Systems Engineer 4

Responsibilities

• Lead technical design and setup of Chip-Off Forensics Lab infrastructure at government facility 
• Provide expert guidance on chip extraction, PCB analysis, and hardware-level forensics 
• Develop and document chip-off forensics workflows and standard operating procedures 
• Conduct forensic analysis of compromised network-edge devices and embedded systems 
• Perform circuit board reverse engineering and component identification 
• Extract and analyze data from flash memory, EEPROM, and other storage components 
• Design and implement safe chip removal and data recovery procedures 
• Specify and procure laboratory equipment and forensic tools 
• Collaborate with Nightwing SMEs on hardware and skillset requirements 
• Train CSD analysts on chip-off forensics techniques and procedures 
• Conduct lab demonstrations showcasing chip-off capabilities 
• Analyze proprietary hardware systems targeted by threat actors 
• Support forensic investigations where EDR solutions are absent or insufficient 
• Document technical findings and forensic methodologies 
• Provide reach-back support and technical consultation to analysts 

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering or related discipline; Master’s degree or PhD preferred
• 10+ years of experience in electrical engineering or hardware design
• Expert knowledge of PCB design, circuit analysis, and digital electronics 
• Strong experience with chip extraction and hardware forensics techniques 
• Proficiency with electronic test equipment (oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, multimeters) 
• Understanding of embedded systems architecture and memory technologies 
• Experience with microcontrollers, SoCs, and embedded processor platforms 
• Knowledge of data recovery from damaged or protected storage devices 
• Strong soldering and de-soldering components to access memory chips and other critical hardware for data extraction
• Experience with reverse engineering proprietary hardware systems 
• Excellent documentation and technical writing abilities 

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting federal cybersecurity or forensics program
• Background in digital forensics or incident response 
• Knowledge of firmware analysis and reverse engineering 
• Experience with network-edge device security and vulnerabilities 
• Familiarity with JTAG, SPI, I2C, and other hardware debugging interfaces 
• Understanding of IoT and OT device architectures 
• Experience training technical personnel on forensics methodologies 
• Knowledge of malware embedded in hardware or firmware 
• Familiarity with EDR limitations in embedded device environments
• Professional Engineer (PE) license or equivalent advanced certification preferred
• PMP
• DoD 8140.01 IAT Level III