Principal Identity Cybersecurity Engineer

Lead ICAM and identity cybersecurity engineering work to translate mission needs into Zero Trust-aligned identity solutions for government and MITRE initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Translate mission needs into ICAM technical requirements, interfaces, and measurable outcomes.
• Design and assess Zero Trust-aligned ICAM architectures and reference designs.
• Engineer authentication, authorization, and federation solutions, including examples such as SAML/OIDC and step-up authentication.
• Manage credential and trust services, including PKI and certificates.
• Lead Identity Governance & Administration (IGA) activities such as provisioning, joiner-mover-leaver workflows, and authoritative source integration.
• Develop and steer RBAC, ABAC, and PBAC models, including entitlement and attribute strategies and privileged-access controls.
• Build ICAM solutions for constrained environments (limited connectivity and offline sync) and define test strategies, roadmaps, and integration plans.
• Partner with security assessors and stakeholders to deliver auditable solutions mapped to required controls.
• Collaborate with engineers, integrators, and vendors on technology evaluations, trade studies, reusable assets, and mentorship.

Requirements

• Typically requires 10 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 8 years with a Master’s degree; or a PhD with 5 years of related experience; or an equivalent combination of related education and work experience.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with sound technical judgment.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to deliver results and collaborate across teams.
• Ability to work effectively in secure/classified environments.
• Continued employment on this work is contingent upon meeting and maintaining government security eligibility requirements (requirements may change based on sponsor needs).
• Must have an active Top Secret U.S. Government issued Security Clearance; U.S. Citizenship is required to be considered for a security clearance under U.S. Government eligibility requirements.
• Requires a minimum of 4 days per week on-site.

Technologies

• SAML/OIDC
• Step-up authentication
• PKI
• Certificates
• RBAC
• ABAC
• PBAC

Department Summary

• L527 Cryptography, ICAM, and System Assurance: multi-disciplinary team focused on Cryptography, System Assurance, and Identity, Credential and Access Management (ICAM).
• Develop and apply scalable approaches for systems and software; evaluate technology and solutions; lead and foster external partnerships.
• Support Federal Government efforts to architect and apply modern ICAM technologies to secure systems, software, and protocols.
• Apply ICAM techniques including emerging ICAM technologies for security and privacy, zero trust architectures, post-quantum cryptography, non-human and agentic identity, and secure multi-party federation.
• Assess policy and technical constraints and facilitate deployment of ICAM solutions into cloud, hybrid, and on-premises environments for enterprise and tactical use cases.
• Work at the intersection of cybersecurity and AI for trustworthy applications of AI to ICAM (e.g., autonomous network defense and assessing code for software weaknesses) and develop frameworks for evaluating assurance of AI-based techniques.
• Conduct R&D, evaluation and testing, and operational support for high-priority sponsor mission applications, MITRE Labs initiatives, and internal R&D programs.

Preferred Qualifications

• Degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Electrical/Computer Engineering, or related field.
• Systems engineering experience (requirements, architecture, integration, test) and familiarity with development lifecycles.
• Experience applying security principles to enterprise architecture and system design.
• Strong understanding of ICAM concepts supporting a Zero Trust security model.
• Familiarity with threats/attack patterns relevant to identity and access systems.
• Interest in applied research and building reusable, scalable technical approaches.
• TS/SCI eligibility.

Clearance Requirements

• Minimum clearance required: Top Secret.
• Must have or obtain: Top Secret within one year from the date of hire.

Compensation & Work Location

• Location: McLean, VA (on-site)
• Salary range: USD 172,800 - 259,200 per year
• Annual range midpoint structure: $172,800 - $216,000 - $259,200