Vulnerability Researcher

UKTL is building leading edge Telecoms testing facilities to keep our telecommunications networks safe, accelerate the roll-out of new technologies, and grow our world leading telecoms sector to maintain resiliency and security. 

Read more about UKTL here!

Successful candidates will join a state-of-the-art facility and be supporting the team conducting testing and research on the latest technologies and innovations in the industry. You will work alongside our infrastructure and Cybersecurity professionals to ensure that the UK’s world class Telecoms infrastructure grows in a resilient and secure manner underpinning growth in other industry sectors.

As a trusted and independent national capability, UKTL interacts with standards bodies, Academia, and Government Departments as well as Communications Service Providers and equipment vendors.

Successful Applicants must be able to commute to the UKTL offices in Birmingham with the possibility of hybrid working. 

We strive to offer a great work life balance - if you are looking for full time, part time or flexible options, we will try to make this work where business possible. This will be dependent on the kind of role you do and part of the business you work in. 

• An interest and aptitude for vulnerability research (either from a professional background or by demonstrating an aptitude).
• A passion for understanding how things work, testing them, pushing them to their limits, and finding security issues in them.
• An understanding of hardware and software development lifecycles and their impact on security practices.
• Applied knowledge of cryptographic algorithms (encryption, authentication, signatures, etc).
• Knowledge of data structures, distributed systems, virtualisation and containerisation technologies.
• An understanding of network protocols and how software works from assembly through to interpreted languages, and everything in between.
• Familiarity with vulnerabilities such as memory corruption bugs (stack/heap/integer overflows, format strings), and techniques attackers can use to bypass common security protections (e.g. NX, stack canaries, heap protection, ASLR, etc.)
• Knowledge and experience of embedded systems and operating systems, and hardware techniques for prototyping and debugging these.
• Knowledge of Linux OS internals. Ability to self-learn any language, given appropriate resources to study and practice.
• Practical knowledge of common white-hat exploitation toolsets and techniques for common flaws in low-level software, as well as web platforms (e.g. SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, SSRF, upload/download abuse, RCE).
• Reverse engineering experience (e.g. IDA Pro, Ghidra).

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is a world-leading centre of excellence that provides cutting-edge measurement science, engineering and technology to underpin prosperity and quality of life in the UK. Find out more about what it is like working here - The measure of us - Overview

NPL and DSIT have strong commitments to diversity and equality of opportunity, and welcome applications from candidates irrespective of their background, gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, or age, providing they meet the required criteria. Applications from women, disabled and black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates in particular are encouraged. All disabled candidates (as defined by the Equality Act 2010) who satisfy the minimum criteria for the role will be guaranteed an interview under the Disability Confident Scheme. 

At NPL, we believe our success is a result of the diversity and talent of our people. We strive to nurture and respect individuals to ensure everyone feels valued by treating everyone on the basis of their own individual merits and abilities regardless of their own or perceived identity, as part of our commitment to diversity & inclusion, we ensure we’re creating an environment where all our colleagues feel supported and welcome. More about this on our Diversity & Inclusion page.

We offer a wealth of above industry standard benefits, such as enhanced pension scheme, flexible working, and more that can be found here rewards, benefits and recognition. Our values are at the heart of what we do, and they shape the way we interact, develop our people and celebrate success. To ensure everyone has an equal chance, we’re always willing to make reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process. If you would like to discuss, please contact us.