Junior Security Engineer

The Junior Security Engineer will support cybersecurity architecture and engineering activities for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in Washington, D.C. The role requires the ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust and includes daily on-site work in a hybrid arrangement.

Role Responsibilities

• Assist senior engineers with reviewing SBA system architectures, configurations, and design artifacts for alignment with federal cybersecurity standards and SBA policies.
• Support the application and interpretation of Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIGs), Security Requirements Guides (SRGs), and federal baselines across SBA systems and environments.
• Help maintain security engineering documentation, including architecture diagrams, data flow diagrams, and security configuration records.
• Support enclave-level or system-level security design considerations under senior supervision.
• Participate in engineering reviews to identify control gaps, misconfigurations, or vulnerabilities.
• Support configuration assessments for alignment with SBA baselines, NIST controls, and federal hardening requirements.
• Assist with documenting remediation steps and tracking configuration compliance improvements.
• Perform initial reviews of Ports, Protocols, and Services (PPSM) configurations and document findings.
• Support SBA continuous monitoring by collecting and analyzing security relevant configuration and compliance data.
• Assist in preparing compliance reporting artifacts, including dashboards, metrics summaries, and findings logs.
• Ensure engineering activities comply with federal frameworks including FISMA, NIST SP 800 53, NIST SP 800 171, and SBA security policy.
• Assist with preparing and maintaining RMF security artifacts, including security design documents, control implementation summaries, and system security plans.
• Contribute to security engineering sections of Assessment & Authorization (A&A) packages.
• Support system owners by documenting security considerations for new technologies and system updates.
• Participate in architecture assessments, configuration reviews, and gap analyses under senior guidance.
• Assist with identifying vulnerabilities or misconfigurations and recommend initial remediation approaches.
• Support engineering-related after-action reporting and lessons-learned documentation.
• Develop and maintain accurate engineering documentation, including configuration notes, review summaries, and compliance checklists.
• Assist in preparing recurring engineering and security posture reports for SBA leadership.
• Support change management documentation and technical justification development.

Required Qualifications

• U.S. citizen.
• Bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity, Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field. Equivalent experience or military service may be considered.
• 1–3 years of experience supporting cybersecurity engineering, cybersecurity operations, system administration, or related IT technical functions.
• Foundational understanding of security configuration baselines, vulnerability management concepts, or STIG/SRG application.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a government background investigation and required SBA access authorizations.

Technologies and Tools

• Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIGs)
• Security Requirements Guides (SRGs)
• NIST SP 800 53
• NIST SP 800 171
• FISMA
• RMF
• Assessment & Authorization (A&A)
• Ports, Protocols, and Services (PPSM)
• SCAP tools
• STIG Viewer
• Microsoft Office, Teams, SharePoint
• PowerShell, Bash, Python
• Azure, AWS, M365
• CompTIA Security+, CompTIA CySA+

Skills and Competencies

• Foundational understanding of security configuration hardening, baselines, and control implementation.
• Basic understanding of NIST cybersecurity frameworks and federal compliance requirements.
• Ability to interpret technical data, system configurations, and architecture documentation.
• Strong analytical thinking with attention to detail.
• Eagerness to learn and develop technical and professional skills.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills aligned with federal documentation standards.
• Ability to work effectively in a collaborative federal cybersecurity engineering team.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, Teams, and SharePoint.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience supporting cybersecurity or engineering activities in a federal government environment.
• Exposure to configuration assessment tools, such as SCAP tools and STIG Viewer.
• Familiarity with federal RMF processes or NIST SP 800 53 security controls.

Desired Qualifications

• CompTIA Security+ or CySA+ (or other entry-level cybersecurity certification).
• Experience with vulnerability scanning or configuration assessment tools.
• Introductory knowledge of Zero Trust principles.
• Familiarity with scripting languages such as PowerShell, Bash, or Python.
• Exposure to cloud security concepts (Azure, AWS, M365).
• Experience with federal cybersecurity documentation, audits, or compliance reporting.

Compensation and Location

Location: Washington, DC (hybrid). Daily on-site work is required.

Salary: USD 105,000 - 125,000 per year.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) retirement plan
• Paid time off
• Paid parental leave
• Life and disability insurance
• Flexible spending accounts
• Commuter benefits
• Tuition reimbursement