Robotics Cybersecurity Engineer (M.S. or Ph.D.) at Exponent Inc.
Phoenix, AZ
$140,000–$154,000
Jun 29, 2026
Phoenix, AZ
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A consulting role focused on the cybersecurity of robotic and autonomous systems across safety- and mission-critical sectors such as industrial, medical, transportation, and defense. Day-to-day work spans threat modeling, security architecture reviews, penetration testing, DevSecOps practices, and building assurance frameworks for robotic platforms. Suited to candidates with a strong background in both cybersecurity engineering and robotics or embedded systems, and some involvement in client-facing or business development work.
Senior level · 3+ years · Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ · Master's required · Secret clearance · Full-time
Pay in the description: $140,000–$154,000
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
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 $133,227 (middle half $100,196–$163,968). 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 role sits at the intersection of robotics engineering and cybersecurity consulting; 15-1212 (Information Security Analysts) was chosen because the primary day-to-day work is assessing, designing, and assuring the cybersecurity posture of robotic systems. 15-1252 (Software Developers) is a credible runner-up given the DevSecOps, CI/CD, and secure software development responsibilities.
Degree requirement: the JD accepts either a Ph.D. (in Robotics, CS, EE, CE, or related field) OR an M.S. with at least 3 years of post-M.S. relevant experience. The minimum hard-required degree is therefore a Master's; the overall years minimum reflects the 3-year post-M.S. experience gate.
Clearance: the JD states 'Our contracts with the United States Government for this position require proof of U.S. citizenship and the possession of, or ability to obtain, a DoD security clearance.' This is a hard gate on the ability to obtain a clearance; the specific level is not named, so Secret (the most common DoD baseline) is used as the best approximation.
Location: the posting lists Phoenix, AZ; Pittsburgh, PA; or 'another U.S. location' as options. Phoenix is used as the primary CBSA per the job-locations tag at the bottom of the posting (#LI-Onsite; Job Locations US-AZ-Phoenix). The role is explicitly on-site.
Programming languages (C, C++, Python, Rust, Java) are listed under the requirements section with 'such as … or similar languages' framing, indicating one or more are required but the specific language is interchangeable; they are captured as a single skill with alternatives.
ROS/ROS 2, real-time operating systems, embedded Linux, microcontrollers, sensors, actuators, perception systems, autonomy stacks, and robotic communications protocols are listed under 'Familiarity with' in the requirements block. 'Familiarity with' softens the gate somewhat, but the section is clearly part of the required qualifications. ROS/ROS 2 and embedded Linux are called out as the most concrete named technologies; the others are too generic to emit as named skills.
Secure boot, key management, and identity and access management appear in a narrative description of advisory responsibilities rather than in a discrete required-skills list, so they are marked preferred.
Ignored 3 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): cybersecurity engineering, secure architecture, key management.
Requires a Secret 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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