Vulnerability Analyst

For further inquiries regarding the following opportunity, please contact our Talent Specialist.
Amit at

Background:

Cyber Security Program Office (CSPO) promotes the safe and secure use of technology. The CSPO serves client by providing a variety of cybersecurity services including consultation, protection technologies, detection technologies, cybersecurity education and awareness, cybersecurity incident management, vulnerability management, compliance, and cybersecurity risk management. The Cyber Security Program Office is seeking a full-time Vulnerability Analyst.

Scope:

Client has an opportunity for a Vulnerability Analyst within the Cyber Security Program Office (CSPO). The Vulnerability Analyst will play an important role to identify, assess, prioritize, report, and assist others in mitigating vulnerabilities within an organization's information systems. This engagement will free up other cybersecurity resources to work in other critical client areas. The ideal candidate will need to:

• Possess a working level expertise with the National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) and the NIST 800-53 series of control families and approaches.
• Using automated tools and manual techniques to discover security weaknesses (i.e. Tenable Security Center, Nucleus Security, etc...)
• Conducting regular scans and assessments of systems, applications, and networks to identify potential vulnerabilities.
• Analyzing the identified vulnerabilities to determine their potential impact on the organization.
• Prioritizing vulnerabilities based on their severity and the risk they pose to the organization.
• Performing routine assignment of tickets to IT and other teams to address vulnerabilities as part of a 'cyber hygiene' process.
• Recommending mitigation strategies to address identified vulnerabilities.
• Working with IT and development teams to apply patches, configure systems securely, and implement other remediation measures. This position is not expected to perform patching activities.
• Creating detailed reports on the findings of vulnerability assessments and risk analyses.
• Documenting the status of vulnerabilities and the actions taken to mitigate them.
• Communicating the results of vulnerability assessments, risk analyses, and other cyber hygiene work to stakeholders, including management and technical teams.
• Staying up to date with the latest cybersecurity threats, vulnerabilities, and best practices.
• Continuously improving the organization's vulnerability management processes and tools.
• Attend online/Teams meetings with team and others as appropriate
• Work with team to provide status on current task, suggest improvements, discuss implementation, etc.

Objectives:

The ideal candidate will support the projects and tasks associated with the Vulnerability Management Program

Technical Direction of Work:

Report to the Lead Cybersecurity Engineer within the Cyber Security Program Office (CSPO); including daily guidance and collaboration with others in the Cyber Security Program Office (CSPO).

Task and Time Reporting:

The project managers measure work performed by the contractor on a task basis. The tasks typically represent 8 to 80 hours of effort with performance being measured at the completion of each of the assigned tasks. Hours will be recorded on a weekly time sheet; progress against planned tasks will be reported weekly.

Typically, the work is performed remotely. For the candidate within driving distance of the Lab, there may be rare times to be onsite for in-person meetings, assessments, or presentations. Most of the Business Information Services (BIS) Division works remotely and are rarely onsite. If the candidate is out of state, too far away from the Lab, onsite meetings are not feasible to attend and not required.

Management and Remediation Plan:

• Collaborate with IT and system administrators to create a patch management policy.
• Provide a prioritization of vulnerabilities for remediation based on risk assessment.
• Run "Hygiene Improvement Process" (HIP) vulnerability tasks (e.g., generating prioritized list of systems or vulnerabilities to remediate, creating and assigning tickets, follow-up on tickets, enforcing mitigation requirements, reporting).
• Develop a schedule, aligned with existing policy, for applying patches and updates to systems and applications.
• Monitor the effectiveness of patching efforts and adjust the plan as needed.
• Provide bi-weekly, monthly, and quarterly reports of vulnerability and patching efforts to various stakeholders.

Cloud, Container, and DevSecOps

• Cloud posture and vulnerabilities:
  • Implement CSPM/agent-based scanning for IaaS/PaaS; cover images, VMs, serverless, and managed services.
  • Ensure tagging/ownership standards in cloud for routing remediation.
• Containers and Images:
  • Scan images in registries and at build time; block critical vulns from promotion.
• Application Dependencies:
  • Introduce SCA for third-party libraries; integrate auto-dependency updates.
  • Add SAST/DAST where applicable; tune to reduce false positives.
• IaC hygiene:
  • Scan Terraform/CloudFormation/Kubernetes manifests; enforce guardrails in CI.

Expectation/Deliverables:

• Assisting and guiding business units with their vulnerability remediation as well as technical debt cleanup.
• Create and update Vulnerability risk acceptance/modification review/analysis and approval/non-approval
• Document entire workflow of current system in current state and future state
• Provide opportunities for automation within current and future state processes (i.e. python, bash, etc.)
• Assist in vulnerability tool review/tuning

Qualifications:

Technical Skills-

Vulnerability Assessment Tools:

• Proficiency in using vulnerability scanning tools such as Tenable, Nessus, Qualys, OpenVAS, and Nexpose.
• Familiarity with penetration testing tools like Metasploit, Burp Suite, and Nmap.

Operating Systems:

• Strong knowledge of various operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and macOS.
• Understanding of system administration and security configurations.

Networking:

• In-depth understanding of network protocols, architecture, and security.
• Experience with network scanning and monitoring tools.

Scripting and Programming:

• Ability to write scripts in languages such as Python, Bash, or PowerShell to automate tasks and analyze data.
• Basic programming skills to understand and analyze code for vulnerabilities.

Security Frameworks and Standards:

• Familiarity with cybersecurity frameworks and standards such as NIST, ISO 27001, CIS Controls, and OWASP.
• Understanding of the Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) and NIST 800-53 controls.

Certifications (Optional):

• Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP):
• Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH):
• CompTIA Security+:
• Certified Information Security Manager (CISM):
• Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP):
• GIAC Security Essentials (GSEC):

Experience-

• Practical experience in conducting vulnerability assessments and/or penetration tests.
• Experience in system and network administration.
• Familiarity with security concerns and vulnerabilities common in an enterprise environment, including application development, IT/OT environments, virtualization, containers, etc.
• Staying up to date with the latest cybersecurity threats, vulnerabilities, and best practices.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills to identify and assess vulnerabilities.
• Meticulous attention to detail to ensure thorough assessments and accurate reporting.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills to effectively convey findings and recommendations to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to work collaboratively with other cybersecurity professionals, IT staff, and external vendors.
• Considerable knowledge/experience of assessing security controls.
• Experience and skill in conducting audits or reviews of technical systems.
• Experience working in a government environment.
• Experience working in a distributed IT environment.
• Ability to obtain HSPD-12 card for use in two-factor authentication.
• Able to work both independently and as a contributing member of a small technical team
• Able to disseminate knowledge to current staff.

Government-Furnished Property:

• Client will supply a government-furnished laptop, PIV Card, and PIV Card reader.

Computer Protection Program:

The contractor shall adhere to all policies and procedures of the client Computer Protection Program, must not bypass any procedures established to protect data, applications, hardware, or communications at client, must maintain a work environment that will satisfy audit, privacy, and protection requirements, and must report any findings of inadequacies to the technical contact and the BIS Computer Protection Program Representative.

Security Requirements:

• The Cyber Security Program Office follows the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cyber Security Framework. All subcontracts, where applicable, will work within the same requirements as though the subcontractor was part of the Laboratory's cyber program.
• Cyber Security Program requires that all persons who access sensitive data or applications must learn and adhere to protection requirements of the data or application, must not bypass procedures established to protect data and applications, and must immediately report any findings of inadequacies in protection procedures to the Cyber Security Program Office.
• In cases where staffing is required, vetting of identity (NIST 800-63 Identity Assurance Level 3) and strong authentication (NIST 800-63 Authentication Assurance Level 3) will be required. Client uses the HSPD-12 smart card for staff relationships that last longer than 6 months.
• Client may provide relevant information requested from the vendor or remote access as required to gather information. U.S. citizenship will be required for any access to systems or data.
• The manager of the contract and the Cyber Security Program Office must approve authorization for remote work.

The following expectations are part of working remote:

• Working remotely outside of scheduled times requires supervisor approval prior to performing that remote work.
• While working remotely, just like when onsite, all scheduled meetings must be attended (using approved remote communication tools).
• The candidate must be available for consultation during all scheduled work time, reachable by email, phone, chat, or other approved means.
• Performance will be monitored to determine productivity for remote work at least matches that when onsite. If performance and deliverables decline, remote work may be suspended.
• Should a situation arise that requires the candidate to be onsite while scheduled to work remotely, accommodation will be made to reschedule the remote work, if desired.
• The remote work privilege may be revoked at any time at the discretion of client
• A flexible work schedule may also be possible if the schedule is agreed to by the candidate and approved by the supervisor and sponsor.
• Should the laboratory close operations due to weather or other circumstances, remote work is preferred.
• Lastly, the candidate must track their remote work schedule into the CSPO absence calendar and be approved by CSPO supervisor.

Place of Performance:

Work will be performed remotely (within the confines of the United States of America), and team communication will be done through Microsoft tools such as Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Outlook

Period of Performance:

Work would begin October 2025, for 40 hours per week for 1 year.