Demo

Unix CNO Developer (TS/SCI + Poly)

The DarkStar Group, LLC
Annapolis, MD Full Time
POSTED ON 1/2/2026
AVAILABLE BEFORE 2/1/2026

Description
The DarkStar Group, a GRVTY Company is seeking a Mobile CNO Developer with a TS/SCI Poly clearance (applicable to this customer) to join one of our top projects in Annapolis Junction, MD.  Below is an overview of the project, as well as information on our company, our benefits, and our $25,000 referral program.

THE PROJECT
The DarkStar Group's team conducts R&D and prototyping of new CNO capabilities for our customer.  The work involves Vulnerability Research, Exploit Development, CNO tool development and enhancement, and infrastructure support (DevOps) for access operations.  Platforms involved include iOS, Android, MacOS, Linux, Windows, and other environments.  This is some of the most impactful work in the Intelligence Community, with the new capabilities developed by this team getting rapidly deployed and into the hands of users. One of the best things about this project is the customer.  They give Engineers huge latitude in choosing programming languages and technologies, and they encourage exploration of new tech.  There is almost no distinction here between blue-badgers and green-badgers: the team is highly-competent, and the Branch and Section Leads do an excellent job of shielding the engineers from any organizational politics.  This team regularly needs Vulnerability Researchers, Exploit Developers, CNO Tool Developers, Reverse Engineers, and other types of technologists.  While roles open and close, the program Lead's attitude is "find us good people; we'll find good places for them".

Work on this program takes place in various locations at and around the Ft. Meade, MD area (we cannot support remote work) and requires a TS/SCI Polygraph clearance (acceptable to this customer).

THE ROLE

  • The candidate will join a team of developers designing, developing, testing, and maintaining Unix CNO capabilities in support of the Customer's mission requirements.

Required Skills

  • Bachelor’s Degree and six (6) years of experience OR minimum ten (10) years of experience in relevant field,
  • Minimum eight (8) years of experience programming in Assembly, C, C , Java, Perl, and/or Python,
  • Minimum seven (7) years of experience developing in one (1) or more of the following: Windows applications using Visual Studio or .NET environments; UNIX applications using make files or comparable build environments
  • Minimum six (6) years of experience with programming CNO tools and techniques,
  • Minimum five (5) years of experience managing and supervising teams in support of Government CNO capability development,
  • Minimum five (5) years of experience programming CNO tools for the US Government,
  • Minimum four (4) years of experience programming techniques to evade host and/or network-based IDS, and
  • Minimum four (4) years’ experience in network sockets programming and application-level protocols.
  • Experience with designing and writing code in C/C along with Python,
  • Experience reading or writing assembly (x86, x64, ARM, PPC, MIPS, SPAC, or others),
  • Experience with debuggers such as gdb, 
  • Experience with reverse engineering tools such as IDA Pro, HexRays, Ghidra, Binary Ninja, or objdump,
  • Understanding of Unix internals including basic understanding of system loaders,
  • Experience with virtualization technologies,
  • Experience with kernel programming and device drivers,
  • Understanding of network protocols and sockets, common CNO techniques, exploitation mitigations such as DEP and ASLR, and modern software engineering concepts, 
  • Experience with project management best practices such as Scrum and Kanban methodologies, and
  • Experience with version control systems (e.g., Git) along with understanding of basic configuration management principles.

About The DarkStar Group

Our Company

The DarkStar Group is a small business that solves BIG problems. We're one of the Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private companies in the US, and our engineers and scientists support the most critical national security missions in Virginia, Maryland, and elsewhere. Data Science, Software Engineering, Cloud/AWS Infrastructure, and Cyber/CNO are our core areas of expertise. We offer interesting and important work, job security, some of the best and most flexible benefits you'll find in the IC, and salaries so strong that they'll likely surprise you. 

Our Benefits

The DarkStar Group offers exceptional compensation and benefits:

  • very strong salaries;
  • 100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision premiums for you and all dependents;
  • the ability to get increased salary if you don't need medical/dental/vision;
  • 100% company-paid disability and life insurance benefits;
  • a generously-funded HSA;
  • an 8% 401(k) contribution; 
  • 31 days of PTO/holidays to start (more with tenure);
  • the ability to flex time across pay periods without using your PTO;
  • a generous training budget;
  • $25,000 employee referral bonuses;
  • business development / growth incentives; and
  • top notch company swag.

** We have a huge growth opportunity, so we are offering up to a $25,000 reward for anyone new you refer whom we hire. **

The DarkStar Group, A GRVTY Company, is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability. 
 
Anyone requiring reasonable accommodations should email ds_recruiting@grvty.com or call 703-544-7930 with requested details.  A member of the HR team will respond to your request within 2 business days. 

Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal

Salary.com Estimation for Unix CNO Developer (TS/SCI + Poly) in Annapolis, MD
$96,578 to $120,785
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