Listing Description

Senior Embedded Security Engineer

at Riverside Research

Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio

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.

Job Number: 1217

Riverside Research is seeking a Senior Embedded Security Engineer to work alongside our US Air Force (USAF) and Department of Defense (DoD) partners to develop tamper protected microelectronic devices and intellectual property (IP).  This position will be a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in the understanding of advanced attacks against state-of-the-art integrated circuits and the countermeasures and protective controls to prevent such attacks. Research is conducted in a microelectronics laboratory.  You will work with hardware security experts employing a range of microelectronics test equipment, custom software, and computing resources to provide the best support to our customers. Travel expected 8-10 trips a year to represent or directly support program customer as a Senior Subject Matter Expert at Technical Exchange Meetings (TIM), conferences, and similar thought leadership events in the technical area of research. This position is located at WPAFB, Ohio.

All Riverside Research opportunities require U.S. Citizenship.

Job Responsibilities:

• Support the program customer in the development of papers and presentations advancing the knowledge of the research field and technical area


• Attends technology interchange meetings at DoD and contractor sites


• Provides subject matter expertise in state-of-the-art implementation attacks


• Design and perform research and experiments to assess attack effectiveness against microelectronic devices


• Interacts with third-party vendors to collect appropriate source information


• Analyzes secure architectures to identify vulnerabilities


• Develops and implements plans for accomplishing DoD technology development goals


• Documents findings in technical reports and presentations


• Develops, maintains, adjusts, and reports on project schedules and timelines


• Attends conferences to understand new attacks and protections


• Attend technical conferences; develop and present papers with Government research leads


• Support the program Senior Principal Investigator and Program Manager in the development and documentation of technical requirements for approved research areas


• Contribute to proposals for new research in similar and/or related technology areas


• Travel up to 25-40% of time anticipated

Required Qualifications:

• Active Top Secret security clearance


• Education and Experience:




• Bachelor’s degree as listed above (or closely related academic field) and 12 years direct experience in cryptography or embedded hardware security,


• or a master’s degree as listed above (or closely related academic field) and 8 years direct experience in cryptography or embedded hardware security,


• or a PhD with 5 years demonstrated research work in a related area




• Experience with Verilog, VHDL, or SystemC


• Experience designing or working with security features of FPGAs or ASICs


• Demonstratable understanding of cryptography implementation in embedded technologies including microcontrollers, FPGAs, ASICs, and related technologies.


• Experience bare-metal programming microcontrollers or microprocessors


• Proficiency in C, C++, or Python


• Proficient in creating technical reports and presentations supporting research area


• Willing to travel for multi-day meetings and conferences. Travel may be up to 40%

Desired Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree as listed above (or closely related academic field) and 8 years direct experience in cryptography or embedded hardware security/countermeasures, or a master’s degree as listed above (or closely related academic field) and 6 years direct experience in cryptography or embedded hardware security or a PhD with demonstrated research work in a related area.


• Strong understanding of cryptographic algorithms and protocols


• Strong understanding of implementation attacks including side-channel, glitching, etc.


• Experience implementing side-channel countermeasures


• Understanding of sub-100 nm CMOS and FinFET device fabrication, assembly, and packaging including 3DICs


• Experience working in an R&D environment solving open-ended problems


• Experience in project management including scheduling and reporting


• Experience developing and presenting research papers and presentation in relevant subject area  publications or conferences


• Experience developing research proposals