Senior Principal Reverse Engineer Job Arlington area,Texas USA,Engineering

Nightwing provides technically advanced full-spectrum cyber, data operations, systems integration and intelligence mission support services to meet our customers’ most demanding challenges. Our capabilities include cyber space operations, cyber defense and resiliency, vulnerability research, ubiquitous technical surveillance, data intelligence, lifecycle mission enablement, and software modernization. Nightwing brings disruptive technologies, agility, and competitive offerings to customers in the intelligence community, defense, civil, and commercial markets.

Nightwing is supporting a U.S. Government customer to provide support for onsite incident response to civilian Government agencies and critical asset owners who experience cyber-attacks, providing immediate investigation and resolution. Contract personnel perform investigations to characterize the severity of breaches, develop mitigation plans, and assist with the restoration of services. Nightwing is seeking a Subject Matter Expert with hardware reverse engineering to support this critical customer mission.

The Subject Matter Expert Hardware Reverse Engineers will provide specialized expertise in hardware reverse engineering focused on operational technology (OT) and industrial control systems. This position requires deep technical knowledge of proprietary hardware systems, exploitation methodologies, and defensive strategies to support forensic investigations of compromised edge devices and systems where threat actors have embedded malware deeply within hardware components.

This position focuses on the analytical and investigative aspects of hardware forensics, with particular emphasis on operational technology and industrial control systems. The ideal candidates will have strong reverse engineering skills and deep understanding of threat actor methodologies targeting critical infrastructure.

Responsibilities:

Conduct comprehensive hardware reverse engineering of OT and ICSD devices
Analyze network-edge devices and embedded systems compromised by advanced threats
Perform deep-dive analysis of proprietary hardware targeted by adversaries
Conduct reverse engineering, failure analysis, vulnerability analysis, and other research techniques to understand complex hardware systems, assess the functionality of components, and identify exploitation risks
Identify and extract deeply embedded malware from hardware components
Reverse engineer firmware and low-level software on embedded devices
Collaborate with Nightwing research teams to leverage cutting-edge analytical capabilities
Utilize and enhance KI2 system emulation capabilities for hardware analysis
Document exploitation methodologies and defensive countermeasures
Develop standard operating procedures for hardware forensics workflows
Train CSD analysts on hardware reverse engineering techniques
Provide expert consultation on edge device security and vulnerabilities
Support forensic investigations in environments lacking EDR visibility
Analyze proprietary communication protocols and embedded systems functions
Identify hardware backdoors, implants, and malicious modifications
Collaborate with electrical engineers on chip-off forensics procedures
Provide reach-back support to operational analysts during active investigations
Contribute to research initiatives on emerging hardware threats
Document technical findings and intelligence for stakeholder dissemination

Required Skills:

U.S. Citizenship
Must have an active TS/SCI clearance
Must be able to obtain DHS Suitability
10+ years of experience in hardware reverse engineering or embedded systems analysis
Deep expertise in OT/ICS hardware platforms and vulnerabilities
Ability to analyze novel or proprietary systems with limited documentation
Strong communication skills for explaining complex technical findings
Experience working collaboratively in research-oriented environments
Strong experience with firmware reverse engineering and analysis
Proficiency with reverse engineering tools (IDA Pro, Ghidra, Binary Ninja)
Deep understanding of ARM, MIPS, Power

PC, and other embedded processor architectures
Experience analyzing network-edge devices (routers, switches, firewalls, IoT devices)
Knowledge of hardware debugging interfaces (JTAG, SWD, UART)
Strong programming and scripting skills (Python, C, Assembly)
Understanding of exploitation techniques targeting embedded systems
Experience with malware analysis in hardware/firmware contexts
Excellent analytical and problem‑solving abilities

Desired

Skills:

Experience supporting federal cybersecurity or critical infrastructure protection programs
Experience performing inspection, imaging, decapsulation, deprocessing, and other activities related to hardware reverse engineering and exploitation in a state-of-the-art microelectronics exploitation laboratory
Background in offensive security or penetration testing of OT environments
Advanced certifications in reverse engineering (GREM, GXPN, or similar)
Experience with SCADA, PLC, RTU, and other industrial control…