Principal Vulnerability Researcher (Subject Matter Expert) with Security Clearance

Shadowgate Partners is seeking a Principal Vulnerability Researcher for a Client.

Salary: $270,000 per year, plus an additional 25% ($67,603) of your salary in fully and immediately vested employer 401(k) contributions. This is the senior technical authority on the research team. You will set the direction for vulnerability research against hardware, software, and operating systems, and you will be expected to produce — not just supervise. The distinguishing requirement for this role is a track record: previously unknown vulnerabilities you personally discovered, with recent results. If your best work is something you can point to rather than describe, this is the seat.

Key Responsibilities • Serve as subject matter expert for reverse engineering and vulnerability research across the team's target space.

• Lead research efforts from initial target selection through documented, reproducible findings.
• Perform deep source and binary analysis to discover and characterize software flaws.
• Mentor senior and junior researchers and raise the technical bar across the team.
• Author and deliver technical presentations to internal and customer audiences. Required Qualifications • Four or more years of programming experience in a production environment using Assembly, C, C#, C++, Perl, or Python.
• Four or more years of demonstrated hardware or software reverse engineering experience.
• Demonstrated ability to discover multiple previously unknown vulnerabilities.
• Documented results from vulnerability discovery work within the last twelve months.
• Expert-level use of reverse engineering frameworks, disassemblers, and debuggers.

Preferred Qualifications • Published research, CVEs, conference talks, or comparable public or internal body of work.

• Deep specialization in a platform class — mobile, embedded, network appliance, or hypervisor.
• Experience building research infrastructure used by an entire team.
• History of mentoring researchers from junior to independent.

Experience & Education Minimum five years of contiguous experience in computer science, information systems, or network engineering; or a bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field plus a minimum of three years of contiguous experience. Recent discovery results weigh more heavily than years in seat. Clearance Level This position requires an active Top Secret/SCI clearance with a Full Scope Polygraph. Applicants must be U.S. citizens and must hold, or be able to reinstate, the required clearance and polygraph prior to start.

Clearance eligibility must be maintained throughout the duration of employment. Benefits In addition to the base salary and 401(k) contributions listed above, our Client offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, and vision coverage.