Security Research Engineering Technical Leader

Security Research Engineering Technical Leader

Knoxville, TN – Raleigh, NC – Austin, TX

The successful applicant will be performing work in FedRAMP High or IL‑5 environments and must be a U.S. Person (U.S. citizen, national, lawful permanent resident, asylee or refugee). This position may also require work that the U.S. government specifies can only be performed by a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil.

As a team member of Cisco's Advanced Security Initiatives Group (ASIG), you will evaluate our global products and services to identify security vulnerabilities, weaknesses, and improvements. You will adopt an attacker mentality using tools, techniques, and processes that emulate real-world adversaries. You will work with creative security researchers to develop evolving ethical hacking skills and networking product knowledge. You will partner with Cisco's industry‑leading engineering teams to assess the latest system and application architectures, contribute to creative security solutions, and gain unparalleled access to the latest technologies.

You will also have opportunities to research security topics independently or collaboratively as part of our “Free Friday” innovation and incubation process.

• 6+ years of red teaming or penetration testing experience with emphasis on remote access, network penetration, Command and Control development and use, and covert channels.
• 4+ years of exploit development (Offensive Programming) and cloud security.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in Computer Science or Engineering. MS/MBA preferred.
• 6+ years of Unix experience, including any applicable academic experience.
• 6+ years of technical leadership experience in security assessments.
• Solid understanding of Python, Go, or a similar language. Must be able to code live.

• 4+ years of experience with applied cryptography, through implementation or analysis of crypto algorithms.
• 4+ years of experience with network protocols, through implementation or analysis.
• 4+ years of experience as a Dev Ops engineer.
• 4+ years of security testing experience, including web applications, APIs, user interfaces, mobile devices, and embedded devices.
• 4+ years of full-spectrum red‑team tactics, such as hardware hacking, physical security breach, or targeted social engineering.
• 4+ years of experience in a SOC, SRE, or incident response role.
• 4+ years of Windows administration experience.

Knoxville, Tennessee;
Austin, Texas; or Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Remote work is also considered.

Employees receive comprehensive benefits including medical, dental, and vision insurance; a 401(k) plan with company matching; short‑ and long‑term disability coverage; basic life insurance; and a variety of wellbeing offerings. Pay includes up to twelve paid holidays per year, a floating holiday, and a birthday day off. PTO accrues up to 20 days per year, with additional PTO available for emergencies.

Employees can purchase company stock through the Employee Stock Purchase Program. Eligible employees also receive paid volunteer time and are eligible for company equity and incentive compensation based on role.