External Title Senior Digital Forensic Analyst

Responsibilities

Peraton is currently seeking a Senior Digital Forensic Analyst to support Federal Strategic Cyber programs in the Cyber & Intelligence sector.

Location: On-site, Arlington, VA

In this role, you will:

• Conduct forensic examinations of digital data from cellphones, tablets, computers, removable media, cloud sources, and other platforms.
• Apply recognized scientific practices to identify, analyze, interpret, and present digital evidence for criminal, civil, and administrative matters.
• Perform detailed, targeted examinations in line with investigative objectives, legal process, and search warrant limitations.
• Use industry-standard forensic tools—such as Cellebrite (including Inseyets), Oxygen Forensic Detective, Magnet Forensics Gray Key and Axiom, Nuix, X-Ways, and similar for extraction and examination.
• Analyze data from various operating systems and applications, including Windows, MacOS, iOS, Android, cloud services, and common backup formats.
• Produce clear, comprehensive reports that explain findings for investigators, prosecutors, and other stakeholders.
• Provide expert witness testimony, explaining examination procedures and technical findings to non‑technical audiences in federal, state, and local proceedings.
• Provide on‑site support during search warrant executions by identifying, collecting, packaging, documenting, and preserving digital evidence while maintaining strict chain of custody.
• Work closely with program leadership and peers to maintain forensically sound procedures and best practices for acquisition, analysis, and presentation of digital evidence.
• Conduct peer reviews and quality checks of reports and artifacts to ensure accuracy, completeness, and clarity before customer delivery.
• Mentor new hires on CIF workflows, tools, and best practices to support effective onboarding and team performance.
• Share lessons learned and emerging techniques with colleagues to enhance collective expertise.
• Stay current on developments in digital forensics, cybersecurity, forensic law, mobile devices and applications, social media platforms, and encryption/decryption methods.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree and a minimum of 9 years of relevant experience; 7 years with a Master’s degree; or 4 years with a PhD. An additional 4 years of experience may be substituted for a degree.
• Must either possess and maintain, or obtain prior to start date, one of the following professional certifications:

• GIAC: GCFE, GASF
• IACIS: CFCE, ICMDE
• NCFI: BCERT, MDE
• DC3: CDFE, CDMC
• Opentext:
  EnCE
• Cellebrite: CCO & CCPA, CCME
• Oxygen Forensics: OFC
• Magnet Forensics: MCFE

• Demonstrated expertise with mobile and non‑mobile forensic tools such as Magnet Axiom, Cellebrite, and Oxygen, as well as advanced mobile extraction hardware and software.
• Strong knowledge of Windows, MacOS, Apple iOS, Android, and their associated backup technologies.
• Experience writing detailed, technically accurate reports that clearly communicate complex digital‑forensic findings to non‑technical audiences.
• Strong critical thinking, creativity, sound judgment, and the awareness to recognize when to seek guidance from leadership.
• Ability to collaborate effectively and professionally with leadership, forensic analysts, law enforcement, prosecutors, CIF customers, and other stakeholders at all levels to deliver high‑quality forensic products.
• Willingness and ability to travel for on‑scene evidence seizures, training, and/or testimony.
• Experience conducting digital‑forensic examinations of mobile devices, computer systems, storage media, and cloud data across a broad range of case types.
• Demonstrated proficiency with industry‑standard forensic tools—such as Cellebrite, Oxygen, Nuix, Axiom, X‑Ways, and similar—to perform in‑depth analysis of…