Senior Reverse Engineer​/Vulnerability Researcher

Reverse Engineer Position at APL

Our elite team of reverse engineers is growing! We're looking for experienced reverse engineers who love discovering how complex embedded systems work and how to break them. We foster an innovative, highly collaborative environment where engineers tackle the hardest national security cyber challenges and deliver real-world impact.

Our team specializes in software and hardware reverse engineering, vulnerability research, and offensive cyber capability development. We believe the best solutions start with curious minds, multi-disciplinary expertise, and technical ingenuity. If you want to collaborate with world-class experts to solve problems that others consider impossible, we'd love to have you join our team at APL!

As a member of our group, you will…

• Reverse engineer mission-relevant systems, discover vulnerabilities, and develop innovative exploits
• Collaborate with teammates in custom laboratories purpose-built for foreign materiel, telecommunications infrastructure, and other embedded systems
• Work alongside APL experts in domains such as missile defense, space, and maritime systems to understand the operational significance of your reverse engineering discoveries
• Partner directly with government sponsors across multiple agencies to build mission-aligned offensive cyber capabilities
• Explore novel techniques for automating reverse engineering and exploit development
• Shape the future of our work by proposing new technical approaches and pioneering new research directions
• Mentor early-career teammates in the art and science of reverse engineering

Qualifications

You meet our minimum qualifications for the job if you...

• Have a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or another field relevant to the duties as described above
• At least 5 years of relevant professional experience
• Are skilled with software debuggers and static analysis tools such as Ghidra, IDA, and Binary Ninja
• Are proficient with one or more programming languages
• Have experience reading and writing assembly
• Understand Unix/Linux operating systems and embedded systems development tool chains
• Love solving puzzles and have experience persevering through technical challenges
• Hold an active TS/SCI clearance and can ultimately obtain a TS/SCI + polygraph clearance. If selected, you will be subject to a government security clearance investigation and must meet the requirements for access to classified information; eligibility requirements include U.S. citizenship.

You'll go above and beyond our minimum requirements if you...

• Previously held dynamic technical leadership roles and have demonstrated mentoring experience
• Have experience applying AI systems to reverse engineering, vulnerability research, or exploit development
• Have knowledge of advanced vulnerability discovery tools
• Have experience with hardware debugging interfaces, code security mechanisms and their weaknesses, hardware diagnostic tools, and signal/protocol analysis
• Possess an active TS/SCI clearance with full scope polygraph

Minimum Rate $105,000 Annually

Maximum Rate $290,000 Annually