Deputy Director, Applied Research & Services, and Director Edge Lab

Overview

The Charles

D. McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security at Auburn University is seeking an accomplished technical leader to serve as Deputy Director, Applied Research & Services
, and Director of the Edge Lab
. This role functions as the Institute’s principal technical authority and provides strategic, supervisory, and operational leadership for the Edge Lab and all associated technical capabilities, including the Southeast Region Cyber Collaboration Center (SERC3) and the Alabama Cybersecurity Intelligence Center (ACIC).

This deputy director oversees all technical staff, cybersecurity analysts, research engineers, and operational personnel across both the Southeast Cyber Collaboration Center’s OT Lab and the Alabama Cybersecurity Intelligence Center’s SOC and field deployment teams. This leader is accountable for the strategy, execution, and performance of McCrary’s applied research mission.

Reporting directly to the Associate Director and COO, the Deputy Director serves as a key member of the Institute’s executive leadership team. The role works in close partnership with the Deputy Director for Business Development & Partnerships, the Program Managers of McCrary’s three directorates (Energy & Infrastructure, Defense & National Security, and State & Local), and the COO on matters of strategy, sponsor engagement, and program delivery.

This position plays a central role in advancing the McCrary Institute’s mission to strengthen national security through applied cybersecurity research, operational capabilities, and trusted partnerships with federal agencies including the Department of Energy, Department of War, the intelligence community, national labs, and critical infrastructure operators.

• Life-Changing Impact: Our work changes lives through research, instruction, and outreach, making a lasting impact on our students, our communities, and the world.
• Culture of Excellence: We are committed to leveraging our strengths, resources, collaboration, and innovation as a top employer in higher education.
• We’re Here for You: Auburn offers generous benefits, educational opportunities, and a culture of support and work/life balance.
• Sweet Home Alabama: The Auburn/Opelika area offers southern charm, vibrant downtown scenes, top-ranked schools, and easy access to Atlanta, Birmingham, and the Gulf of Mexico beaches.
• A Place for Everyone: Auburn is committed to fostering an environment where all faculty, staff, and students are welcomed, valued, respected, and engaged.
• Ready to lead and shape the future of higher education? Apply today! War Eagle!

• Serves as the senior technical executive of the McCrary Institute, accountable to the Associate Director and COO for all research, development, security operations, field deployment, and operational technology capabilities.
• Provides strategic direction for the Edge Lab across all capability pillars: HIL testbed operations, managed cybersecurity services, AI/ML defense research, and critical infrastructure resilience.
• Defines and executes the Institute’s technical capability roadmap in alignment with federal sponsor priorities, national cybersecurity strategy, and Auburn’s research mission.
• Represents McCrary’s technical capabilities in external engagements with federal agencies, congressional stakeholders, national laboratory partners, and industry.
• Possesses architecture-level understanding of artificial intelligence, autonomous agents, and agent workflows—with particular emphasis on how agents consume data and interact with APIs—and apply that understanding to McCrary’s research agenda and technical capability development.
• Participates in select hands‑on software development and technology integration activities alongside students and staff, modeling a culture of applied technical leadership within the Edge Lab.
• Works in close coordination with the Deputy Director for Business Development & Partnerships to align technical capabilities with capture strategy and sponsor engagement, and with the COO on resource allocation, operational priorities, and organizational planning.