Defensive Cybersecurity Engineer

The Aerospace Corporation is the trusted partner to the nation’s space programs, solving the hardest problems and providing unmatched technical expertise. As the operator of a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC), we are broadly engaged across all aspects of space— delivering innovative solutions that span satellite, launch, ground, and cyber systems for defense, civil and commercial customers. When you join our team, you’ll be part of a special collection of problem solvers, thought leaders, and innovators. Join us and take your place in space.

At Aerospace, we are committed to providing an inclusive and diverse workplace for all employees to share in our common passion and aspiration – to carry out a mission much bigger than ourselves.

Information Systems and Cyber Division (ISCD) staff couple the latest in information system technologies, such as elastic compute clouds, containerization, microservices, real-time operating systems, and visualization frameworks, with expertise in cyber security, software architecture, software engineering, data science, Artificial Intelligence, process improvement, and software development to deliver responsive, resilient, high-performance software intensive systems to our Intelligence Community, DoD, and civilian customers.

The Defensive Cyber Operations section in the Cyber Defense Solutions Department is looking for a cybersecurity engineer to join our growing team who design, implement, and deploy cyber solutions to defend our nation’s most valuable assets in space. We support a variety of customers including the Space Force’s Space Systems Command (SSC), the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), and other civil customers (e.g. NASA, NOAA) in order to resolve unique challenges in protecting their ground networks and satellite systems from sophisticated adversaries.  As a defensive cybersecurity engineer in CDSD, you’ll be working on teams and developing prototypes to support our customer’s mission  

Work Model  

This is fulltime position based in El Segundo, California, offering a hybrid work model that combines 3 regular onsite workdays and remote flexibility as the business needs allow. 

What You’ll Be Doing

• Write software code in Python or Rust languages to develop and improve cybersecurity applications used by the Space Force and other government customers.

• Work on teams and projects in the areas of software security, cloud security, container security, mission assessments, orchestration and automation technologies, spacecraft cyber analytics and continuous monitoring.

• Build new technical capabilities, lead product demonstrations, provide technical support, and interact directly with product owners and customers

• Engage with industry and government partners regularly to assess new cybersecurity technologies and provide recommendations of their use to the customer

• Pitch new project ideas to address emerging technology focus areas and lead your project as the principal investigator

What You Need to be Successful

Minimum Requirements for the Senior Member of Technical Staff - Cyber security architecture and Information Systems Security

• Bachelor’s degree in STEM, Cybersecurity, Computer Science, Information Systems, or similar field

• 4 years of experience in Cyber Security
• Proficient with programming in Python, Rust, C/C++, or other relevant language
• Experience using SIEM tools, SOAR/Orchestration tools, EDR tools, Penetration Test or Vulnerability Assessment tools, or Incident Response procedures and tools
• Understanding of cybersecurity threats and countermeasures
• Advanced knowledge and understanding of industry-accepted data processing controls and concepts as applied to access management and network security technologies
• Strong understanding of Zero Trust security principles and frameworks
• Willing to travel occasionally to work location or customer site domestically approx. 20% of the time
• This position requires ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance, which is issued by the U.S. government. U.S. citizenship is required to obtain a security clearance.

How You Can Stand Out

It would be impressive if you have one or more of these:

• Demonstrated experience in a cybersecurity related position
• Knowledge of encryption principals, secure boot, zero trust architectures, cloud platform technologies, and networking security
• Experience working in a Security Operations Center (SOC)
• Experience with satellite system design and software technologies
• Hold at least one current security certification (Sec+, CISSP, GS