Senior Cybersecurity Engineer / (SME) ? Level III

Job Description

Job Description

The Senior Cybersecurity Engineer / Subject Matter Expert (SME) — Level III serves as the principal cybersecurity engineering authority supporting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Intelligence Enterprise (DHS IE) . This position provides strategic technical leadership for enterprise cybersecurity engineering initiatives, including cloud security architecture, DevSecOps, Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA), Enterprise Audit (EA), Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) platform administration, and emerging technology integration across classified and unclassified environments.

The Senior Cybersecurity Engineer is responsible for designing secure enterprise architectures, integrating cybersecurity throughout the software development lifecycle, advancing Zero Trust maturity, implementing enterprise audit capabilities, and administering enterprise GRC solutions. The position works closely with cybersecurity leadership, system owners, software developers, cloud engineers, DevSecOps teams, Information System Security Officers (ISSOs), Information System Security Managers (ISSMs), Security Control Assessors (SCAs), and Government stakeholders to ensure DHS IE systems meet Federal, DHS, and Intelligence Community (IC) cybersecurity requirements.

The ideal candidate is a recognized technical leader with extensive experience in cloud security, DevSecOps automation, Zero Trust implementation, enterprise security engineering, and emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML).

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the senior cybersecurity engineering technical lead for DHS Intelligence Enterprise cybersecurity engineering initiatives.
• Develop and implement enterprise cybersecurity engineering strategies supporting classified, hybrid, and cloud environments.
• Integrate cybersecurity controls throughout the DevSecOps software development lifecycle and Agile development processes.
• Develop, maintain, and automate security validation scripts, Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) security controls, and continuous compliance processes.
• Design and maintain reusable secure reference architectures supporting enterprise applications and cloud-hosted systems.
• Configure, maintain, and optimize enterprise cybersecurity tools, including:
  • ACAS / Nessus
  • SonarQube
  • GitLab
  • SCAP Compliance Checker
  • Nmap
  • WebInspect
  • Other enterprise security assessment tools
• Maintain current Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIGs), Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP) benchmarks, Nessus plug-ins, and vulnerability signatures through scheduled updates.
• Lead Enterprise Audit (EA) engineering activities supporting Intelligence Community audit requirements, including implementation of ICS 500-27 audit standards.
• Develop, maintain, and enhance enterprise audit strategies, audit dashboards, and security monitoring capabilities.
• Collaborate with developers, system engineers, and cybersecurity teams to implement enterprise audit logging, audit handling procedures, and audit data-sharing agreements.
• Design secure cloud architectures supporting:
  • Intelligence Community (IC) Cloud
  • Commercial Cloud Enterprise (C2E)
  • AWS GovCloud
  • Hybrid cloud environments
  • Multi-cloud architectures
• Lead implementation and continuous improvement of Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) initiatives by:
  • Developing Zero Trust Roadmaps
  • Assessing organizational maturity
  • Identifying capability gaps
  • Defining implementation priorities
  • Developing Zero Trust metrics and dashboards
• Configure, administer, and maintain the enterprise Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) platform (RSA Archer or equivalent), including:
  • Database administration
  • Application configuration
  • Patch installation
  • System upgrades
  • Workflow customization
  • Security Control Catalog management
  • User administration and training
• Configure and maintain security control libraries aligned with:
  • NIST SP 800-53
  • NIST RMF
  • CNSSI 1253
  • ICD 503
  • DHS 4300C
  • Intelligence Community overlays
• Evaluate emerging cybersecurity technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), security automation, orchestration, and advanced analytics, to improve enterprise cybersecurity capabilities.
• Participate in Intelligence Community working groups focused on Cloud Security, Zero Trust, DevSecOps, AI/ML, and cybersecurity modernization.
• Prepare executive briefings, technical white papers, architecture diagrams, engineering recommendations, and strategic roadmaps for DHS leadership.
• Mentor cybersecurity engineers and provide technical leadership across multiple engineering disciplines.

Minimum Qualifications

• Active Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) security clearance.
• Minimum 10 years of progressively responsible experience supporting cybersecurity engineering for Federal Government or Intelligence Community programs.
• Demonstrated expertise in:
  • Cloud Security Architecture
  • DevSecOps
  • Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA)
  • Enterprise Security Engineering
  • Security Automation
  • Hybrid Cloud Security
• Current AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate/Professional or AWS Certified Security – Specialty certification.
• Current Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification.
• Current Scrum , Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) , or other recognized Agile certification.
• Expert knowledge of:
  • NIST Risk Management Framework (RMF)
  • NIST SP 800-53
  • NIST SP 800-171
  • CNSSI 1253
  • ICD 503
  • DHS Sensitive Systems Policy Directive 4300C
  • Zero Trust Architecture guidance (NIST SP 800-207)
• Expert experience implementing DevSecOps pipelines and security automation.
• Extensive experience with enterprise cybersecurity tools, including:
  • ACAS / Nessus
  • SonarQube
  • GitLab
  • SCAP
  • Nmap
  • WebInspect
  • Vulnerability management and code scanning platforms
• Experience supporting Intelligence Community Enterprise Audit requirements, including ICS 500-27 audit logging and audit review processes.
• Experience securing:
  • Windows Server
  • Linux
  • Cloud-native applications
  • Containers (Docker/Kubernetes)
  • Serverless architectures
• Experience administering Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) platforms, preferably RSA Archer .
• Bachelor's degree in Cybersecurity, Computer Science, Systems Engineering, Information Technology, Information Assurance, or a related technical discipline.
• Master's degree is preferred.

Preferred Qualifications

• Google Professional Cloud Security Engineer certification.
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate certification.
• RSA Archer Professional certification.
• Experience supporting DHS Intelligence & Analysis (I&A) or other Intelligence Community cybersecurity programs.
• Experience implementing AI/ML security controls and supporting Intelligence Community AI governance frameworks.
• Experience with Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) platforms.
• Experience supporting National Cross Domain Strategy and Management Office (NCDSMO) mandates and Cross Domain Solution (CDS) engineering.
• Knowledge of Kubernetes security, Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform/CloudFormation), container security, and secure CI/CD architectures.
• Experience implementing Continuous Authorization (cATO) and automated compliance validation.

Required Certifications

The following current certifications are required:

• Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect or AWS Certified Security – Specialty
• Scrum Master , Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) , or equivalent Agile certification

Preferred certifications include:

• Google Professional Cloud Security Engineer
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate
• RSA Archer Professional Certification

Clearance Requirement

Active Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) Clearance Required