Senior Technical Lead (FIREx)

FIREx is a national-level initiative developing a decentralized, market-based platform for DDoS mitigation. The system integrates smart contracts and computing infrastructure to support more resilient and transparent cyber-defense infrastructure.

About This Role:

We are seeking a Senior Technical Lead to support the development of FIREx’s backend systems, smart-contract components, and integrations with partner computing infrastructures. The role involves contributing to secure, reliable, and scalable system modules within a multi-institution research and industry consortium.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop and maintain backend services for commercial applications.
• Contribute to smart-contract development (e.g., token standards, marketplace logic).
• Support integration with partner APIs.
• Participate in system design, testing, and documentation.
• Collaborate with research teams and industry partners.

Job Requirements:

Experience: More than 7 years in production grade software development and/or technical leadership.

Education: Bachelor’s, MSc, or PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field (e.g., Cybersecurity, Distributed Systems, Networking, or Applied Cryptography).

Domain Expertise: Strong background in network engineering, blockchain, and/or distributed systems concepts.

Candidates may bring strengths in any of the following areas:

• Backend development (Go, Java, Rust, TypeScript/Node.js, or similar).
• API design, system integration, or secure software practices.
• Networking familiarity (e.g., routing basics, anycast, BGP) is helpful but not required.
• Applicants with strong engineering fundamentals and clear communication are encouraged to apply, even if not experienced in the listed areas.

FIREx is a national-level initiative developing a decentralized, market-based platform for DDoS mitigation. The system integrates smart contracts and computing infrastructure to support more resilient and transparent cyber-defense infrastructure.

You will conduct research and development at the intersection of AI and cybersecurity, focusing on protecting digital communities within smart nation environments. You will work closely with academic and industry collaborators to understand real-world requirements and co-develop cybersecurity solutions that address application needs. You will translate research outcomes into functional prototypes for deployment in systems that support these digital communities and their critical infrastructure.

Key Responsibilities 

• Developing ways to use AI in cybersecurity, and defence against attacks that themselves use AI aimed at digital communities.
• Conduct full-stack research from upstream (fundamental) to downstream (translational)
• Prototyping of the technology for demonstration

Job Requirements

• Possess a PhD degree in the field of Computer Science/ Computer Engineering or other relevant fields.
• Strong research track in applying machine learning/deep learning technologies to solve real-world problems.
• Familiar with Machine learning/deep learning concepts and algorithms.
• Familiar with Python, C, and/or C++ programming.
• Familiar with modern machine learning software frameworks such as Pytorch and Tensorflow.
• Experience with computer architecture design and re-configurable computing (FPGA) is a strong plus.
• Experience in cybersecurity and cyber-physical systems (industrial control systems) is a strong plus.
• Experience with system development on embedded platform is a plus.
• Experience with cloud-IoT collaborative system is a plus.
• Experience with natural language processing is a plus.

We are seeking a (Senior) Software/ Research Engineer with strong expertise in penetration testing and secure software development. This role blends hands-on offensive security work with the design and development of security-focused tools, frameworks, and prototypes. You will collaborate with researchers to model, test, and exploit vulnerabilities, and work with engineers to integrate security into innovative systems.

Key Responsibilities 

• Conduct advanced penetration testing and vulnerability assessments on applications, networks, and systems.
• Design and develop custom security tools, exploits, and proof-of-concept attacks for research purposes.
• Collaborate with research teams to simulate adversarial tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs).
• Analyze security flaws in emerging technologies and propose mitigation strategies.
• Contribute to publications, white papers, and technical reports on findings and methodologies.
• Familiarity with exploit development and reverse engineering.
• Solid knowledge of the MITRE ATT&CK framework and related offensive security models.

Preferred Qualifications

• OSCP, CREST CRT or similar certifications.
• Experience in security research and vulnerability disclosure.
• Knowledge of cloud security (AWS, Azure, GCP) and container security (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Strong technical writing and documentation skills.
• Previous involvement in Capture the Flag (CTF) competitions or bug bounty programs.