Information Systems Security Engineer (ISSE) – Senior Level

TOP SECRET REQUIRED

Category: Cyber Security

Main Location: United States — Clarksburg, WV; Washington, DC; Huntsville, AL

Employment Type: Full Time

Senior Information Systems Security Engineer (ISSE) to support a major federal initiative. The Senior ISSE provides advanced cybersecurity engineering expertise, guiding secure system architecture, integrating NIST security controls, and ensuring secure design across complex hybrid cloud and on‑premises systems. This role serves as a technical lead, advising architects, developers, ISSOs, and federal stakeholders on secure system engineering practices, secure configuration management, and RMF engineering requirements.

The Senior ISSE plays a critical role in system modernization, secure architecture reviews, and the engineering decisions that influence a system’s security posture across its full lifecycle.

Your Future Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead the development, engineering, and review of secure system architectures across cloud, hybrid, and on‑prem environments.

• Design, implement, and validate NIST 800‑53 security controls and system security features.

• Lead threat modeling, risk assessments, and advanced system security engineering reviews.

• Oversee secure configuration management, including STIG‑based hardening, SCAP assessments, and enforcement of security baselines.

• Evaluate and recommend security technologies, tools, and design patterns to support mission needs and modernization efforts.

• Provide engineering leadership during RMF activities, including boundary definition, control inheritance, system architecture documentation, and ATO engineering support.

• Lead or support security functional testing, integration testing, and validation of implemented controls.

• Produce and review engineering documentation such as system design docs, interface control documents, data flow diagrams, and architecture diagrams.

• Guide cross‑functional development, engineering, DevSecOps, and operations teams on secure integration practices.

Required Qualifications to Be Successful in This Role

• Bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity, Information Systems, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, or related technical field (Master’s preferred).

• Minimum of 7+ years of experience in cybersecurity engineering, systems engineering, or secure IT architecture, with demonstrable senior‑level responsibility.

– Secure system and network architecture design

– NIST 800‑53 control engineering & NIST 800‑160 security engineering principles

– Secure configuration management and system hardening

– Cloud security engineering (AWS, Azure, GovCloud)

• Proven ability to lead engineering efforts across large, complex programs.

• Strong communication skills and proven ability to produce high‑quality engineering documentation.

Preferred Certifications (Senior‑Level Appropriate)

Strongly Preferred:

• CISSP

• CASP+ CE

• CCSP

• GSEC

Additional Highly Valuable:

• CISM

• CEH

• GCIH

• AWS/Azure security architect certifications

• DoD 8140/8570 IASAE‑II/III certifications

Technical Familiarity

• Advanced use of STIG Viewer, SCAP Compliance Checker, and system hardening automation tools

• Vulnerability assessment tools such as ACAS/Nessus, Tenable, or equivalent

• Cloud security services (IAM, network security groups, key management, encryption, logging, etc.)

• Secure API design, data flow analysis, and integration of complex system interfaces

• DevSecOps pipelines and CI/CD security integration (Git, Jenkins, Azure DevOps, GitLab CI)

• Scripting or automation using Python, Bash, or PowerShell

• Ability to evaluate and guide complex architecture decisions across distributed systems