In this role, you will serve as a high-impact, strategic catalyst for a broader Cyber Purple Team initiative, bridging the gap between offensive operations and defensive engineering. The team is actively developing, testing, and maintaining advanced cybersecurity solutions to protect space-ground systems, data links, and specialized infrastructure against complex modern threats. As part of this mission, our Red Team aggressively stress-tests defensive stacks, including the integration and deployment of the out-of-band cybersecurity tool Manticore and the in-band respond-and-protect solution Kraken.

Unlike a standard penetration testing role, this position focuses heavily on high-fidelity nation-state adversary emulation, advanced capability development, and specialized domain exploitation (including RF and satellite communication protocols). You will move beyond passive security to actively harden defenses, identify hidden vulnerabilities, and provide actionable insights to fortify critical infrastructure.

This position is located in Colorado Springs, CO. Supporting at a flexible hybrid schedule.

Key Responsibilities:

• Research, develop, and maintain custom offensive toolsets, including C2 frameworks, initial access payloads, and post-exploitation modules
• Translate real-world threat intelligence into automated tradecraft and sophisticated, multi-layered simulated adversarial operations to achieve high-fidelity nation-state emulation
• Architect and deploy resilient, obfuscated redirector networks and sophisticated Command and Control (C2) infrastructure using covert channels to ensure operational persistence and bypass advanced EDR/XDR and NDR solutions
• Conduct vulnerability exploitation across diverse operating systems, complex mission architectures, and specialized hardware, including the reverse-engineering of embedded systems and exploiting RF and satellite communication protocols
• Provide real-world offensive intelligence essential for stress-testing and refining defensive counter-measures. Directly support the evaluation of the Manticore and Kraken security platforms to elevate the organization's collective security posture
• Conduct deep-dive analysis into modern defensive technologies (AMSI, ETW, Kernel-level monitoring) to develop novel bypass techniques against state-of-the-art Blue Team detection stacks

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity or related field
• 6 minimum years proficiency in low-level languages for tool development and memory injection (C, C++, Go, Rust) as well as scripting languages (Python, PowerShell)
• Required Certifications: Must meet DoDM 8140 / IAWD 8570 IAT Level II minimum requirements
• Deep understanding of Windows Internals (PE format, API hooking, process hollowing), Linux, and/or Cloud architectures (AWS, Azure, GCP) from an offensive perspective
• Proven experience reverse-engineering embedded/specialized systems and transforming proof-of-concept (PoC) code into stable, operationally ready exploits
• Deep familiarity with the MITRE ATT&CK® framework and the ability to emulate the full lifecycle of an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT)
• US Citizenship and active Top Secret security clearance

Preferred Skills & Certifications

• Certifications: Technical designations such as OSEP (Offensive Security Experienced Penetration Tester), CRTO (Certified Red Team Operator), CRTL (Certified Red Team Leader) or GXPN (Giac Exploit Researcher and Advanced Penetration Tester).
• DevOps Mindset: Experience with CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, Ansible) to rapidly deploy and tear down operational environments.

The Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is a technical specialist who thinks like an engineer but acts like an adversary. You are someone who isn't satisfied with using "off-the-shelf" tools and prefers to understand the underlying code to modify it for specific mission requirements. You thrive in the "preparation" phase, knowing that a successful operation is won or lost before the first packet is sent. This a role that will include hybrid on site duties.

The estimated salary range for this position is $155,000.00 - $180,000.00, commensurate on experience and technical skillset.