Embedded Hardware Security Research Engineer

Riverside Overview

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.  

Position Overview

Riverside Research is seeking an 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 will be a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in the understanding of advanced attacks against state-of-the-art integrated circuits and the countermeasures and protective controls to prevent such attacks. Research is conducted in a microelectronics laboratory.  You will work with hardware security experts employing a range of microelectronics test equipment, custom software, and computing resources to provide the best support to our customers.  This position is located at WPAFB, Ohio.

Responsibilities

Job Responsibilities:

• Provides subject matter expertise in state-of-the-art implementation attacks
• Attends technology interchange meetings at DoD and contractor sites
• Designs and performs research and experiments to assess attack effectiveness against microelectronic devices
• Interacts with third-party vendors to collect appropriate source information
• Analyzes secure architectures to identify vulnerabilities
• Documents findings in technical reports and presentations
• Develops, maintains, adjusts, and reports on project status and timelines
• Attends technical conferences to understand new attacks and protections
• Collaborates with Government research leads to develop and present papers across a variety of DoD conferences and technical interchanges
• Supports Principal Investigator and Program Manager in the development and documentation of technical requirements for approved research areas
• Contributes to proposals for new research in similar and/or related technology areas

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• Secret clearance to start, but must be able obtain Top Secret security clearance and all required program access approvals
• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Physics, or Mathematics, and 8 years direct experience in cryptography or embedded hardware security, or a master’s degree in  related academic field and 6 years direct experience in cryptography or embedded hardware security, or a PhD with 3 years experience within a related area
• Experience with Verilog, VHDL, or SystemC
• Experience designing or working with security features of FPGAs or ASICs
• Demonstratable understanding of cryptography implementation in embedded technologies including microcontrollers, FPGAs, ASICs, and related technologies
• Proficiency in C, C , or Python
• Proficient in creating technical reports and presentations supporting research areas
• Willing to travel a few times per year.

Desired Qualifications: 

• Top Secret clearance
• Experience bare-metal programming microcontrollers or microprocessors
• Strong understanding of cryptographic algorithms and protocols
• Strong understanding of implementation attacks including side-channel, glitching, etc.
• Experience implementing side-channel countermeasures
• Understanding of sub-100 nm CMOS and FinFET device fabrication, assembly, and packaging including 3DICs
• Experience working in an R&D environment solving open-ended problems
• Experience developing and presenting research papers and presentations in relevant subject areas
• Experience developing research proposals

 

Global Comp

$140,000-$190,000 This represents the typical compensation range for this position based on experience, location and other factors.

Closing Statement

  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.

Salary : $140,000 - $190,000