Lead Cybersecurity Researcher at Two Six Technologies
Fort Meade, MD
$168,197–$252,295
Jul 10, 2026
Fort Meade, MD
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A senior-level role focused on finding and exploiting weaknesses across hardware, software, and operational systems for government clients. Day-to-day work involves reverse engineering embedded systems, writing proof-of-concept code, analyzing vulnerability impact, and proposing countermeasures. The position also carries technical leadership responsibilities, including mentoring junior researchers and guiding investigation priorities. An active TS/SCI clearance with Polygraph is required, and the role is based on-site in Laurel, Maryland.
Senior level · 8+ years · Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD · TS/SCI clearance · Full-time
Pay in the description: $168,197–$252,295
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
Posted 2 times — it's one opening, so apply once.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Rare in this occupation — lead with these, and say what you built with them.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $141,208 (middle half $106,798–$194,505). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (9)
The title 'Lead Vulnerability Researcher' carries no standard seniority level word, so the title states no level; however, the scope (technical leadership, mentoring junior staff, leading investigations) and the minimum 8 years of relevant experience firmly support a Senior classification.
Degree requirement is set to None because the JD offers a sliding scale of degree + experience combinations (Doctorate+4, Master's+6, Bachelor's+8, Associate's+10) — no single degree level is hard-gated; equivalent experience is explicitly accepted at every tier.
The role is classified as 15-1212 (Information Security Analysts) given the primary focus on vulnerability research, reverse engineering, and security analysis; 15-1299 is noted as a runner-up because the depth of offensive/PoC development work edges toward a specialized research occupation not perfectly captured by either code.
An active TS/SCI clearance WITH polygraph is explicitly required ('Active TS/SCI clearance with Polygraph required').
UART, SPI, and I2C are listed together under 'Nice If You Have'; they are related hardware communication protocols — UART is listed as primary with SPI and I2C as alternatives since the JD groups them as a single preferred capability.
TLS and SSH are listed together as examples of 'common secure communications' under the preferred section; SSH is captured as an alternative.
Embedded firmware and RTOS appear separately under 'Nice If You Have' and are retained as distinct preferred skills despite appearing in the same bullet, as they represent meaningfully different technical domains.
The role is on-site at Laurel, Maryland (within the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson CBSA); remote work is not offered.
Requires a TS/SCI clearance — the cleared population is a small fraction of this occupation, so the real candidate pool is materially smaller than the estimate below, which does not model clearance.
Read the full posting
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