Security Engineer (Computer Scientist)

Security Engineer (Computer Scientist)

VA Boston Healthcare System

Boston, MA 02130

The role is based within a leading healthcare system in New England that serves as a major referral center and a hub for clinical research. The organization is seeking a senior security engineer & architect who will be responsible for providing cybersecurity leadership, defining policies, architecting security frameworks, implementing comprehensive security & privacy solutions, and managing governance for translational genomics. The security engineer will define, design, and implement robust security mechanisms for genomic workloads across multiple user bases and data centers executing HPC, Imaging, and AI (neural networks and Large Language Models (LLM)) workloads processing very large volumes of distributed research data.

The security engineer will have relevant experience in genomic systems engineering security, perimeter security, network security, application security, infrastructure & platform security, data security, cloud & hybrid cloud security, and Cyber Security practices, technology, tools, and solutions. You will be proficient in using cybersecurity tools, network topologies, intrusion detection, PKI, threat management, and secure networks. As a security leader, you will work on complex infrastructure problems spanning on-premises and clouds and be able to create seamless security solutions for genomic research. Your responsibilities also include security strategy, security audits, secure infrastructure automation, PKI infrastructure, cloud HSM, application security, data security & privacy, and code review automation techniques.

You will join a multidisciplinary team of clinicians, researchers, data scientists, and software engineers at a nationally recognized VA health system. This role offers a unique opportunity to define, manage, maintain, and implement strong security measures for high-impact translational genomic research.

PRIMARY DUTIES:

• Define organization governance, audit, and security strategy.
• Define, design, build, and implement security architecture and security systems.
• Define, design, and implement security policies and principles, including system security, platform and infrastructure security, application security, user security, data security, data privacy and data governance.
• Define and design security strategies for AI-based solutions, including LLM/MI for inferencing and training.
• Design and implement AAA (Authentication, Authorization, and Access Control) for all systems.
• Implement seamless security and privacy for data in and distributed across on-premises data centers and cloud (Azure and AWS)
• Define and document security standards and direct implementation of standards and guidelines.
• Proactively monitor potential threats and device solutions to harden the systems, platforms, and applications.
• Conduct periodic and ad-hoc security reviews to eliminate potential threats, minimize attack surface, and provide continuous security solution updates and innovative security solutions.
• Keep abreast of the latest security trends, including homomorphic encryption and other security advancements, and be able to evaluate fit for purpose and implement appropriate solutions.
• Evaluate security tools and techniques, rationalize the selection and follow-through with Proof-Of-Concept, prototype, migration, and implementation.
• Create and manage the Security Risk plan.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATION:

1. MUST be a US Citizen and MUST clear a US government background check
2. Resume must indicate full-time or part-time and include hours for each position listed under work experience.
3. DEGREE: Bachelor's degree in computer science or bachelor's degree with 30 semester hours in a combination of mathematics, statistics, and computer science. At least 15 of the 30 semester hours must have included any combination of statistics and mathematics that included differential and integral calculus. All academic degrees and coursework must be from accredited or pre-accredited institutions.
4. EXPERIENCE: One year of experience at the next lower grade. Experience must demonstrate progressively more complex computer science work (systems design, architecture, research, etc.)

NOTE: Reference OPM website for more information on Qualification Standards: Computer Engineer series 854 on the OPM GS Qualification Standards, https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/0800/computer-engineering-series-0854/

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

1. Knowledge of security architectures and industry best practices in cybersecurity.
2. Knowledge of threat management and proactive avoidance.
3. Knowledge of data security, data privacy, DLP, disaster recovery, BCP, data access management, encryption, anonymization, and data governance in the context of distributed healthcare and genomics data.
4. Knowledge of application security, information security, user security, and infrastructure security
5. In-depth knowledge of security architecture, solutions, tools, and technologies in on-premises and cloud (AWS, Azure), cloud security, and on-premises and enterprise security.
6. Working knowledge of cybersecurity tools (Okta, Ping Identity, and other industry-leading tools).
7. Experience in implementing industry-standard security, privacy, and audit tools, including AD, federated AD, Azure AD, IDP, and other security tools.
8. In-depth knowledge of network security and firewalls.
9. Advanced knowledge of security protocols, MFA, SSO, cryptography, federated security management, multi-cloud app security, and distributed data security.
10. Knowledge of HIPPA compliance, SOC 2, GDPR, ISO 27001, IRB guidelines, DLP techniques, and AAA tools.
11. Knowledge of security and privacy practices in using AI technologies, including LLM for genomic processing, is a plus.
12. Knowledge of the U.S. Federal Government ATO process and FISMA, NIST guidance

POINT OF CONTACT: Applicants should submit a cover letter, CV, and unofficial transcripts by June 30, 2026. Include “Security Engineer/Computer Scientist” in the e-mail subject line to Purushotham.Karnam@va.gov.

Please confirm US citizenship in your cover letter.

EEO/Equal Opportunity Employer