Junior Hardware Embedded Security Engineer

Riverside Research is an independent National Security Nonprofit dedicated to research and development in the national interest. We provide high-end technical services, research and development, and prototype solutions to some of the country’s most challenging technical problems.
 
 All Riverside Research opportunities require U.S. Citizenship.
 

Riverside Research is seeking an entry-level Embedded Hardware Security Research Engineer to work alongside our US Air Force (USAF) and Department of Defense (DoD) partners to develop tamper-protected microelectronic devices and intellectual property (IP). This position is an entry-level engineering role that provides a technical path and opportunity to become a Subject Matter Expert (SME)  in the understanding of advanced attacks against state-of-the-art integrated circuits and the design and development of protective controls to mitigate such attacks. You will work with nationally recognized hardware security experts employing a range of microelectronics test equipment, specialized software, and computing resources to provide exceptional support to our customers.  This research work is conducted on-site in Riverside Research’s Beavercreek, Ohio office. 

• Performs research supporting assessment state-of-the-art attack effectiveness against various microelectronic devices
• Supports development of hardware algorithms for secure microelectronic devices (microcontrollers, FPGAs, etc.)
• Analyzes secure architectures to identify vulnerabilities
• Develops, maintains, adjusts, and reports on project status and timelines
• Collaborates with Government research leads to develop and present papers across a variety of DoD conferences and technical interchanges
• Supports the Principal Investigator and Program Manager in the development and documentation of technical requirements for approved research areas
• Interacts with third-party vendors to collect appropriate source information as requested by program, leadership
• Documents findings in technical reports and presentations
• Develops and presents technical briefings to technical audiences and conferences
• Supports technology interchange meetings at DoD and contractor sites
• Attends technical conferences to understand new attacks and protections

 

 Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Physics, or Mathematics, and one year direct experience, through courses or previous employment, or a Master's degree.
• Familiarity with Verilog, VHDL, or SystemC
• Some experience programming microcontrollers or microprocessors
• Understanding or experience working with design of security features of FPGAs or ASICs
• Experience programming and/or scripting in C, C++, Rust, or Python
• Experience performing statistical analysis and performing data analysis
• Ability to work semi-independently on assigned tasks with limited scope and with technical supervision in a highly collaborative team-based R&D environment
• Willing to travel a few times per year
• Ability and willingness to obtain a security clearance, and program access requirements

 

Desired Qualifications: 

• Active security clearance.
• Understanding of cryptographic algorithms and protocols, or their implementation in embedded technologies including microcontrollers, FPGAs, ASICs.
• Familiarity implementing hardware attacks including side-channel, glitching, and their countermeasures.
• Understanding of sub-100 nm CMOS and FinFET device fabrication, assembly, and packaging including 3DICs.
• Experience in creating technical reports, developing research papers and presentations supporting research areas.

$53,000 - $99,000 This represents the typical compensation range for this position based on experience, location and other factors.

 
Riverside Research Institute is a not-for-profit, technology-oriented defense company, where service to our customers and support of our staff is our overall mission. Riverside is an affirmative action-equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws regarding recruitment and hiring.  Riverside offers comprehensive compensation and benefit packages to our employees.
Riverside bases its employment decisions solely on technical experience, qualifications and other job-related criteria related to our organizational purpose as a not-for-profit company, and without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex marital status, sexual orientation, national origin, physical or mental disability, veteran’s status or any other status legally protected by applicable federal, state, and local law.