[Hiring] Principal OT Cybersecurity / ICS Security Architect @Peraton

Role Description

Peraton Labs is hiring a Principal OT Cybersecurity / ICS Security Architect — a senior systems architect role bridging operational technology (OT), industrial control systems (ICS), and enterprise IT cybersecurity — to join our Strategic Innovation Group in support of a federal customer's cybersecurity and OT modernization program for critical infrastructure.

As a Principal OT Cybersecurity / ICS Security Architect on our team, you will:

• Lead end-to-end solutions analysis for one or more workstreams: elicit and validate requirements, produce System Requirements Specifications (SRS) with traceability to NERC CIP, FISMA, and CISA Zero Trust Architecture.
• Conduct market research to identify candidate commercial products across identity and access controls, network monitoring and threat visibility, and inventory/configuration/vulnerability management.
• Draft Requests for Information (RFIs), manage vendor response windows, and lead technical engagement with bidders under federal market-research guardrails.
• Assess vendor responses and product capabilities against requirements; author comparison reports and down-select recommendations.
• Design lab test environments, author test plans, and oversee hands-on product demonstrations and evaluation at customer and Peraton Labs facilities.
• Author Alternative Solutions Analysis (ASA) documents and brief steering committees and executive decision-makers.
• Facilitate multi-stakeholder workshops across operational technology (SCADA, RTUs, protective relays, industrial protocols) and enterprise IT cybersecurity domains to build consensus on requirements and product selection.

Qualifications

• U.S. Citizenship and the ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust determination and PIV credential for unescorted access to the customer facility.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer or Electrical Engineering, Cybersecurity, or a related technical discipline, and 12+ years of progressive systems architecture or cyber engineering experience; in lieu of a degree, 16 years of relevant experience will be considered.
• Demonstrated systems-architecture experience across both operational technology (OT / ICS) and enterprise information technology (IT) security environments.
• Direct experience in the electric-utility or power-grid domain (utility, ISO / RTO, generation / transmission / distribution operator, DOE laboratory, or comparable critical-infrastructure operator).
• Hands-on experience applying NERC CIP standards (CIP-002 through CIP-014) in a utility environment.
• Proven record leading the full RFI and vendor-evaluation lifecycle: requirements, market survey, RFI authorship, response evaluation, lab validation, and recommendation.
• Strong technical writing and executive-briefing skills.
• Ability to travel domestically up to 25%, including routine trips to the Pacific Northwest.

Requirements

• Working familiarity with FISMA controls and CISA Zero Trust Architecture mappings.
• Depth in one or more component domains: identity and access management; network detection and monitoring; packet capture and data diodes; cyber-asset and configuration management; or vulnerability and patch management for embedded devices.
• Experience authoring alternatives analyses under a formal systems-lifecycle methodology (utility SLC, DoDAF, NIST RMF, or comparable).
• Industry certifications such as GICSP, CISSP, GRID, CISA, or NERC-CIP-focused credentials.
• Experience presenting to federal or utility executive steering committees.
• Comfort operating under federal market-research guardrails (open information exchange with vendors; no NDAs; no procurement commitments).
• Experience with privileged access management (PAM) solutions.
• Experience with log and traffic monitoring systems supporting power protection, SCADA, and telecommunications environments.
• Experience with configuration management systems for power protection, SCADA, and telecommunications environments.

Working Conditions

• Location / posture: Remote (U.S.-based); fully remote day-to-day.
• Travel: Up to 25% domestic; routine trips to the Pacific Northwest; periodic trips to the Peraton Labs ICS Lab in New Jersey.
• Schedule: Standard business hours, with occasional evening or weekend work during lab test windows or scheduled vendor demonstrations.
• Customer interaction: Frequent — requirements workshops, vendor engagements, steering-committee briefings. Requires professionalism, strong communication, and resilience in multi-stakeholder consensus-building.
• Onboarding: Background check, PIV credential, and customer-required training must be completed prior to unescorted facility access.