Posting Title

Cybersecurity Researcher - 5G & Wireless Resilience Expert

.

Location

CO - Golden

.

Position Type

Regular

.

Hours Per Week

40

.

Working at NREL

NREL is located at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Golden, Colorado is the nation's primary laboratory for energy systems research and development.

Join NREL, where world-class scientists, engineers, and experts are accelerating energy innovation through breakthrough research and systems integration. From our mission to our collaborative culture, NREL stands out in the research community for its commitment to an affordable and secure energy future. Spanning foundational science to applied systems engineering and analysis, we focus on solving complex challenges to deliver advanced, secure, reliable, and cost-effective energy solutions. Our work helps strengthen U.S. industries, support job creation, and promote national economic growth.

At NREL, you’ll find a mission-driven environment supported by state-of-the-art facilities, multidisciplinary research teams, and strong collaborations with industry, academia, and other national laboratories. We offer robust professional development opportunities, and a competitive benefits package designed to support your career and well-being.

Job Description

The NREL Cybersecurity Research Center is seeking a cybersecurity professional with deep technical expertise in 5G and wireless communication technologies to lead innovative research initiatives in energy system security. This role is central to our mission to build cyber resiliency and reduce risks across the nation’s energy infrastructure.

The successful candidate will combine expert knowledge in wireless networking, including 5G technologies, with advanced cybersecurity expertise to help secure critical infrastructure against modern threats. This includes leading R&D at the intersection of wireless tech and energy systems, guiding cross-functional teams, and working closely with stakeholders from DOE, other national laboratories, and the private sector.

Level IV researchers are expected to lead multidisciplinary teams, mentor junior staff, and contribute to organization-wide technical vision. They demonstrate broad mastery and deep specialization in one or more domains such as 5G security architecture, network protocols, software-defined networking, threat emulation, reverse engineering, red teaming, or other cybersecurity disciplines. Individuals at this level are recognized for their significant professional achievements, including publications, patents, or other contributions that have shaped their field. They operate with minimal oversight and are expected to influence research strategy and technical direction both within and beyond the organization. Other key research responsibilties are:

• Serve as a senior technical leader and recognized subject matter expert in 5G and wireless cybersecurity.
• Define new research directions, establish technical strategies and architectures, and develop advanced or novel cybersecurity solutions for next-generation wireless systems.
• Lead technical R&D efforts at the intersection of cybersecurity and 5G/wireless systems to support next-generation energy system architectures.
• Develop and implement secure communication protocols and architectures for distributed, edge, and wireless-connected energy devices
• Advance laboratory capabilities in wireless and 5G emulation environments, secure network modeling, simulation, testing, and evaluation
• Lead vulnerability analysis of wireless systems (e.g., 5G, LTE, Wi-Fi) integrated into critical infrastructure environments
• Develop new tools and methodologies for red teaming, penetration testing, and cyber-physical risk assessment in wireless energy systems
• Collaborate with cross-disciplinary teams on projects involving hardware/software security, supply chain assurance, and system integration
• Be able to write scripts and develop applications to automate data collection, processing, and analysis tasks in cybersecurity contexts.
• Ability to collaborate with fellow researchers, Department of Energy staff as well as industrial partners to ensure research relevance and impact.
• In addition to technical research, the role requires technical writing skills as well as the ability to represent the NREL CRC team by presenting research results both internally and externally to sponsors and partners.
• Assist with staff planning, recruiting, mentoring, and team building.
• Support cyber business development efforts.
• Build research collaborations with the energy industry, o