Senior Cyber Blue Team Lead​/Analyst

The Mission Concepts and Capabilities (MCC) Division of Applied Research Associates, Inc (ARA) has an immediate opening to support a team conducting cyber assessments of vulnerabilities of critical U.S. and Allied systems, networks, infrastructures, and assets. Our team supports the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s Nuclear Enterprise Support Directorate (NE)’s Mission Assurance Department (MA) program. We are seeking a hands‑on cyber analyst and team leader with an understanding of both the compliance standards and the tools and techniques to assess vulnerabilities.

Assessment teams identify risks that may lead to mission loss or degradation and provide recommendations for risk reduction based on DoD Mission Assurance Assessment benchmarks. ARA teams identify threats to information technology and operational technology and assess the vulnerability and risk to assets. Selected candidates will apply in‑depth knowledge of cyber threats to develop recommendations to remediate system vulnerabilities. The successful candidate will also serve as the ARA team leader, working closely with ARA management, Government personnel, and subcontractor teammates.

ARA’s assessment teams provide a balanced look at the mission survivability of key DoD facilities and provide recommendations with supporting rationale to leadership. Teams also perform assessments from an adversarial viewpoint to identify weaknesses, test and evaluate protection strategies, and demonstrate exploitation of identified vulnerabilities. Components of these assessments include, but are not limited to, examining telecommunications (e.g., video, voice and data, commercial and military) and cyber space operations (e.g., computer networks, IA tools use, operations security).

Cyber assessment teams may be deployed to high‑threat but permissive environments anywhere in the world. Each team can support up to 10 assessments per year that range from one to six weeks in duration, from start to submission of final assessment report.

This position is contingent upon security clearance and cyber security verification.

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in computer science, information technology, cyber security, computer engineering, electrical engineering, or related discipline plus 10‑12 years of experience
• Current / Active Top Secret clearance with the ability to obtain and maintain SCI access
• Active IAT II Certifications as described in DoDD 8570.01 and Active CSSP Auditor certification (Security+, CySA+, Pentest+)
• Understanding of information technology threats, and cybersecurity practices
• Hands‑on experience with security monitoring, threat hunting, packet analysis, malware analysis, signature development, and/or shell scripting
• Hands‑on experience with network monitoring and packet inspection tools
• Demonstrated experience with Linux environments (Red Hat, CentOS, Ubuntu)
• Programming experience (Perl, Python, C, etc.)

• Team and project leadership/management experience
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills
• Knowledge, skills, and ability to operate the advanced cyber analytical toolkit and perform required assessments
• Working knowledge of Department of War’s IT system and network certification and accreditation processes to include system security authorization agreements
• Experience conducting Information Operations Computer Network Defense/Exploitation assessments
• Experience with firewalls and network TAP technologies
• Experience installing, configuring, administering software applications
• Demonstrated skills in troubleshooting problems with software and hardware
• Experience configuring, managing and maintaining networking equipment
• Working knowledge of Department of Warfare’s Information Assurance
• Experience in Vulnerability Alert processes
• Working knowledge of Computer Network vulnerability/compliance analysis software

Applied Research Associates, Inc. is an employee‑owned international research and engineering company recognized for providing technically superior solutions to complex and challenging problems in the physical sciences. The company, founded in Albuquerque, NM, in 1979, currently…