications and tools
• Experience supporting airborne, tactical networking, C2/C3/C4ISR, battle-management, embedded, or other integrated mission-system environments
• Experience engineering centralized audit logging, syslog, SIEM, or network security monitoring solutions using tools such as Splunk, Elastic, Security Onion, Zeek, Suricata, rsyslog, syslog-ng, auditd, or similar
• Familiarity with DoD cryptographic protection concepts, including COMSEC, TRANSEC, key management, secure communications interfaces, and data-at-rest protection

NKE

If you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo - because the mission demands it. We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We're already at step 30 - and moving faster than anyone else dares.

Original Posting:

For U.S. Positions: While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.

Pay Range:

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.