Senior Information System Security Officer (ISSO)

Peraton

• $176K — $282K *
Information Technology
11 - 15 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 12+ years of experience in relevant fields with advanced degrees (BS, MS, PhD) or equivalent experience.
  • 8+ years in information security/compliance for DOD/IC or government systems, emphasizing RMF deliverables and ATO events.
  • Leadership experience in coordinating security and engineering teams and collaborating with stakeholders.
  • Ability to mentor and guide junior team members effectively.
  • Strong skills in writing risk packages that withstand scrutiny from assessors and authorizing officials.
  • In-depth knowledge of continuous monitoring and RMF activities at scale.
  • Current certification (CISSP, CISM, etc.) and active TS/SCI with Polygraph.

Responsibilities

  • Lead ATO/reauthorization efforts for complex systems.
  • Mentor junior ISSOs and create security operations playbooks.
  • Conduct risk analysis and provide strategic recommendations to leadership.
  • Collaborate with internal teams to drive security engineering and compliance outcomes.
  • Brief senior stakeholders on security status, risk trends, and remediation efforts.
  • Support the security lifecycle throughout development, operations, and modernization.
  • Perform RMF activities, including evidence collection and continuous monitoring.

Benefits

  • Potential eligibility for an increased sign-on bonus (details discussed during recruitment).
Full Job Description
Responsibilities

Peraton Labs is seeking a poly cleared Senior Information System Security Officer for a mission-critical, highly complex HPC environment enabling research across multiple security domains. You will own day-to-day security operations aligned to RMF, drive continuous monitoring, maintain ATO posture, and partner closely with subcontractor and customer personnel.

 

This position requires full-time on-site work in Laurel, or a customer site near College Park, MD.

 

Key responsibilities may include

  • Lead or co-lead ATO/reauthorization efforts for complex boundary systems
  • Mentor junior ISSOs and shape security operations playbooks
  • Perform risk analysis and author formal recommendations to leadership
  • Drive security engineering outcomes by partnering with internal teams on scalable compliance patterns
  • Brief senior internal and customer stakeholders on security posture, systemic risk trends, remediation burn-down, and authorization readiness
  • Act as the Senior ISSO supporting the system security lifecycle across development, operations, and modernization
  • Execute and maintain RMF activities (e.g., control implementation oversight, evidence collection, assessment support, POA&M management, continuous monitoring)
  • Maintain security authorization artifacts (e.g., SSP, control narratives, diagrams, inheritance/leverage controls, CM plan, incident handling plan, contingency artifacts, user/admin procedures)
  • Operate continuous monitoring: vulnerability management, config compliance, patching coordination, scan result triage, risk acceptance, and remediation verification.
  • Review and approve security-relevant changes through configuration/change control and validate security configurations after major upgrades
  • Support incident response and reporting: participate in investigations, coordinate containment actions, preserve evidence, and contribute to post-incident lessons learned
  • Ensure least privilege/access governance: account management oversight, privileged access workflows, periodic access reviews, and audit compliance requirements
  • Translate security requirements into implementation guidance that engineering teams can operationalize (clear, testable, and automatable where possible)

 

*This position may be eligible for an increased sign-on bonus. Eligibility, bonus amount, and applicable terms and conditions will be discussed during the recruiting process*

 

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Qualifications

Required qualifications

  • 12+ years of experience and a BS in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, or related technical discipline, MS and 10+ years of experience, or a PhD and 8+ years of experience. Four years of additional experience is required in lieu of a Bachelors’ degree for a total of 16 years of experience
  • 8+ years of experience in information security/compliance supporting DOD/IC or government systems, including ownership of major RMF deliverables and ATO events for complex systems
  • Demonstrated leadership experience coordinating across security, engineering, and customer stakeholders
  • Ability to provide mentorship and direction to team members
  • Proven ability to write risk decisions and packages that stand up to assessor/AO scrutiny
  • Deep understanding of continuous monitoring at scale (recurring evidence, metrics, audit readiness, remediation governance)
  • Hands-on experience executing RMF tasks and maintaining authorization artifacts (SSP, POA&Ms, continuous monitoring evidence)
  • Strong working knowledge of NIST SP 800-53 controls and how they map to technical implementations and procedures
  • Experience with vulnerability and configuration compliance workflows
  • Familiarity with Linux-based enterprise environments and common hardening concepts
  • Ability to communicate risk clearly to both technical engineers and non-technical leadership
  • One or more active/current certifications such as: CISSP, CISM, CAP, GSLC, Security+, CCSP, INCOSE, CCNA, RHCE, MCSE, VCP, ITIL, PMP, Agile, and etc.
  • This position requires an active/current TS/SCI w/ Polygraph.

 

Preferred qualifications

  • Experience securing or assessing containerized workflows (e.g., container runtime hardening, image governance, supply chain considerations)
  • Experience with eMASS (or comparable GRC tooling), security control inheritance models, and assessor engagement.
  • Familiarity with vulnerability tooling and security monitoring concepts
  • Experience with data protection requirements relevant to sensitive environments
Target Salary Range$176,000 - $282,000. This represents the typical salary range for this position. Salary is determined by various factors, including but not limited to, the scope and responsibilities of the position, the individual’s experience, education, knowledge, skills, and competencies, as well as geographic location and business and contract considerations. Depending on the position, employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay.

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