Advanced Red Team Operator at Intelligent Waves, LLC – Norfolk, Virginia
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About This Position
Advanced Red Team Operator
US-VA-Norfolk
Job ID: 2026-4360
Type: Regular Full-Time
# of Openings: 3
Category: Cybersecurity
Norfolk, VA
Overview
Intelligent Waves is seeking an Advanced Red Team Operator to support complex U.S. Navy acquisition and operational programs. This role provides senior-level support to cyber Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E) activities across a broad portfolio of Navy platforms, weapon systems, information warfare capabilities, and enterprise business systems.
The Advanced Red Team Operator leads the design and execution of cyber OT&E test strategies, oversees authorized cyber test events, and produces comprehensive technical reports detailing findings, risk impacts, and mission relevance. Testing is conducted in live operational environments, laboratories, cyber ranges, and cloud-based infrastructures, spanning both information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) systems. Protection of system safety, mission assurance, and operational security is paramount throughout all phases of testing.
This role requires expert application of approved tools, resources, and advanced adversary tradecraft to compromise and maneuver within systems and networks under test in support of defined mission objectives. The operator exercises significant autonomy, provides technical leadership to junior and intermediate red team personnel, and executes operations in coordination with the OID Current Operations Officer, ensuring strict adherence to rules of engagement, authorization boundaries, and test objectives.
** This position is contingent upon final contract and funding approval.
Location: Norfolk, VA
Travel: None
Clearance Requirement: TS/SCI
Adherence to all customer site protocols is mandatory for employees.
Responsibilities
Planning and Governance
Develop, maintain, and enforce red team SOPs, test documentation, and reference materials to sustain DCAT authorization in accordance with DoDI 8585.01.
Lead cyber test planning activities including mission analysis, attack surface identification, threat modeling, and validation of test objectives for feasibility and operational realism.
Coordinate deconfliction, approvals, and stakeholder engagement, ensuring compliance with Joint Forces Headquarters DODIN procedures and external organization reporting requirements.
Conduct in-depth research on adversary cyber actors, including TTPs, organizational structures, capabilities, personas, and operational environments, integrating findings into survivability and threat-informed testing.
Lead open-source intelligence analysis and system documentation review to assess mission context, architectures, interfaces, critical components, and threat vectors.
Collaborate with development organizations to design, build, and deploy custom tools, techniques, and access methodologies to support advanced red team objectives.
Lead red team test preparation, including site coordination visits, in-briefs, test plan reviews, and development of technical reference libraries and research briefings.
Execute advanced cyber test events including Cooperative Vulnerability Penetration Assessments, Adversarial Assessments, and Cyber Tabletop Exercises across operational, developmental, and risk reduction environments.
Independently conduct and oversee exploitation activities using approved tools and tradecraft while providing technical direction and mentorship to basic and intermediate red team operators.
Apply advanced ethical hacking techniques to exploit vulnerabilities and misconfigurations across operating systems, protocols, and security services to achieve test objectives.
Verify, analyze, and validate collected test data to ensure accuracy, completeness, and operational relevance.
Lead post-test analysis, reporting, and documentation efforts including deficiency and risk artifacts, lessons learned, and iterative improvements to red team methodologies and capabilities.
Qualifications
Active TS/SCI clearance
Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP) or an equivalent advanced offensive security certification
Minimum of 6 years of professional experience performing a combination of penetration testing, red teaming, and/or exploit development
Minimum of 6 years of experience leading red team operators, directing penetration testing and red team activities to successfully accomplish assigned test objectives
Demonstrated proficiency with common offensive security tools, including Metasploit, Cobalt Strike, Core Impact, Burp Suite, Nessus, and SharpHound
Strong ability to identify and analyze malicious program behavior using dynamic analysis techniques
Proven capability to independently plan and execute penetration testing and red team activities to meet assigned test objectives
In-depth understanding of Windows and Unix/Linux system internals, host-based security products, and how system configurations and protections impact exploitation and detection
Intelligent Waves offers a generous benefits package including medical, dental, vision, paid PTO, life and disability insurance. We invest in our employees futures by contributing with vesting starting from DAY 1, technical training, tuition bonuses, and much more.
Clearance StatementApplicants selected for this position will be subject to a government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information. Only U.S. citizens are eligible for a security clearance. For this position, Intelligent Waves will consider only applicants with current security clearances or those eligible to obtain one.