OT Adversary Emulation Strategy and Execution, Lead

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Are you ready to defend national critical infrastructure from evolving non-kinetic threats? The Critical Infrastructure Protection Department (L561), sitting within MITRE's Cyber-Physical Systems Division, delivers innovative solutions to sponsor challenges critical to national security and public sector missions. Our multidisciplinary team researches, develops, and applies advanced technologies to ensure the operational resilience of vital national assets.

Our core focus areas include:

• Infrastructure Susceptibility Analysis
• Safety Engineering
• Threat-Informed Recommendations
• Critical Infrastructure (CI) Threat Detection, Analytics, & Adversary Emulation
• Operational Technology (OT) Device Security & Space System OT
• Cross-Sector Interdependency Analysis
• Defense Critical Infrastructure Expertise
• Civilian Critical Infrastructure Sector-Specific Expertise

Job Description:

MITRE's Critical Infrastructure Protection Department (L561) is seeking an Operational Technology (OT) Adversary Emulation Strategy and Execution Lead to serve as the technical steward, strategic advocate, and product leader for Caldera for OT and related cyber-physical adversary emulation capabilities.

In this visible and impactful role, you will define the long-term vision, adoption strategy, and technical roadmap for Caldera for OT. You will serve as the primary strategic ambassador, expanding the platform's reach and adoption across government sponsors, critical infrastructure owner/operators, and the broader open-source community. You will lead and supervise a team of software developers and OT engineers translating threat intelligence into protocol-level emulation capabilities, while managing task execution, sponsor relationships, and business development.

If you bring a passion for threat-informed defense, technical oversight in OT environments, and the strategic mindset to scale a foundational national security capability, this position is for you.

Roles & Responsibilities:

• Product Vision & Strategic Stewardship: Own the strategic roadmap, value proposition, and adoption strategy for Caldera for OT. Drive growth in user adoption, sponsor backing, and platform impact across government and industry.
• Strategic Advocacy & Work Shaping: Act as the primary technical advocate and ambassador for MITRE's OT adversary emulation capabilities. Build trusted relationships with federal sponsors, Sector Risk Management Agencies (SRMAs), and external partners to shape new work and research initiatives.
• Technical Supervision & Team Leadership: Provide technical oversight and direction to developers and OT engineers building protocol-level emulation plugins, attack flows, and testbed integrations.
• CTI Collaboration: Partner closely with CTI leads and domain experts to translate real-world threat intelligence and adversary TTPs into actionable software requirements for the emulation platform.
• Project & Resource Management: Accountable for task finances, budgeting, staffing, and technical quality delivery across assigned adversary emulation projects.
• Community & Stakeholder Engagement: Manage open-source strategy, external communications, and stakeholder alignment to solidify MITRE's leadership position in cyber-physical threat-informed defense.

Basic Qualifications:

• Experience: Minimum of 8 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree; 6 years with a Master's degree; or a PhD with 3 years' experience; or an equivalent combination of related education and work experience.
• Education: Degree in Electrical, Mechanical, or Civil Engineering, Computer Science, Cybersecurity, or a related technical field (equivalent utility, military, or industrial experience may be considered).
• Strategic Leadership & Business Acumen: Demonstrated track record of leading technical capabilities, shaping sponsor/customer work, growing adoption for platforms/tools, and managing task budgets and small multi-disciplinary teams.
• OT & Control Systems Depth: Solid technical understanding of Operational Technology (OT), Industrial Control Systems (ICS), SCADA, and cyber-physical architectures sufficient to evaluate and guide protocol-level emulation (e.g., Purdue Model Levels 0-3, PLCs, RTUs).
• Software Development Oversight: Experience supervising technical teams or software developers, with the ability to review architectural designs, prioritize feature backlogs, and evaluate technical deliverables.
• Threat-Informed Defense Familiarity: Working knowledge of ATT&CK for ICS, Breach & Attack Simulation concepts, or automated adversary emulation frameworks.
• Clearance Requirement: Must be eligible to obtain and maintain a Top Secret/SCI U.S Government issued Security Clearance. Per the U.S. Government's eligibility requirements, you must be a U.S Citizen to be considered for a security clearance.
• On-Site Requirement: This position requires a minimum of 3 days a week on-site. 60% on-site presence required at MITRE or government locations in the National Capital Region.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Caldera & Emulation Expertise: Hands-on or oversight experience with Caldera (specifically Caldera for OT), Metasploit, or commercial breach/attack simulation tools.
• Industrial Protocol Understanding: Familiarity with protocol behaviors and command structures for industrial standards such as Modbus TCP, DNP3, OPC UA, EtherNet/IP, Siemens S7, or BACnet.
• Sponsor & Government Network: Existing relationships across CISA, DoW, Department of Energy, or industrial sector security groups.
• Public Speaking & Thought Leadership: Proven success delivering keynotes, sponsor briefings, conference presentations, or publishing white papers on cyber-physical security.
• Active Security Clearance: Active Top Secret or TS/SCI security clearance.

This requisition requires the candidate to have a minimum of the following clearance(s):
None

This requisition requires the hired candidate to have or obtain, within one year from the date of hire, the following clearance(s):
Top Secret/SCI

Salary compensation range and midpoint:
$158,800 - $198,500 - $238,200 Annual

Work Location Type:
Onsite

Commitment to Non-Discrimination

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, status as a protected veteran or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, local or international law.

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