Cyber Security Engineer

Description:

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory, is seeking HPC Cyber Security Engineers to join the National Center for Computational Sciences (NCCS). ORNL operates some of the world’s fastest supercomputers, enabling groundbreaking science for global research teams. This role offers the opportunity to contribute to safeguarding the integrity, performance, and reliability of world-class supercomputing systems while working in a collaborative and innovative environment.

The selected candidates will join the HPC Cybersecurity Engineering Team, responsible for architecting, developing, deploying, and maintaining advanced cybersecurity frameworks for supercomputing environments. Engineers will work on challenges unique to HPC, including scaling security tools, protecting sensitive computational research, and enabling open science. This position is well-suited for creative and collaborative professionals with a strong DevSecOps mindset and deep Linux expertise.

Key Responsibilities:

• Translate complex technical security concepts for communication with scientific and management staff.

• Contribute to defining the Supercomputing security architectural vision and lead teams in evaluating scientific capabilities against core security values.

• Develop and maintain security applications deployed via container orchestration tools.

• Automate policy assessments to validate compliance with cybersecurity and operational requirements.

• Engineer secure software development frameworks and tools.

• Analyze, triage, and respond to system, application, and network events; monitor security systems such as IDS/HIDS and SIEM.

• Recommend enhancements to policies, implement improvements, and document security procedures.

• Respond to vulnerabilities, coordinate patches, and conduct penetration testing.

• Participate in a rotating 24/7 on-call incident response schedule.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or a related field (equivalent education and experience will be considered).

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree in Computer Science or related field with 1–2 years of relevant experience.

• Strong knowledge of cybersecurity concepts, best practices, and tools.

• Experience working in UNIX/Linux environments.

• Proficiency in DevSecOps practices, version control, and scripting/programming.

• Familiarity with security tools (IDS/HIDS, vulnerability scanners, SIEM).

• Background in incident response, forensics, and configuration management tools (Puppet, Ansible).

• Knowledge of network and application security architecture and design.

• Understanding of common protocols (DNS, DHCP, LDAP, SNMP, SMTP, HTTP, SSL).

• Prior HPC experience is beneficial but not required.

Special Requirements:

• Must be able to obtain and maintain a DOE security clearance.

• Pre-employment and ongoing drug testing required (including marijuana, which remains illegal under federal law).

• Must be eligible for a Personal Identity Verification (PIV) credential requiring a federal background check.

• Foreign nationals must meet residency requirements or obtain Local Site Specific Only (LSSO) risk determination.

Benefits:
ORNL offers an attractive and comprehensive benefits package including:

• Competitive salary with pension and 401(k) retirement plans

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance

• Life and disability insurance

• Generous vacation and paid holidays

• Parental leave and wellness programs

• Flexible spending and health savings accounts

• Educational assistance and relocation support

• On-site amenities (fitness center, cafeteria, banking)

• Employee assistance programs and discounts