Defensive Cybersecurity Engineer/Blue Team

At MITRE, your passion fuels work that impacts our nation and improves lives. This is where your skills strengthen national security, cybersecurity, health, transportation, and citizen services. We’re a nonprofit engineering, applied research, and advanced technology organization working in the public interest. With objectivity and integrity at our core, we lead federally funded research and development centers for U.S. government agencies – collaborating with industry and academia to deliver integrated, high-impact solutions that advance our nation’s health, security, and prosperity. Our people tackle the toughest technical challenges, supported by competitive benefits, meaningful career development, and a culture of innovation, collaboration, and technical excellence. Choose MITRE for a career with purpose — and help shape the future.Department Summary:MITRE’s Defensive Cyber Operations department is seeking creative people to work collaboratively with our staff of cybersecurity engineers in the fields of defensive cyber operations, threat hunting, detection engineering, and cyber deception and adversary engagement with increasing emphasis on Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support mission-driven cybersecurity initiatives for government sponsors.This role blends hands-on defensive operations with advanced research and applied development in AI-enabled cybersecurity. The successful candidate will help design, implement, and evaluate next-generation defensive capabilities that leverage machine learning, large language models, autonomous systems, and advanced analytics to protect mission-critical systems and national infrastructure.Roles & Responsibilities:Our work responsibilities vary, but could include:Combining cybersecurity domain expertise and contemporary data science skills to enhance adversary detection, network defense, and Security Operations Center (SOC) process improvement.Developing AI-enabled cybersecurity tools for anomaly detection, behavioral analytics, malware analysis, and adversary emulation.Researching emerging AI techniques (e.g., machine learning, deep learning, generative AI, reinforcement learning) and assessing their applicability to defensive cyber missions.Using MITRE ATT&CK to hunt the adversary and build TTP-based defenses.Using detection engineering to create security analytics and dashboards in Splunk or Elastic and integrating new data feedsAutomating container environments via continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD)Acting as a trusted advisor to the Federal GovernmentBasic Qualifications:Typically requires a minimum of 8 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 6 years and a Master’s degree; or a PhD with 3 years’ experience; or equivalent combination of related education and work experienceKnowledge of cyber security operations and cyber security principles and their applicationExperience in at least one of: security operations centers, threat hunting, detection engineering, malware analysis, or cyber deceptionApplicants selected for this position will be subject to a government clearance security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified informationMust have an active Top Secret U.S Government issued Security Clearance. Per the U.S. Government’s eligibility requirements, you must be a U.S Citizen to be considered for a security clearanceThis position requires a minimum of 3 days a week on-site.Preferred Qualifications: Experience with Splunk or Elastic/ELKExperience using MITRE ATT&CKExperience using or developing AI tools and techniques for defensive cyber operationsTS/SCI preferredThis requisition requires the candidate to have a minimum of the following clearance(s):Top SecretThis requisition requires the hired candidate to have or obtain, within one year from the date of hire, the following clearance(s):Top SecretSalary compensation range and midpoint:$158,800 - $198,500 - $238,200 AnnualWork Location Type:OnsiteIt is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.Commitment to Non-DiscriminationAll qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, status as a protected veteran or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, local or international law.MITRE intends to maintain a website that is fully accessible to all individuals. If you are unable to search or apply for jobs and would like to request a reasonable accommodation for any part of MITRE’s employment process, please email View email address on click.appcast.io for general support and View email address on click.appcast.io for intern positions. This service is for individuals requiring reasonable accommodation requests. Please note that vendor solicitations will not receive a reply.Benefits information may be found here.Copyright 1997-2026, The MITRE Corporation. All rights reserved. MITRE is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation. Material on this site may be copied and distributed with permission only.Job SummaryJob number: R117225Profession: Engineering