Project/Unit Description

The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is seeking senior software engineers to join the Threat Analysis Branch (TAB) of the Cybersecurity, Information Protection, and Hardware Evaluation Research (CIPHER) Lab.

As a Senior Software Engineer, you will contribute to and lead the research & development of high-quality software systems, tools, and algorithms to address real-world cyber threat analysis and intelligence problems. You will help fuse carefully designed software with state-of-the-art cybersecurity and threat intelligence research to provide support to cybersecurity researchers, cyber protection and mission teams, threat intelligence analysts, and cyber network operators.

The capabilities you help build will address challenges faced by key DoD and IC customers, including malware analysis and detection, open-source threat intelligence and attribution, threat modeling, and network analysis. These capabilities will utilize state-of-the-art machine learning, other artificial intelligence techniques, and data analysis algorithms. They will require careful User Experience considerations as they present advanced visualizations to a variety of end-users.

As a Senior Software Engineer in TAB, you will be expected to participate both as a technical lead and as an individual contributor on projects.
As an individual contributor, you will be expected to provide significant technical contributions and input to projects led by other TAB members. You will be expected to quickly transform high-level research concepts into concrete technical implementations.
Further, as a technical lead, you will be expected to lead development of both new and existing capabilities, and to provide the key technical architecture and vision for those projects. In this capacity, you will lead small to medium teams (2-10 researchers) comprising researchers of all seniorities from students to Principal Research Engineers. However, you will be a key technical contributor to the projects you lead and will be expected to be the “go-to” person for anyone with questions about your projects.

As a tech lead, you will also be expected to interface with end-users of the projects you help lead, interpreting their technical needs and translating their requirements to concrete development or research plans. While other project support specialists will assist with the majority of financial concerns, you will be expected to maintain a basic awareness of your projects’ budget and spend plans to properly lead your development teams.

You will never be siloed into running a single project forever – in fact, you will be expected to help expand and spin-off your projects into new research ideas and assist TAB leadership in pitching and selling new capabilities or ideas to existing or new customers.

Projects you lead may range in maturity from small internally funded research ideas to long-running (10+ years!) highly mature software projects.

Our projects utilize numerous tech stacks and build tools, and selecting the appropriate tooling for a project will be part of your responsibility. Accordingly, we won’t expect you to have deep familiarity with any particular set of tools at the outset, but as a tech lead you will need to be able to quickly become the team’s expert in the tools you choose. All of our projects leverage Git, many use containers, and some example stacks we have currently include Mongo/Python/Vanilla JavaScript, Neo4J/Java/React, and Rust/Warp/Yew. All projects leverage some kind of build infrastructure such as Make, Maven, CMake, Nix, etc.

Job Purpose

Software Architects design, develop, and deploy software solutions for GTRI's applied research sponsors. This position requires providing technical leadership, including design documentation that details recommendations and implementation details about software subsystems, hardware technologies, and deployment requirements. Software Architects should be able to independently implement any portion of the design process, as needed for custom implementations.

Key Responsibilities

• Responsible for developing software system architectures to solve complex analytic systems
• Responsible for developing complex test plans and coordinating testing activities. Tests may be performed in the lab or at remote field sites.
• Field test coordination logistics are very complex.
• Responsible for success of field testing including efficient troubleshooting of test or system malfunctions, on-the-fly interpretation of test results, and ability to modify test plans to adapt to tests results on the fly
• Diagnose and troubleshoot systems as required, then perform or detail required resolutions
• Perform comparative analysis to similar systems, assessing system strengths and weaknesses
• Research system theory and design concepts and implementation methods to help in determining system functionality, state of the art, and potential weaknesses
• Primary author of technical reports/presentations for projects of high complexity. Compile report input from other researchers and prepare final report deliverable

Additional Responsibilities

• Experience with Machine Learning tools and techniques
• Experience designing non-trivial software tools, systems, and frameworks
• Experience analyzing large datasets and adapting state-of-the-art algorithms/techniques
• Experience with network analysis and/or security best practices and the network stack
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Required Minimum Qualifications

• Experience with at least two of the following: Java, Python, Rust, C languages,
• Thorough understanding of software development & design patterns and best practices
• Familiarity with software development tools and workflows, including source control (e.g., Git),
• Understanding of cybersecurity issues and/or intelligence analysis
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Active Secret Clearance

Travel Requirements

<10% travel

Education and Length of Experience

This position vacancy is an open-rank announcement. The final job offer will be dependent on candidate qualifications in alignment with Research Faculty Extension Professional ranks as outlined in section 3.2.1 of the Georgia Tech Faculty Handbook

• 9 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Security, Electrical Engineering,
  Physics
• 7 years of related experience with a Masters’ degree in Computer Science, Information Security, Electrical Engineering,
  Physics
• 4 years of related experience with a Ph.D. in Computer Science,Information Security, Electrical Engineering, Physics

U.S. Citizenship Requirements

Due to our research contracts with the U.S. federal government, candidates for this position must be U.S. Citizens.

Clearance Type Required

Candidates must be able to obtain and maintain an active security clearance.

Benefits at GTRI

Comprehensive information on currently offered GTRI benefits, including Health & Welfare, Retirement Plans, Tuition Reimbursement, Time Off, and Professional Development, can be found through this link: https://hr.gatech.edu/benefits

Diversity & Inclusion

Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) at Georgia Tech Research Institute aims to enhance the Institute’s mission of solving the world’s most complex technical problems by creating a workforce with a shared appreciation for diversity, raising awareness around inclusiveness, and fostering a sense of belonging and appreciation for all members of our community.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Georgia Tech Research Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer of individuals with disabilities and protected veterans and actively seeks diversity among its employees. Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law.