{"id":112699,"url":"https://alion.io/job/psu-vulnerability-research-engineer","title":"Vulnerability Research Engineer","company":{"id":37673,"name":"Pennsylvania State University","domain":"psu.edu","url":"https://alion.io/company/psu-edu","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Workday","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":77,"open_postings":736,"ghost_share":0.385,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":37,"computed_at":"2026-10-16T05:45:00Z"}},"role":"Security","role_family":"Security","seniority":"senior","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["University Park, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":127080,"max":277200,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":277200},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":6,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Ghidra","optional":false},{"name":"Kali Linux","optional":false},{"name":"Linux","optional":false},{"name":"QEMU","optional":false},{"name":"Windows","optional":false},{"name":"Agile","optional":true},{"name":"Confluence","optional":true},{"name":"Red Teaming","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-08-03T00:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-08-03","last_verified_at":"2026-10-17T00:07:27Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":75,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":0,"flags":["company_stale"],"days_open":74},"description":"APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:\nCURRENT PENN STATE EMPLOYEE (faculty, staff, technical service, or student), please login to Workday to complete the internal application process. Please do not apply here, apply internally through Workday.\n\nCURRENT PENN STATE STUDENT (not employed previously at the university) and seeking employment with Penn State, pleaselogin to Workday to complete thestudent application process. Please do not apply here, apply internally through Workday.\n\nIf you are NOT a current employee or student, please click “Apply” and complete the application process for external applicants.\n\nApproval of remote and hybrid work is not guaranteed regardless of work location. For additional information on remote work at Penn State, see Notice to Out of State Applicants.\nPOSITION SPECIFICS\nWe are searching for a self-motivated Vulnerability Researcher to join our Cyberspace Operations Research Department of the Applied Research Laboratory (ARL) at Penn State University. The Cyberspace Operations Research Department provides technical expertise in adversarial tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to support system evaluation and provide security hardening support to various sponsors.\nARL is an authorized DoD SkillBridge partner and welcomes all transitioning military members to apply.\nYou will:\nResearch cutting edge techniques and technologies for system exploitation·\nLeverage expertise in reverse engineering, vulnerability research, and software development to address established needs and investigate solutions to emerging requirements\nApply software engineering best practices to create proof-of-concept tools and configure test environments to perform demonstrations to sponsors and partners\nAssist the Cyberspace Operations Research Department Head in maintaining relationships with sponsors through on-site technical discussions, preparation and presentation of technical materials, and project-related correspondence\nProvide process enhancement for technical functionality evaluation, vulnerability analyses, cyberspace operations engineering, and penetration testing projects\nApply project management principles and methods to the leadership of tasks or projects\nProvide guidance to lower-level engineers to foster professional growth\nAdditional responsibilities for higher level position includes:\nUnderstand broad strategic objectives and contribute to them; nurture and maintain relationships with major customers/grantors of external research and development grant funding\nInitiate new project concepts and seek funding; develop technical proposals and make presentations to customers/grant sponsors\nMentor department staff in the development technical, project, and business development skills\nRequired skills/experience areas include:\nDocumented application of reverse engineering and vulnerability testing tools (e.g. Ghidra/IDA, Kali Linux, Angr/AFL++, QEMU/Unicorn, etc)\nReverse engineering, vulnerability research, malware analysis, and/or CNO tool development\nComputer networking fundamentals, Windows and *NIX operating systems, X86(64) and ARM or MIPS architectures\nCyber operations architecture and software engineering practices\nAbility to express technical information clearly and concisely in documents and presentations for senior leaders to successfully comprehend and leverage for decision making\nActive government security clearance at TS/SCI level with eligibility for special accesses\nPreferred skills/experience areas include:\nCybersecurity exploit development and test environment configuration\nCybersecurity penetration testing / cybersecurity Red Team testing / white hat hacking\nMilitary cyberspace operations or computer network operations\nDemonstrated history of successful project initiation efforts\nAgile software development methodology and tools\nAtlassian products (e.g., JIRA, Confluence)\nYour working location will be fully on-site located at in State College, PA. Options exist for occasional hybrid of on-site/work from home based on project-dependent ability. This position will require periodic travel to remote locations in support of testing as part of a small team of researchers, engineers, and technologists.\nMINIMUM EDUCATION, WORK EXPERIENCE & REQUIRED CERTIFICATIONS\nIf filled as Cyber Security Engineer (ARL) - Senior Professional, this position requires:\nBachelor's Degree\n6+ years of relevant experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience accepted\nRequired Certifications:\nNone\n\nIf filled as Cyber Security Engineer (ARL) - Advanced Professional, this position requires:\nBachelor's Degree\n3+ years of relevant experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience accepted\nRequired Certifications:\nNoneARL’s purpose is to research and develop innovative solutions to challenging scientific, engineering, and technology problems in support of the Navy, the Intel Community (IC), and other federal government customers.\nFOR FURTHER INFORMATION on ARL, visit our website atwww.arl.psu.edu.\nBACKGROUND CHECKS/CLEARANCES\nEmployment with the University will require successful completion of background check(s) in accordance with University policies.Notice regarding employment at the Applied Research Laboratory (ARL):\nEmployees must be eligible to obtain a government security clearance, participate in the ARL drug testing program, and comply with electronic and physical monitoring requirements applicable to federal contractors. ARL operates in a secure information environment involving Unclassified, Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), and Classified information. Personal electronic devices brought onsite must be registered and may be restricted from certain areas. You must be a U.S. citizen to apply.SALARY & BENEFITS\nThe salary range for this position, including all possible grades, is $127,080.00 - $277,200.00. This salary range includes an adjustment based on required geographic work location.Salary Structure - Information on Penn State's salary structure\nPenn State provides a competitive benefits package for full-time employees designed to support both personal and professional well-being. In addition to comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, employees enjoy robust retirement plans and substantial paid time off which includes holidays, vacation and sick time. One of the standout benefits is the generous 75% tuition discount, available to employees as well as eligible spouses and children. For more detailed information, please visit our Benefits Page.\nCAMPUS SECURITY CRIME STATISTICS\nPursuant to the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act and the Pennsylvania Act of 1988, Penn State publishes a combined Annual Security and Annual Fire Safety Report (ASR). The ASR includes crime statistics and institutional policies concerning campus security, such as those concerning alcohol and drug use, crime prevention, the reporting of crimes, sexual assault, and other matters. The ASR is available for review here.\nEEO IS THE LAW\nPenn State is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. If you are unable to use our online application process due to an impairment or disability, please contact 814-865-1473.\nFederal Contractors Labor Law Poster\nPA State Labor Law Poster\nPenn State Policies\nCopyright Information\nHotlines","description_format":"text","description_chars":7542,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":6,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":true,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Hybrid work","Retirement plans"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Biotechnology","Education","Science & Engineering","STEM Education"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-08-03T00:00:00Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":17,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.62,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":74,"expected_fill_days":37,"reasons":["conf:25","velocity","win:tail","crowd:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-10-16T05:45:00Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":277200,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/psu-vulnerability-research-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/psu-vulnerability-research-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-17T01:16:21Z","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":1819,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-18T00:00:00Z"}},"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":37673},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=37673"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fpsu-vulnerability-research-engineer"},{"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%2Fpsu-vulnerability-research-engineer"},{"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%2Fpsu-vulnerability-research-engineer"},{"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/psu-vulnerability-research-engineer\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fpsu-vulnerability-research-engineer"}]}