CNO Developer — Build the Tools Behind National Security Missions
Location: Virginia
Clearance Required: TS/SCI with POLY
Your Code Will Matter Here
Most developers write software that makes life more convenient. You'll write software that makes the nation safer.
We're building the next generation of Computer Network Operations (CNO) capabilities — and we need a developer who lives for the hard problems: reverse engineering, low-level systems, and building tools that simply don't exist anywhere else because no one's had to build them before. If you want your work to disappear into a black box marked "unclassified impact: significant," this is that role.
You'll sit shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the sharpest engineers and analysts in the cyber community, working on capabilities that directly support national security missions. No layers of bureaucracy between you and the problem. No toy projects. Just real systems, real stakes, and a team that will push you to do your best work.
What You'll Actually Be Doing
- Designing and building new CNO tools, capabilities, and applications from the ground up
- Owning software through the full lifecycle — architecture, development, testing, debugging, and documentation
- Digging into complex, low-level systems to troubleshoot and solve problems most developers never encounter
- Applying serious networking chops — TCP/IP, socket-level programming, secure coding practices — to mission-critical code
- Partnering directly with engineers, analysts, and mission stakeholders to make sure what you build actually performs under pressure
- Holding your own work to a high bar: clean code, thorough testing, documentation that the next engineer will thank you for
What You Bring
- Strong hands-on skills in Python or C/C++
- Real experience with network programming (TCP/IP) and socket-level development
- A track record of troubleshooting and debugging complex systems — you don't just fix bugs, you understand why they happened
What Sets You Apart
- Prior experience building CNO capabilities or doing reverse engineering
- Comfort with assembly-level concepts
- Exposure to low-level system internals across platforms — Windows, Unix, mobile, or network devices
- Solid grasp of unit testing and test automation
- Familiarity with Atlassian tools (JIRA, Confluence, Crucible)
Skills Required
- Strong hands-on skills in Python or C/C++
- Experience with network programming, including TCP/IP and socket-level development
- Experience troubleshooting and debugging complex systems
- Prior experience building Computer Network Operations capabilities or performing reverse engineering
- Familiarity with assembly-level concepts
- Experience with low-level system internals across Windows, Unix, mobile, or network device platforms
- Understanding of unit testing and test automation
- Familiarity with Atlassian tools including JIRA, Confluence, and Crucible
- TS/SCI with polygraph security clearance
What We Do
The Maven Group, LLC is an IT and engineering recruiting firm based in Apex, NC, that places direct-hire and contract professionals across mission-critical roles. It sources talent for Fortune 500 companies and government agencies, specializing in cybersecurity, network engineering, data science, cloud, and systems positions. Although headquartered in North Carolina, the firm's client base spans major U.S. technology centers. They recruit nationwide.
