Lead IC Security Engineer

Location: McLean, Virginia; Bethesda, Maryland

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The Mission Operations Department supports national intelligence mission centers by strengthening warning, collection, analysis, enterprise coordination, and strategy execution. The department helps senior government sponsors identify seams across mission areas, reduce fragmentation, and build integrated responses to complex national security challenges. It provides the policy, analytic, operational, cybersecurity, and technical depth required to help mission partners work as a unified enterprise advancing intelligence integration and national security outcomes.

Position Summary:

MITRE's National Intelligence Division is seeking a Lead IC Security Engineer to provide hands-on security engineering and authorization support for a prototype geospatial intelligence and identity intelligence platform composed of several integrated systems for an Intelligence Community sponsor. This full-time role will oversee the implementation of security controls, secure configurations, and authorization documentation needed for the prototype to meet ICD-503 requirements and NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 controls and to support an Authority to Operate (ATO) submission.

The successful candidate will serve as the security engineering focal point for the prototype, reviewing and documenting engineering and development changes, assessing their security impact, and ensuring that system design, implementation, and operation remain aligned with the approved security baseline. The engineer will work closely with the cloud infrastructure engineer, who will lead cloud environment setup and workflow implementation, to translate security requirements into secure cloud configurations, pipeline controls, automated checks, logging, evidence collection, and repeatable deployment practices.

Roles & Responsibilities:

• Lead the security engineering approach for the prototype platform, mapping system architecture, components, services, and configurations to applicable ICD-503 requirements, NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 controls, and sponsor security expectations.
• Oversee implementation, validation, and documentation of technical, operational, and management security controls across cloud infrastructure, applications, interfaces, data services, and supporting platform components.
• Develop and maintain the security documentation and evidence package supporting the ATO submission, including control implementation statements, architecture and data-flow artifacts, configuration evidence, test results, risk decisions, remediation status, and other sponsor-required authorization artifacts.
• Review and document system, software, infrastructure, and configuration changes; assess security and authorization impacts; maintain traceability to requirements and controls; and help keep the system security baseline current as the prototype evolves.
• Partner directly with the cloud infrastructure engineer responsible for cloud setup and workflows to implement secure infrastructure configurations, pipeline security gates, automated security testing, vulnerability and dependency scanning, secrets handling, audit logging, and repeatable compliance evidence collection.
• Collaborate with software developers, systems engineers, architects, data engineers, and test teams to integrate security into design, development, integration, test, deployment, and operations; identify findings and technical risks; and drive practical remediation actions.
• Coordinate with sponsor security and authorization stakeholders to prepare for control assessments, respond to questions and findings, track corrective actions to closure, and maintain an authorization-ready security posture throughout prototype development and transition.

Basic Qualifications:

• Typically requires a minimum of 8 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 6 years with a Master’s degree; or 3 years with a PhD; or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• Bachelor's degree in Cybersecurity, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Systems Engineering, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Demonstrated security engineering experience supporting complex software-intensive, cloud-based, or distributed systems in classified or other high-assurance environments.
• Hands-on experience interpreting, implementing, documenting, and assessing NIST SP 800-53 security controls and supporting Risk Management Framework (RMF) authorization activities, including preparation of ATO artifacts and evidence.
• Must have experience with the following technologies: wide range of AWS services, Terraform/OpenTofu, Ansible, containers and container orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes), Linux shell scripting, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Working knowledge of ICD-503 and Intelligence Community cybersecurity, authorization, and security control implementation expectations.
• Experience reviewing system and software changes for security impact and maintaining configuration, control, and authorization documentation as systems evolve.
• Experience securing cloud environments and modern development platforms, including identity and access management, network protections, encryption, logging/monitoring, vulnerability management, secure configuration, and data protection.
• Experience collaborating with cloud infrastructure and software engineering teams in DevSecOps environments, including integrating security requirements and automated checks into infrastructure-as-code and workflows.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to produce clear technical security documentation, explain risk and control decisions, and work effectively with government sponsors and multidisciplinary technical teams.
• Must have an active Top Secret/SCI with Poly 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 has an on-site requirement of 5 days a week on-site.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Prior experience serving as an Information Systems Security Engineer (ISSE), security engineer, ISSO, or comparable cybersecurity role supporting an IC or DoD system authorization.
• Experience leading security engineering and ATO activities for cloud-native prototypes, data platforms, microservices, or multi-system integration efforts.
• Experience with automated compliance and evidence collection, infrastructure-as-code security, SAST/SCA/container/IaC scanning, vulnerability management, SIEM/logging platforms, and DevSecOps security tooling.
• Experience applying secure configuration guidance such as DISA STIGs, CIS benchmarks, or sponsor-specific hardening standards where applicable.
• Experience with authorization/GRC tooling such as Xacta, eMASS, or sponsor-equivalent platforms.
• Familiarity with security considerations for geospatial, identity, intelligence, and sensitive data platforms, including access control, data handling, auditing, and cross-system interfaces.
• Relevant cybersecurity certification such as CISSP, CCSP, Security , or equivalent technical/security credential.
• Ability to build trust quickly with senior sponsors, operate with sound judgment and minimal direction, and balance mission delivery with security and authorization requirements.

This requisition requires the candidate to have a minimum of the following clearance(s):

This requisition requires the hired candidate to have or obtain, within one year from the date of hire, the following clearance(s):

Salary compensation range and midpoint:

Work Location Type:

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All 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.

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