Principal 5G/ nextG Cybersecurity Architect

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.MITRE's Secure Enterprise and Cloud Architectures Department (L523) in the Cyber Engineering Division provides subject matter expertise and consulting to Federal Government sponsors in enterprise-wide security architecture, with specific emphasis on cloud computing, zero trust architecture, 5G/ nextG, and networking technologies. The department advances the state of cybersecurity while leveraging the functionality, interoperability, resiliency, and cost efficiencies of advanced architectures and technologies.The department is part of MITRE Technology & Engineering, driving mission impact by delivering nation-leading, differentiated capabilities to consequential national programs across the six Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) that MITRE leads. Our goal is to develop solutions and deliver outcomes for our sponsors to help ensure the security, health, and prosperity of the American public. MITRE Technology & Engineering applies the expertise of technical staff and subject matter experts across our programs by fostering and developing technical talent, stewarding technical depth, conceiving and executing research, and ensuring MITRE's capabilities - people, methods, labs, platforms, and environments - remain on the leading edge.Position Overview:MITRE is seeking a Principal 5G/nextG Cybersecurity Architect to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and techniques that will innovate development of secure next-generation communications architectures for Federal Government sponsors. The successful candidate will leverage real-world telecommunications experience and AI to drive the development, implementation, and maturation of 5G/ nextG enterprise strategy through architectural design, standards development, and cybersecurity engineering. This role provides technical leadership on interoperability, infrastructure, zero trust enabled nextG, threat-informed security, and the development of advanced telecommunications capabilities for the usage in a variety of unique applications.Roles & Responsibilities:Leverage deep expertise of 5G/nextG and modern AI techniques and technologies to develop and deliver innovative, secure, and resilient cellular architectures, reference architectures, design patterns, solutions, and implementation strategies for government customers.Support the development, implementation, and maturation of enterprise 5G/nextG strategies, roadmaps, standards, and governance.Lead or support the planning, organization, and execution of 5G/nextG cybersecurity architecture, research, engineering, and implementation in USG projects and programs.Leverage vision and expertise to advance and enable the secure use of AI, machine learning, automation, and zero trust in next-generation communications systems.Apply 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 5G standards and emerging nextG standards to complex technical challenges and advanced system designs, translating standards into architecture decisions, security requirements, and implementation guidance.Develop architectural solutions and operational metrics for wireless broadband infrastructure across government installations.Support the development and evolution of 5G reference architectures that promote security, resilience, and interoperability across hardware, software, network infrastructure, cloud and edge platforms, and end-user environments.Apply knowledge of network architectures, security technologies, zero trust, and cyber threats to help sponsors protect, detect, respond to, and recover from cyberattacks directed against 5G/nextG systems.Conduct and/or consume threat modeling and risk assessments, and translate the results into security requirements, controls, design decisions, test objectives, and acquisition criteria.Provide technical and strategic recommendations on requirements, standards and policy, acquisition and sustainment, architecture implementation, and technology transitions.Collaborate with senior government officials, program leaders, engineers, operators, and industry stakeholders to solve complex technical problems and deliver timely, cost-effective 5G/nextG guidance and solutions.Communicate complex technical findings, architecture tradeoffs, and risk decisions effectively to senior executives, technical teams, and non-technical stakeholders.Basic Qualifications:Typically requires a minimum of 10 years of related experience with a bachelor's degree; 8 years of experience with a master's degree; or 5 years of experience with a PhD; or an equivalent combination of related education and work experience.Advanced ability to architect secure solutions at the enterprise level and apply zero trust principles to the architecture of complex nextG systems.Demonstrated expertise in 3GPP, ENISA and GSMA 5G/nextG standards, architecture, and system design, with substantive engagement in emerging nextG standards and security considerations.Experience in 5G/nextG telecommunications, wireless network architecture, telecommunications systems engineering, or related communications technologies.Experience with wireless broadband infrastructure and large-scale or enterprise deployments.Experience applying cybersecurity principles to 5G/nextG networks, architectures, and threat environments.Expertise applying security controls and best practices for network security, identity and access management, application security, data protection, endpoint security, and cloud-hosted systems.Experience developing technical and security reference architectures, standards, design patterns, operational metrics, and reference models for enterprise or telecommunications systems.Knowledge of security logging, telemetry, analytics, orchestration, security incident and event management (SIEM), and security data lake technologies and their application within enterprise security architectures and zero trust.Demonstrated ability to adapt AI/ML capabilities to dynamic cybersecurity and operational environments, enabling secure and resilient telecommunications deployments and rapid decision support to network and security operators. Strong knowledge of common attack techniques, cyber threat landscapes, and threat-informed architecture and engineering practices.Ability to lead and work collaboratively with others to solve challenging technical problems across organizational and technical boundaries.Strong verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to communicate effectively with government senior executives and diverse technical audiences.Must have an active Top Secret U.S Government issued Security Clearance and must be eligible to obtain and maintain a Top Secret/SCI 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 clearance.This position requires a minimum of 3 days per week on-sitePreferred Qualifications: Active U.S. Government Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) security clearance.Advanced degree (i.e., Masters, PhD) in information technology, cybersecurity, engineering, telecommunications, artificial intelligence, or a related field.Relevant professional certifications.Understanding of security architecture frameworks and methodologies.Experience conducting or consuming threat modeling and translating results into design requirements and verification objectives.Experience with U.S. Government policy and guidance, including NIST Risk Management Framework (RMF), NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF), DoD 8500-series policy, CNSSI instructions, cybersecurity executive orders, NIST Special Publication 800-series guidance, and NISPOM.Experience supporting command, control, and communications (C3) operations, policy, or governance forums.Prior experience supporting an Office of the Secretary of War (OSW)-level organization or comparable department-level headquarters.Experience providing technical recommendations for acquisition, sustainment, standards development, and technology transition activities.Experience implementing or managing SIEM tools, security data lakes, and enterprise security monitoring capabilities.Extensive experience providing senior-level technical leadership for 5G/nextG, advanced wireless, or next-generation communications programs.This 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 Secret/SCISalary compensation range and midpoint:$172,800 - $216,000 - $259,200 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: R117556Profession: Engineering