Senior System Security Engineer (SSE)

Basic Qualifications

Education Requirements:

Bachelor's degree in Systems Engineering, or a related Science, Engineering or Mathematics field, plus a minimum of 8 years of relevant experience; or Master's degree, plus a minimum of 6 years of relevant experience.

Clearance Requirements:

Ability to obtain a Department of Defense Secret security clearance is required at time of hire. Applicants selected will be subject to a U.S. Government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information. Due to the nature of work performed within our facilities, U.S. citizenship is required.

Responsibilities for this Position

Role and Position Objectives

A successful candidate will possess implementation-level knowledge of vulnerabilities and countermeasures across embedded systems, including microcontrollers, FPGA-based systems-on-chip (SoCs), ASICs, and workstation-grade single-board computers. GDMS is equally interested in physical and virtual threat vectors. The Senior Systems Security Engineer serves as a senior technical contributor for assigned weapon-system security subsystems. The role leads subsystem security architecture, requirements, analysis, and verification activities while coordinating with customers, Government assessment laboratories, internal security red teams, and external suppliers.

Primary Responsibilities

• Lead security architecture, design, and requirements development for assigned devices or subsystems by eliciting and deriving key requirements from lead customers.
• Evaluate proposed and existing system architectures for reverse-engineering and cyber-exploitation vulnerabilities.
• Derive security requirements and lead security-focused analysis in continuous coordination with Government assessment laboratories and internal security red teams.
• Document vulnerabilities, threats, and countermeasure recommendations in white papers and attack-countermeasure analyses.
• Architect system-level security designs and requirements that address identified vulnerabilities in U.S. weapon systems.
• Develop test strategies and plans for functional verification, including CPU, interconnect, eFPGA, power and clock-domain isolation, and provisioning-state transitions.
• Lead assigned integration and verification activities, including hands-on troubleshooting, test development, execution, and results analysis.
• Provide systems engineering oversight for ASIC package and Development Kit design with external suppliers.
• Establish and maintain CI/CD test capabilities for continuous, automated hardware and software testing.
• Prepare for, attend, and brief customer and Government design reviews.
• Participate in product design lifecycle activities, including system architecture, design, development, verification, and release readiness.
• Distill complex technical concepts into clear writing to support proposals, customer engagements, and new product opportunities.
• Contribute to product ideas, proposals, industry working groups, and security recommendations for relevant standards, policies, and procedures.
• Identify opportunities to apply AI to continuous improvement and engineering innovation.

What Sets You Apart

• More than eight years of demonstrated embedded-systems security design experience; DoD embedded-systems security experience is preferred.
• Experience with ASIC or SoC design and verification, particularly system-level security architecture and integration oversight.
• Advanced knowledge of cryptographic algorithms, their appropriate use, implementation vulnerabilities, and countermeasures.
• Advanced knowledge of hardware and software attacks and vulnerabilities, with the ability to balance mitigations against acceptable residual risk.
• Advanced understanding of computer hardware and software architectures, including CPUs, FPGAs, operating systems, and user-space application runtime environments.
• Strong written communication, analytical, problem-solving, and technical leadership skills.
• Experience working directly with external customers and suppliers to resolve challenging technical requirements.
• Commitment to ongoing professional development for self and others.

Salary Note

This estimate represents the typical salary range for this position based on experience and other factors (geographic location, etc.). Actual pay may vary. This job posting will remain open until the position is filled.

Combined Salary Range

USD $142,407.00 - USD $150,195.00 /Yr.

Company Overview

General Dynamics Mission Systems (GDMS) engineers a diverse portfolio of high technology solutions, products and services that enable customers to successfully execute missions across all domains of operation. With a global team of 12,000+ top professionals, we partner with the best in industry to expand the bounds of innovation in the defense and scientific arenas. Given the nature of our work and who we are, we value trust, honesty, alignment and transparency. We offer highly competitive benefits and pride ourselves in being a great place to work with a shared sense of purpose. You will also enjoy a flexible work environment where contributions are recognized and rewarded. If who we are and what we do resonates with you, we invite you to join our high-performance team!

Equal Opportunity Employer / Individuals with Disabilities / Protected Veterans