PKI Engineer

Peraton is seeking a PKI Engineer to join our team of qualified, diverse individuals. The ideal candidate will work as a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) Subject Matter Expert (SME) supporting the Department of State (DoS) Bureau of Information Resource Management (IRM) PKI program. This program provides transparent security services in support of the Department’s goals to secure communications among Department staff and systems.

This is a senior-level PKI engineering position within program’s Enterprise Engineering Office (EEO), providing PKI engineering and integration support, administering, maintaining, and deploying various PKI systems based on Entrust solutions, onsite at the various DoS Datacenters and at certain selected DoS domestic and overseas locations.

The preferred candidate must possess strong skills in designing, installing, configuring, and maintaining PKI systems. Additionally, the preferred candidate should have some experience in providing tier-3 level support in large enterprises.

Day to day work responsibilities: 

• Performing all aspects of systems design and PKI engineering in support of various PKI systems deployed at the Department of State.
• Manage and maintain enclaved server hardware, storage, switches, server operating systems, and Hardware Security Modules (HSMs)
• Providing in-depth subject matter expertise for engineering support related to Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) systems, especially in a government setting.
• Maintaining existing PKI systems – patch existing systems, deploy new components based on customer demand
• Directly working with customer to analyze requirements and then deploy security related solution to meet those requirements.
• Performing problem analysis following any service issues to prevent recurrence
• Performing product evaluations and making product recommendations
• Identifying security risks to customer systems and suggest mitigations
• Designing, building, and managing PKI enclaves conforming to the policies and standards of the Department of State, Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12), Federal Bridge Certification Authority (FBCA), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and other policies and standards as required.
• Identifying security architectures and implementation gaps, vulnerabilities, and risks; developing, testing, and implementing solutions to address the gaps, and new or updated requirements.
• Developing test cases for software/hardware testing and developing test evaluation reports for stakeholders.
• Lead an effort in gathering requirements, performing gap analysis, developing and presenting potential solutions, and creating detailed design and implementation plans.
• Developing and updating systems documentation (e.g., ConOps, Operating procedures, systems architecture documents)
• Ensuring the NIST 800-53 Rev. 4 security controls, where applicable, are in place and validated on all PKI systems.

Basic Qualifications:  

• U.S. Citizenship and Active Top Secret clearance required
• Bachelors degree and 8-10 years’ experience or Masters degree and 6-8 years' experience or a high school diploma/equivalent and 12 years relevant experience
• Strong background in the Microsoft server operating systems and Certificate Authority (CA) providers
• General understanding of cryptographic keys, symmetric and asymmetric keys, cryptographic key algorithms, and cipher blocks
• Working knowledge with network devices particularly Cisco switches.
• Network infrastructure diagnostics (TCP/IP general networking knowledge, network monitoring tools)
• Virtualization technologies – VMWare ESXI, vCenter, VMWare NSX
• Working knowledge of external storage solutions, storage area networks (SANs), and Fiber Channel networks

Preferred Qualifications:  

• Knowledge of Entrust suite of PKI products (Security Manager, Administration Services, Security Manager Proxy) especially in a government setting.
• Hands-on experience with Hardware Security Modules (HSMs), and external storage solutions.
• Working knowledge with a Card Management Systems (CMS) solution for Smart Cards.
• Experience integrating managed devices into MDM solutions (AirWatch, Intune).
• Understanding of cloud security implementation practices, particularly PKI related. (Azure, AWS, etc.)
• PowerShell scripting experience and/or other scripting expertise.
• Network infrastructure diagnostics (TCP/IP general networking knowledge, network monitoring tools)
• Expert level skills in virtualization technologies (e.g., VMWare vSphere)
• Operational experience with LDAP and PKI Directory Management
• Engineering and Integration experience with Two-factor authentication: RSA, PIV cards, custom smart card solutions, and biometric authentication.
• Working experience deploying OCSP capabilities within a diverse and international organization
• Experience with Enterprise Systems Architecture, engineering, and deployment
• CISSP, Security+, or similar certification
• Professionally and effectively communicate; both verbal and written at all levels within the organization
• Ability to think analytically, troubleshoot, and solve problems
• Ability to troubleshoot and resolve network/application/operating system issues
• Self-starter, able to work independently with minimum supervision
• Excellent MS-Windows Server administration & maintenance skills
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Excellent analytical and troubleshooting skills

Peraton drives missions of consequence spanning the globe and extending to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. As the world’s leading mission capability integrator and transformative enterprise IT provider, we deliver trusted and highly differentiated national security solutions and technologies that keep people safe and secure. Peraton serves as a valued partner to essential government agencies across the intelligence, space, cyber, defense, civilian, health, and state and local markets. Every day, our employees do the can’t be done, solving the most daunting challenges facing our customers.