Senior​/Principal R&D Cybersecurity - Artificial Intelligence, Onsite

About Sandia

Sandia National Laboratories is the nation's premier science and engineering lab for national security and technology innovation, with teams of specialists focused on cutting‑edge work in a broad array of areas.

• Challenging work with amazing impact that contributes to security, peace, and freedom worldwide
• Extraordinary co‑workers
• Some of the best tools, equipment, and research facilities in the world
• Career advancement and enrichment opportunities
• Flexible work arrangements for many positions include 9/80 (work 80 hours every two weeks, with every other Friday off) and 4/10 (work 4 ten‑hour days each week) compressed workweeks, part‑time work, and telecommuting (a mix of onsite work and working from home)
• Generous vacation, strong medical and other benefits, competitive 401k, learning opportunities, relocation assistance and amenities aimed at creating a solid work/life balance*

World‑changing technologies. Life‑changing careers. Learn more about Sandia at: http://(Use the "Apply for this Job" box below)..gov

* These benefits vary by job classification.

Are you an AI cybersecurity researcher who enjoys a challenge? Are you passionate about understanding AI/ML and whether it is securely deployed? Research dedicated to keeping AI systems safe and thwarting cyber intrusions? Are you dreaming of a chance to develop protective technologies, conduct threat assessments, and analyze government, military, and civilian systems that make use of AI? If so, this is the opportunity for you to join Sandia's unique multidisciplinary team committed to solving the Artificial Intelligence security challenges facing our nation.

We are looking for experienced AI focused cybersecurity scientists and engineers to join Sandia's national security missions.

On any given day, you may be called on to:

• Develop state‑of‑the‑art approaches for analyzing the security and robustness of AI systems
• Apply these approaches to understanding vulnerabilities in AI systems and how attackers adapt their tradecraft to exploit those vulnerabilities
• Reverse engineer malicious code in support of high‑impact customers
• Low‑level research in multiple levels of firmware
• Analyze device software, hardware, and communications protocols
• Design and develop new analysis methods and tools
• Work to identify and address emerging and complex threats to AI systems and effectively participate in the broader security community
• Influence the AI security and vulnerability disclosure ecosystems
• Evaluate the effectiveness of tools, techniques and processes developed by the AI security research government community
• Uncover and shape some of the fundamental assumptions underlying current best practice in AI security
• Develop thought models, tools and data sets that can be used to characterize the threats to, and vulnerabilities in, AI systems
• Identify opportunities to apply AI to improve existing cybersecurity research

Applicants on this requisition may be interviewed by multiple organizations at Sandia National Laboratories.

Some travel is required.

Due to the nature of the job, the selected candidate must be able to work onsite.

$117,500 - $235,700

* Salary range is estimated, and actual salary will be determined after consideration of the selected candidate's experience and qualifications, and application of any approved geographic salary differential.

• A Bachelor’s degree in a relevant discipline and five (5) years of directly relevant experience, or an equivalent combination of directly relevant education and engineering or scientific experience that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and ability to perform independent research and development
• Ability to obtain and maintain a DOE Q and SCI clearance which may require a polygraph test

The ideal R&D Cybersecurity candidate for Sandia National Laboratories will in addition possess the following:

• Graduate degree in Computer Science/Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Information Systems, Computer Forensics, Mathematics or a directly related field where an independent research project was a graduation requirement (e.g., independent project, thesis, or…