Description:
Job Description
Penn State's Applied Research Lab (ARL) has partnered with TEKsystems in order to bring on an two Cyber Security Engineers on a 12 month contract-to-hire basis. ARL has the plans to make these consultants full time employment offers. This position sits fully on-site in Reston, Virginia. All candidates must have an Active TS/SCI security clearance with adjudicated Full Scope Polygraph.

These positions will be filled at the intermediate professional level. Minimum requirements include a Bachelor's Degree or higher and a minimum of 1 years of experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
ABOUT ARL:
Applied Research Laboratory (ARL) at Penn State is an integral part of the University and was established in 1945 at the request of the U.S. Navy. Originally focused on undersea weapons technology development, ARL now includes a broad research portfolio addressing the needs of various sponsors. As a designated University Affiliated Research Center, ARL conducts essential research, development, and systems engineering in support of our nation's priorities free from conflict of interest or competition with industry. ARL has helped secure our nation for over 70 years. When Dr. Eric Walker moved 100 or so engineers from Harvard University to Penn State in 1945, the USA was standing down from its largest war ever. The vision, however, was to sustain the culture of innovation and development in order to keep our nation secure.
Modern warfare and security are evolving rapidly. Where the nation previously enjoyed dominance, we now have to operate in an increasingly contested battlespace in the sea, air, land, and space domains - as well as cyberspace. Now more than ever, ARL is needed to help guarantee the technological superiority of the United States. The success and longevity of ARL is due in large part to the mission focus and forward thinking of our faculty and staff. Throughout our history, ARL has constantly challenged the status quo by developing and delivering disruptive innovation.
Today, more than half of our research portfolio enables capabilities above the ocean's surface. ARL's research portfolio has evolved over time to meet the needs of our defense, intelligence, and homeland security sponsors.
ARL's research teams perform basic scientific exploration, proof of principal/proof of concept experimentation, applied research and development, rapid prototyping, and operational support for a sponsor base spanning all military services, much of the extended U.S. national security community, and other government agencies. To accomplish our mission, ARL partners with industry on many of our programs, speeding technology maturation and driving new capabilities to the field. ARL seeks intellectually curious, conscientious, and creative people to solve complex problems pursuant to our national security mission. In FY23 ARL sustained 123 Sponsors, and $416 million in net funded awards.
ARL Sponsors include:
- NAVSEA 48%
- ONR 16%
- DARPA 8%
- USG 8%
- OTHER DOD 5%
- DTRA 4%
- OTHER NAVY 4%
- OTHER ARMED SERVICES 3%
- OTHER USG 1%
- USMC 1%
- JIATF-S 1%
- INDUSTRY 1%
ABOUT THE ROLE:
The Cyber Security Systems Engineers will be a part of the high security Special Program environments in the Information Technology Services Division, located in the Enterprise Operations Office of The Applied Research Laboratory (ARL) at Penn State University. These roles will provide advanced systems engineering and administration, computing support, and specialized support services for the enablement of key research and administrative functions by ensuring the security, compliance, functionality, and reliability of systems through hands on configuration and support. These positions will be fully onsite.
Responsibilities include:
Perform system and security engineering including coordinating, designing, recommending, evaluating, and managing new and existing security services, controls, solutions, processes, and procedures
Monitor all ARL Special Program networks and provide a timely response to all cybersecurity incidents
Independently respond to alerts, tickets, tasks, user activity and requests, and events, generated by multiple security systems, IT teams, or units within the Special Program environment
Conduct risk assessments to determine residual level of risk and any required mitigations
Oversight of the installation and configuration of systems to comply with Government regulations and maintain compliance documentation
Collaborate with IT colleagues on the design of technical infrastructures targeting specific goals
Required skills and experience areas include:
Demonstrated experience in the enterprise level administration of both Windows and Linux systems via effective use of modern endpoint management tools such as Ansible, Red Hat Satellite, MECM/SCCM
Strong understanding of cyber security, system administration, and networking fundamentals within a heterogeneous network environment
Operating and providing systems administration and support in a high-security research computing environment
Experience with cyber security toolsets such as ACAS/Tenable NessSCAP compliance checker and required workflows for system remediation and hardening
Exposure to or experience operating within a DoD type environment; including knowledge in NIST/ISO standards, DoD directives, and regulatory requirements (800-171/53 and STIGs)
A current security related certification (Security , CASP , CySA , or similar)
Current eligibility for access to classified information at the Top Secret level or higher (may be subject to a government investigation to upgrade clearance eligibility) is highly preferred.
Skills:
comptia security , security , CISSP, DoD, NIST, ISO, linux, windows, UNIX, RMF, Nessus, Trivvy, SEIM
Top Skills Details:
comptia security ,security ,CISSP,DoD,NIST,ISO,linux,windows,UNIX,RMF,Nessus,Trivvy,SEIM
Additional Skills & Qualifications:
These positions will be filled at the intermediate professional level. Minimum requirements include a Bachelor's Degree or higher and a minimum of 1 years of experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Experience Level:
Intermediate Level
About TEKsystems:
We're partners in transformation. We help clients activate ideas and solutions to take advantage of a new world of opportunity. We are a team of 80,000 strong, working with over 6,000 clients, including 80% of the Fortune 500, across North America, Europe and Asia. As an industry leader in Full-Stack Technology Services, Talent Services, and real-world application, we work with progressive leaders to drive change. That's the power of true partnership. TEKsystems is an Allegis Group company.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regards to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.