Posting Title

Senior ICS Cybersecurity Researcher

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Location

CO - Golden

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Position Type

Regular

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Hours Per Week

40

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Working at NREL

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), located at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Golden, Colorado is the nation's primary laboratory for research and development of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.

From day one at NREL, you’ll connect with coworkers driven by the same mission to save the planet. By joining an organization that values a supportive, inclusive, and flexible work environment, you’ll have the opportunity to engage through our ten employee resource groups, numerous employee-driven clubs, and learning and professional development classes.

NREL supports inclusive, diverse, and unbiased hiring practices that promote creativity and innovation. By collaborating with organizations that focus on diverse talent pools, reaching out to underrepresented demographics, and providing an inclusive application and interview process, our Talent Acquisition team aims to hear all voices equally. We strive to attract a highly diverse workforce and create a culture where every employee feels welcomed and respected and they can be their authentic selves.

Our planet needs us! Learn about NREL’s critical objectives, and see how NREL is focused on saving the planet.

Note: Research suggests that potential job seekers may self-select out of opportunities if they don't meet 100% of the job requirements. We encourage anyone who is interested in this opportunity to apply. We seek dedicated people who believe they have the skills and ambition to succeed at NREL to apply for this role.

Job Description

The Cybersecurity Risk Optimization Group (CROG) within NREL’s Cybersecurity Center performs research to better understand the threats, detection strategies and mitigation opportunities for renewable energy infrastructure and distributed energy resources. Our efforts include technical assessments of existing technologies and near-term innovations, research into industrial control systems security, network architectures and protocols, as well as informing the development and application of cybersecurity frameworks and policy. CROG researchers collaborate with government and industry partners to contribute to a more secure and resilient renewable energy infrastructure with global impact.

The Cybersecurity Risk Optimization Group (CROG) has applied cybersecurity researchers perform hands-on technical research and assessments. Researchers have the opportunity to drive NREL research in ICS security and help advance a rapidly growing cybersecurity portfolio. Team members work alongside current NREL research staff to utilize the best-in-class cyber range to deploy applicable large scale test environments, perform hardware-in-the-loop technology assessments, and research ICS threats, detection, and mitigation strategies as they pertains to renewable energy. Research spans across ICS and renewable energy technologies and includes collaboration and partnership with utility and cyber security solution providers as well as government stakeholders.

NREL is seeking an experienced industrial control systems security professional to drive new research initiatives focused on current and emerging threats to the evolving electric grid. The successful candidate will bring a strong technical security background, a familiarity with cybersecurity best practices for distributed energy, a passion for leading and driving new research in the space as well as the ability to collaborate with partners from across national labs, Department of Energy, industry, and academia.

Responsibilities include:

• Drive new research initiatives related to the current and evolving threats facing the security of distributed energy systems
• Collaborate with fellow researchers, Department of Energy staff as well as industrial partners to ensure research relevance and impact
• Provide applied technical leadership in performing security research
• Maintain familiarity with applicable security guidanc