Junior Cybersecurity Scientist

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:

We are seeking a motivated Junior Cybersecurity Scientist to join our engineering team. This role is ideal for a recent graduate or early-career engineer who enjoys working close to the system level and has an interest in secure, reliable software.
The ideal candidate has strong proficiency in Rust, an understanding of cybersecurity principles, and a solid foundation in computer systems and software execution. You will work with experienced engineers to design and build secure, high-performance software that interacts closely with operating systems and hardware.

This position offers an opportunity to deepen your expertise in systems programming, security-conscious development, and modern software engineering practices.

Responsibilities:

- Design, implement, and maintain software components using Rust.
- Collaborate with senior engineers on system-level software and infrastructure.
- Write secure, reliable, and well-tested code following industry best practices.
- Analyze and debug issues related to memory management, performance, and system behavior.
- Apply cybersecurity principles to software design and implementation.
- Document system behavior, interfaces, and design decisions.

Qualifications:

- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a closely related field.
- 0–2 years of professional software engineering experience (internships or significant projects count).
- Strong preference for a proficiency with Rust and familiarity with Rust’s ownership and memory safety model.
- Awareness of cybersecurity fundamentals, including secure coding practices and common vulnerability classes.
- Understanding of computer systems fundamentals, including:
    - Memory layout and program execution
    - Interaction between application memory, operating systems, and hardware
    - Basic operating system concepts (processes, threads, virtual memory)
- Experience with version control systems (e.g., Git).

Global Comp: $75,000 - 125,000 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.