Principal Identity Cybersecurity Engineer

Principal Identity Cybersecurity Engineer supports mission-driven ICAM engineering within MITRE’s L527 Cryptography, ICAM, and System Assurance efforts.

Responsibilities

• Translate mission needs into ICAM technical requirements, interfaces, and measurable outcomes.
• Design and assess Zero Trust-aligned ICAM architectures and reference designs.
• Engineer authentication, authorization, and federation solutions, including examples such as SAML/OIDC and step-up authentication.
• Manage credentials and trust services, including PKI and certificates.
• Lead Identity Governance & Administration (IGA), including provisioning, joiner-mover-leaver workflows, and authoritative source integration.
• Develop, evaluate, and steer RBAC/ABAC/PBAC models, entitlement and attribute strategies, and privileged-access controls.
• Build ICAM solutions for constrained environments (limited connectivity, offline sync) and define test strategies, roadmaps, and integration plans.
• Partner with security assessors and stakeholders to deliver auditable solutions aligned to required controls.
• Collaborate with engineers, integrators, and vendors on technology evaluation, trade studies, reusable assets, and mentorship.

Requirements

• Minimum experience: typically 10 years of related experience with a bachelor’s degree; alternative pathways include 8 years with a master’s, or PhD with 5 years, or an equivalent education and work experience combination.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills and sound technical judgment.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to deliver results and collaborate across teams.
• Ability to work effectively in secure/classified environments.
• Continued employment on this work is contingent upon meeting and maintaining government security eligibility requirements, which may change based on sponsor needs.
• Must have an active Top Secret U.S. Government issued security clearance; must be a U.S. Citizen to be considered for the clearance.
• Minimum 4 days a week on-site.

Technologies

• SAML/OIDC
• Step-up authentication
• PKI and certificates
• RBAC, ABAC, PBAC

Department Focus (L527)

• Multi-disciplinary team focused on Cryptography, System Assurance, and Identity, Credential and Access Management (ICAM).
• Develops scalable approaches for systems and software; evaluates technology and solutions; supports external partnerships and conducts novel research and development.
• Helps the Federal Government architect and apply modern ICAM technologies to secure systems, software, and protocols.
• Applies ICAM techniques across zero trust architectures, post-quantum cryptography, non-human and agentic identity, and secure multi-party federation.
• Assesses policy and technical constraints and facilitates deployment across cloud, hybrid, and on-premises environments for enterprise and tactical settings.
• Works at the intersection of cybersecurity and AI for trustworthy approaches to applying AI to ICAM (for example, autonomous network defense and code weakness assessment) and frameworks for evaluating assurance of AI-based techniques.
• Performs R&D, evaluation and testing, and operational support for sponsor missions, MITRE Labs initiatives, and MITRE internal R&D.

Preferred Qualifications

• Degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Electrical/Computer Engineering, or related field.
• Systems engineering experience (requirements, architecture, integration, test) and familiarity with development lifecycles.
• Experience applying security principles to enterprise architecture and system design.
• Strong understanding of ICAM concepts supporting a Zero Trust security model.
• Familiarity with threats/attack patterns relevant to identity and access systems.
• Interest in applied research and building reusable, scalable technical approaches.
• TS/SCI eligibility.

Clearance Requirements

• Requires the candidate to have a minimum of Top Secret.
• Requires the hired candidate to have or obtain (within one year from the date of hire) Top Secret.

Location and Salary

• Location: McLean, VA (onsite)
• Salary range: USD 172,800 - 259,200 per year
• Salary midpoint and stated range: $172,800 - $216,000 - $259,200 Annual