Software Application Researcher (TS/SCI Poly)

Description The DarkStar Group is seeking a Software Application Researcher with a TS/SCI Poly clearance (applicable to this customer) to join one of our top projects in Laurel, MD. Below is an overview of the project, as well as information on our company, our benefits, and our $25,000 referral program. THE PROJECT The DarkStar Group's team conducts R&D and prototyping of new CNO capabilities for our customer. The work involves Vulnerability Research, Exploit Development, CNO tool development and enhancement, and infrastructure support (DevOps) for access operations. Platforms involved include iOS, Android, MacOS, Linux, Windows, and other environments. This is some of the most impactful work in the Intelligence Community, with the new capabilities developed by this team getting rapidly deployed and into the hands of users. One of the best things about this project is the customer. They give Engineers huge latitude in choosing programming languages and technologies, and they encourage exploration of new tech. There is almost no distinction here between blue-badgers and green-badgers: the team is highly-competent, and the Branch and Section Leads do an excellent job of shielding the engineers from any organizational politics. This team regularly needs Vulnerability Researchers, Exploit Developers, CNO Tool Developers, Reverse Engineers, and other types of technologists. While roles open and close, the program Lead's attitude is "find us good people; we'll find good places for them". Work on this program takes place in various locations at and around the Ft. Meade, MD area (we cannot support remote work) and requires a TS/SCI Polygraph clearance (acceptable to this customer). THE ROLE The candidate will be working independently as a Software Researcher to identify flaws in software and software architecture design. Additionally, the candidate must be familiar with the latest techniques in vulnerability research and demonstrate their ability to follow best practices. The candidate must be extremely detail oriented when documenting their research. Often, the candidate will be required to write code in C, Python, and Assembly to demonstrate ability to control the flaws. Candidate will need to understand distributed architectures and protocol analysis between disaraprate components. Required Skills Understanding and experience with Software-as-a-Service architectures Understanding of OS Internals (any major OS) Experience reading and writing assembly (x86/x64, ARM, MIPS, etc.) Extensive experience with debuggers (WinDBG, GDB, ADB, BDI, etc.) Experience with dynamic and static binary analysis, fuzzing techniques, and source code auditing Strong C, Python, and ASM development experience Demonstrated ability to self-drive research tasking Motivated to learn complex systems Working as a team with researchers and developers About The DarkStar Group Our Company The DarkStar Group is a small business that solves BIG problems. We're one of the Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private companies in the US, and our engineers and scientists support the most critical national security missions in Virginia, Maryland, and elsewhere. Data Science, Software Engineering, Cloud/AWS Infrastructure, and Cyber/CNO are our core areas of expertise. We offer interesting and important work, job security, some of the best and most flexible benefits you'll find in the IC, and salaries so strong that they'll likely surprise you. Our Benefits The DarkStar Group offers exceptional compensation and benefits: very strong salaries; 100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision premiums for you and all dependents; the ability to get increased salary if you don't need medical/dental/vision; 100% company-paid disability and life insurance benefits; a generously-funded HSA; an 8% 401(k) contribution; 31 days of PTO/holidays to start (more with tenure); the ability to flex time across pay periods without using your PTO; a generous training budget; $25,000 employee referral bonuses; business development / growth incentives; and top notch company swag. We have a huge growth opportunity, so we are offering up to a $25,000 reward for anyone new you refer whom we hire. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran. Tom Morton Senior Technical Recruiter The DarkStar Group, LLC tom.mortonthedarkstargroup.com https://thedarkstargroup.com/career-opportunities/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/morton-tom/