Cryptographic Engineer Lead

Cryptographic Engineer Lead

Koniag Data Solutions, a Koniag Government Services company, is seeking an experienced Cryptographic Engineer Lead to support the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The ideal candidate is a highly skilled cryptography and information security professional with deep expertise in cryptographic engineering, key management, and the design and implementation of cryptographic solutions within complex federal IT environments. This individual will serve as the primary subject matter expert (SME) for cryptographic engineering activities at the SBA, providing strategic leadership, technical guidance, and hands-on program management to ensure the agency's cryptographic systems, protocols, and controls meet the highest standards of security and comply with applicable federal cryptographic policies, standards, and requirements.

The Cryptographic Engineer Lead will serve as the senior technical expert responsible for leading the design, development, implementation, and management of cryptographic solutions and key management programs that protect SBA's sensitive data, systems, and communications.

Principal responsibilities will include but are not limited to:

• Serve as the primary subject matter expert (SME) and technical lead for all cryptographic engineering activities supporting SBA's cybersecurity program, providing strategic direction, expert guidance, and hands-on technical leadership to ensure the security and integrity of SBA's cryptographic systems and controls.
• Lead the design, development, and implementation of cryptographic solutions, protocols, and controls across SBA's enterprise IT environment, including on-premises, cloud, and hybrid infrastructures, ensuring alignment with federal cryptographic standards and best practices.
• Oversee the development, implementation, and management of SBA's enterprise key management program, including the lifecycle management of cryptographic keys, certificates, and related cryptographic material in accordance with NIST guidelines and federal key management requirements.
• Evaluate and recommend cryptographic algorithms, protocols, and technologies to address identified security gaps, emerging threats, and evolving federal cryptographic requirements, including the transition to post-quantum cryptography (PQC) standards.
• Lead SBA's transition planning and implementation efforts for post-quantum cryptography, assessing the agency's current cryptographic inventory, identifying quantum-vulnerable systems and protocols, and developing a comprehensive migration roadmap aligned with NIST PQC standards and applicable OMB and CISA guidance.
• Collaborate with SBA IT architects, system owners, developers, and program teams to integrate cryptographic requirements and controls into the design, development, and deployment of new and existing systems and applications throughout the SDLC.
• Conduct cryptographic assessments and reviews of SBA's existing systems, applications, and infrastructure, identifying cryptographic weaknesses, misconfigurations, and areas of non-compliance with federal cryptographic standards, and developing remediation recommendations.
• Develop and maintain comprehensive cryptographic program documentation, including cryptographic standards and guidelines, key management plans, cryptographic inventories, and technical design documents.
• Provide expert guidance on the implementation and management of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) solutions, including certificate authority (CA) management, certificate lifecycle management, and the integration of PKI with SBA's identity and access management (IAM) environment.
• Support the integration of cryptographic requirements into SBA's NIST Risk Management Framework (RMF) and Authorization to Operate (ATO) processes, ensuring cryptographic controls are appropriately selected, implemented, assessed, and documented in system security documentation.
• Assess the cryptographic security implications of emerging technologies, including cloud services, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and IoT, as they relate to SBA's technology strategy and cryptographic risk posture.
• Collaborate with SBA's SOC, incident response, and cybersecurity architecture teams to ensure cryptographic controls support effective threat detection, incident response, and forensic investigation capabilities.
• Develop and deliver cryptographic awareness and training materials to SBA IT staff, developers, and security personnel, fostering a strong understanding of cryptographic best practices and requirements across the agency.
• Prepare and present detailed technical briefings, reports, and cryptographic program status updates to SBA leadership and stakeholders, clearly communicating cryptographic risks, findings, and recommendations
• Monitor and analyze developments in cryptographic research, emerging threats, vulnerability disclosures, and changes to federal cryptographic standards and policies, applying new knowledge to continuously improve SBA's…