Reverse Engineer and Offensive Cyber Developer

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) seeks a Reverse Engineer and Offensive Cyber Developer to design and prototype advanced cyber capabilities for national security missions. In this role, you will reverse engineer complex binaries, firmware, and protocols; discover vulnerabilities; and develop offensive tools and exploits that inform resilient system designs. Collaborating within APL's mission-driven, research-focused culture, you'll work alongside experts in cyber, systems, and operations, with strong support for innovation, publication, and advanced degrees as you tackle critical real-world challenges.

Responsibilities

• Reverse engineer complex binaries, firmware, and protocols to discover vulnerabilities and system behavior.
• Design and develop offensive cyber tools, exploits, and proof-of-concept capabilities for research and mission prototypes.
• Analyze malware, adversary tradecraft, and TTPs to inform resilient system designs and defenses.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams across cyber, systems, and mission experts to translate operational needs into technical solutions.
• Document methods, results, and prototypes in clear technical reports and briefings for sponsors and internal stakeholders.
• Contribute to research proposals, experiments, and publications advancing the state of the art in offensive and resilient cyber operations.

Required Skills

• Reverse engineering (IDA Pro, Ghidra, Radare2)
• Exploit development
• Binary analysis
• Malware analysis
• C/C++ programming
• Python scripting
• Assembly (x86/x64/ARM)
• Secure software engineering
• Linux and Windows internals
• Offensive security tooling and frameworks