What Your Job Will Be LikeThis NSA Certification Analyst (R&D Systems Research and Analysis) will support the NSA Certification Lead as they seek NSA national security system (NSS) certification for products developed by the High Assurance Product Realization group (8450). The individual in this role will assist coordination of internal Product Realization Teams (PRT) and external government certification authorities to ensure products meet rigorous NSS requirements and sponsor mission needs. They will apply knowledge of cryptography, cybersecurity principles, and risk management to document the implemented security architecture for NSA Contract Deliverable Requirements List (CDRL) artifacts and move products towards on-time certification. They will help interpret security requirements, execute certification activities, identify and manage certification-related risks, and support process improvements to streamline timelines. This role works closely with the Certification and PRT leads, and technical teams.
On any given day, you may be called on to:
- Manage multiple workstreams and adapt to changing project scopes.
- Translate the implications of changes in security requirements to the broader team.
- Explain complex system designs and risk management strategies to stakeholders.
- Convey schedule implications of NSA expectations to PRT and management.
- Anticipate the response of evaluators and advise the project team accordingly.
- Exercise critical thinking to identify, assess, and mitigate risks to component design.
- Coordinate with stakeholders to deconflict overlapping requirements and priorities.
- Monitor, interpret, and apply evolving policies and requirements.
- Support communications with certification authorities, evaluators, and internal experts.
- Support the development, review, and timely submission of documents.
- Develop technical documents that align with required formats.
- Work with NSA certification lead, PRT leads, project management on CDRL delivery.
- Coordinate schedules to support certification that also align with program timelines.
- Collaborate with certification authorities to manage certification timelines.
- Conduct research and analysis to inform an efficient certification strategy.
Due to the nature of this work, the selected candidate must be able to work onsite.
Applicants on this requisition may be interviewed by multiple organizations at Sandia National Laboratories.
Salary Range$117,500 - $235,700
*Salary range is estimated, and actual salary will be determined after consideration of the selected candidate's experience and qualifications, and application of any approved geographic salary differential.
Qualifications We Require- A Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline and five (5) years of directly relevant experience, or an equivalent combination of directly relevant education and engineering or scientific experience that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and ability to perform independent research and development.
- Ability to acquire a DOE Q-level security clearance.
Qualifications We DesireThe ideal R&D S&E Systems Research and Analysis candidate for Sandia National Laboratories will in addition possess the following:
- Graduate degree in a highly related field where an independent research project was a graduation requirement (e.g., independent project, thesis, or dissertation).
- Experience working as part of multi-disciplinary teams examining complex systems.
- Experience working with federal sponsors in the defense and intelligence sectors, as well as their domestic FFRDC partners, international partnering agencies, and foreign governments.
- Strong verbal and written communication skills, ability to work effectively in multidisciplinary teams delivering critical information to customers in a succinct manner.
Also, for this posting we are seeking individuals with the following:
- A degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Mathematics, Information Assurance, Information Systems Design, Electrical Engineering, or related field.
- Experience supporting or leading high assurance product through NSA certification.
- Experience aligning certification activities with other deliverables.
- Experience developing, tailoring, managing, and tracing security requirements, certification schedules, security controls, and verification evidence.
- Experience using Model Based Systems Engineering, requirements-management, or project-management tools (e.g., Cameo/MagicDraw, DOORS, Jira, or similar).
- Experience conducting fail-safe, fail-secure, or fault-tolerant design analyses to inform system design, risk mitigation, and verification activities.
- Experience providing threat-informed security guidance to development teams designing high-assurance hardware, software, or firmware security architectures.
- Experience with cryptographic security, including evaluation of cryptographic design features, cryptographic algorithms, or post-quantum cryptography roadmaps.
- Experience with applicable product-realization, NSA certification, or program-management processes.
About Our TeamThe High Assurance Product Realization group develops embedded and ground support equipment in support of National Security missions. We are a leader for high-assurance National Security hardware, utilizing current and advanced electronic hardware approaches, tools, and techniques in developing information assurance subsystems. These responsibilities span research, design, development, production liaison, and existing product evaluation for Use Control applications. Our staff develop custom electronic technologies in support of the DOE/DoD Use Control community and specialize in real-time embedded electronic design solutions with emphasis on security and reliability. The team also has a key role in the development, maturation, and deployment of advanced technologies for next-generation weapon systems and information assurance products.
Posting DurationThis posting will be open for application submissions for a minimum of three (3) calendar days, including the 'posting date'. Sandia reserves the right to extend the posting date at any time.
