CYS_ R&T Collaborator_TP

Job Description:

Leonardo SpA is an international industrial group, among the world's leading players in Aerospace, Defense, and Security, which creates multi-domain technological capabilities in Helicopters, Aircraft, Aerostructures, Electronics, Cyber Security, and Space. With over 60,000 employees worldwide, the company has a solid industrial presence in Italy, the United Kingdom, Poland, and the United States, and operates in 150 countries also through subsidiaries, joint ventures, and participations.

A protagonist in the main strategic programs globally, it is a technological and industrial partner for Governments, Defense Administrations, Institutions, and businesses.

Within the Technology & Innovation Area, and specifically at the Cryptography & Quantum Information Lab, we are looking for R&T Collaborators for our Rome Laurentina office.

The hired individuals will be responsible for the following (alternative) tasks:

Embedded SW and FW and HW Security Research

• Development of prototypes for the secure implementation of cryptographic functionalities on embedded systems and FPGAs: Within the activities of the Cryptography & Quantum Information lab, the resource will deal with the aspects of hardware integration of cryptographic primitives developed within the laboratory, previously contributing to their development. Regarding the embedded part, the main interest is towards ARM and RISC-V architectures.

• Identification of industrial research topics on reference subjects: The resource is expected to analyze technological trends related to the activity's areas of relevance and proactively propose industrial research topics to their manager, then collaborating with them in defining the related technological development roadmap.

• Participation in technical activities in support of funded research programs or client projects: The candidate will be required to collaborate, when necessary, with technical support for the proposal and execution phase of funded projects or client projects on their areas of expertise.

Applied Cryptography Research

• Research, Design of cryptographic algorithms and protocols: The resource will monitor the state of the art regarding the various areas of interest of the laboratory on cryptography topics, will conduct research and design new cryptographic algorithms and/or protocols suitable for various use cases in the reference domains; the resource will also work on SW prototyping and documentation of cryptographic libraries to implement the identified solutions and test them in contexts of industrial relevance;

• Identification of industrial research topics on reference subjects: The resource is expected to analyze technological trends related to the activity's areas of relevance and proactively propose industrial research topics to their manager, then collaborating with them in defining the related technological development roadmap.

• Participation in technical activities in support of funded research programs or client projects: The candidate will be required to collaborate, when necessary, with technical support for the proposal and execution phase of funded projects or client projects on their areas of expertise.

Education:

Master's degree in Electronic Engineering / Mathematics / Cryptography. Ph.D. in Electronic Engineering / Mathematics / Cryptography – Preferred

Seniority:

Expert/Senior: at least 3 years of experience required.

Technical/IT skills and knowledge:

In relation to Embedded SW and FW and HW Security Research activities

• FPGA Development:

  • HDL languages: VHDL, Verilog, SystemVerilog
  • Toolchain: Xilinx Vivado, Intel Quartus, ModelSim
  • Ability to optimize for execution times and resources, design capabilities (pipelining, parallelization);
  • Debugging and analysis: Logic analyzer, JTAG, timing analysis;
  • Simulation and verification capabilities

• Embedded Systems:

  • Embedded programming: C/C++, Rust
  • RTOS: Free RTOS, Zephyr
  • Toolchain: GCC ARM, CMake, OpenOCD;
  • Knowledge, management, and use of peripherals and protocols SPI, I2C, UART, CAN, Ethernet;
  • SW optimization: memory management and latency reduction;
  • Debug and development: JTAG, SWD, oscilloscopes, EM probes, hardware debugger;
  • Proactivity and ability in test automation;

Plus (nice to have)

• Participation in open-source projects (e.g., OpenTitan, lowRISC).

• Previous experience in hardware security labs or hardware red teams.

• Experience in HW integration of cryptographic functionalities (optional but evaluated): Experience in integrating cryptographic functionalities on HW (bare metal or OS-based -RTOS-based) will be evaluated and appreciated;

• Experience in security testing and side-channel analysis (optional but evaluated): Experience or skills in side-channel analysis (power-based, time-based), implementation of mitigation measures (masking, randomization) will be evaluated and appreciated;

• Knowledge of Post-Quantum Cryptography standards (optional but evaluated): Knowledge of FIPS 203, 204, 205 standards, HQC and Falcon algorithms, and other relevant algorithms in the field will be appreciated. Other knowledge in the context of cryptography, especially with a focus on post-quantum primitives, will be well evaluated.

In relation to Applied Cryptography Research activities

• In-depth knowledge of Post-Quantum Cryptography research area: The person must demonstrate full mastery and knowledge of the main post-quantum cryptography methods, with particular reference to the algorithms selected during the NIST standardization process, and those currently under evaluation;

• Research experience in the cryptography sector: The person must have a recognizable track record of publications pertaining to one or more of the following areas: Post-Quantum Cryptography, Attribute-Based Encryption, Threshold signatures and distributed key generation, ZKP; at least one publication concerning the design of new cryptographic mechanisms is welcome;

• Prototyping experience in low-level languages: The person must be fluent and have experience in prototyping cryptographic libraries and demonstrators for specific protocols or applications, possibly in the following languages: C/C++/RUST; optional: Go;

• Experience in fast prototyping of cryptographic protocols through the use of open-source libraries;

• Knowledge of basic concepts of Data-Centric Security (optional): Adequate knowledge of the foundational concepts of Data-Centric Security and cryptographic mechanisms that can support its implementation will be well evaluated.

• Experience and skills in formal verification (optional): Previous activities, publications, and/or familiarity with tools (ProVerif, Tamarin, F*) in formal verification will be well evaluated;

• Ability to capture business needs: Depending on the seniority level, the selected personnel are expected to have the ability to interact with business functions and even with the client to intercept security needs and translate them into formal requirements.

Behavioral Competencies

• Good communication and interpersonal skills, also appreciated the ability to popularize technical topics to promote industrial research work both internally and externally to the company, if necessary;

• Good time and priority management skills;

• Ability to plan technical activities, identify risk components associated with a project, are appreciated qualities;

Language Skills:

• Italian, English (B2)

Other:

• Certifications, Master's degrees, and Research Doctorates in the reference area will be well evaluated.

• More in-depth knowledge regarding technological topics relevant to the laboratory will be well evaluated.

Involvement, enhancement of skills, care for the well-being and safety of people are the cornerstones of our corporate culture. We are committed every day to fostering an inclusive and stimulating work environment, actively promoting the principles of inclusion, equity, and valuing diversity.

What do we offer?

• Our reference collective labor agreement is the CCNL for Private Metalworking Industry and Plant Installation;

• Working mode: Hybrid;

• Contract category: Employee;

• Contract type: permanent;

• Thirteenth month salary;

• Bonus linked to Business results;

• Welfare vouchers worth 250 euros per year;

• Company canteen;

• Opportunities for continuous training and updating of professional skills and soft skills;

• Well-being: we prioritize the economic, physical, social, and psychological well-being of our people, offering multiple solutions tailored to their needs.

The company reserves the right to make evaluations regarding the classification level and the economic proposal, based on objective criteria emerging during the selection process and in coherence with the seniority of the identified candidate and the position, in compliance with the principles of fairness, transparency and equal opportunities provided by current legislation.

We look forward to your application: send us your CV within three weeks of the job advertisement's opening.

How does the selection process work? After collecting applications, CVs most in line with the required qualifications are evaluated and identified.

Selected candidates undergo an introductory interview with the Human Resources team, focusing on motivation and aptitude, followed by a technical in-depth interview with the Business.

At the end of the process, feedback is provided to the person, whether the outcome is positive or negative.

Seniority: Experto

Primary Location: IT - Roma - Via Laurentina

Contract Type: Permanent

Total Base Pay Range: 40k-50k

Hybrid Working: Ibrido