Senior Engineer – Penetration Testing

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in United States, +1 more country.

📋 Description

• Plan and carry out penetration tests targeting IoT, ICS/OT, and automotive systems.

• Independently manage engagements, which includes scoping, prioritizing attack surfaces, testing, collecting evidence, reporting, and conducting debriefs.

• Utilize Finite State's firmware analysis platform in conjunction with hands-on testing to discover genuinely reachable and exploitable vulnerabilities.

• Execute hardware interactions and firmware extraction via JTAG, SWD, UART, SPI, I2C, eMMC, NOR/SPI flash, and NAND flash dumping.

• Solder and modify PCBs to access debugging interfaces.

• Perform firmware reverse engineering using tools such as Ghidra and Binary Ninja.

• Evaluate wireless protocols, vehicle buses, industrial control protocols, network protocols, cloud and mobile companion applications, and APIs.

• Conduct source code reviews in C, C++, and related embedded languages.

• Analyze third-party and open-source components through SBOM reviews and software composition assessments.

• Employ approved AI-driven security tools and LLM-assisted workflows while adhering to customer data-handling and NDA requirements.

• Assess products for compliance with relevant regulations and standards.

• Generate technical reports detailing findings, risk ratings, remediation suggestions, CVSS scores, exploitability prioritization, and VEX justifications.

• Engage in peer reviews of engagement deliverables.

• Assist in customer-facing scoping discussions, technical debriefings, and follow-up on remediation efforts.

• Collaborate with product, engineering, and research teams to enhance the Finite State platform.

• Contribute to knowledge sharing, the development of tools, and the enhancement of methodologies.

• Take part in conferences, publish research, and represent Finite State in external settings.

⛳️ Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

• Over 7 years of hands-on experience in IoT, embedded, ICS/OT, or automotive security.

• Proven track record of independently managing engagements at a senior level.

• In-depth practical experience in at least one target domain: IoT/embedded, ICS/OT, or automotive, with working knowledge of the other two.

• Experience with hardware-level security assessments, including JTAG/SWD debugging, SPI/I2C/UART communication, and flash memory extraction.

• Proficient in soldering and reworking PCBs to access debug interfaces.

• Expertise in Ghidra and/or Binary Ninja.

• Capability to analyze ARM, MIPS, PPC, RISC-V, x86, and x64 architectures.

• Familiarity with testing wireless protocols such as BLE, Zigbee, Z-Wave, Wi-Fi, and cellular.

• Experience with vehicle buses or industrial control protocols, including CAN, LIN, automotive Ethernet, Modbus, DNP3, EtherNet/IP, and OPC-UA.

• Working understanding of standard network protocols and web/mobile application testing methodologies.

• Ability to read and evaluate C and C++ source code.

• Knowledge of SBOM concepts and formats, including CycloneDX and SPDX.

• Proficient in CVSS scoring and VEX.

• Ability to map findings to at least one relevant regulatory or standards framework.

• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.

• Experience with Python and Bash scripting for automation purposes.

• Familiarity with AI-assisted security tools and LLM-based workflows.

• Must have authorization to work in the U.S. without sponsorship.

• Some engagements may be limited to U.S. persons under ITAR/EAR regulations.

• Preferred qualifications include expertise in automotive security, ICS/SCADA security, a history of CVE or responsible disclosures, OSCP/OSWE or SANS/GIAC certifications, knowledge of regulatory standards, static/dynamic analysis, ML-based vulnerability detection, AWS experience, and consulting/product security background.

🏝️ Benefits

• Fully distributed workforce with a remote-first culture.

• Remote work; no relocation necessary.

• Limited travel requirements, including occasional visits for customer-site assessments, conferences, and team meetings.

• Finite State provides and funds a bench lab, equipped with soldering and rework stations, probes, programmers, logic analyzers, and radios.

• Opportunities to expand responsibilities into platform integrations, direct account management, and tools that drive business growth.

• Chances to participate in industry conferences, publish research, and represent the company externally.