H-1B Visa Security Researcher Jobs
Security Researcher roles qualify as H-1B visa specialty occupations under the computer occupations SOC codes, requiring at least a bachelor's degree in computer science, cybersecurity, or a closely related field. Employers in defense contracting, cloud infrastructure, and financial services are among the most active H-1B sponsors for this role.
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Get Access To All JobsINTRODUCTION
The University of Utah’s Center for High Performance Computing (CHPC) is seeking a highly skilled Research Computing Security Architect to lead the technical vision, strategic design, and overarching security architecture for its high-performance computing (HPC) environments. This role is critical to enabling research by designing resilient, scalable systems that align with NIST SP 800-171 Revision 3 and other federal cybersecurity standards. Reporting to the head of the Security and Compliance (S&C) team, the Architect will serve as CHPC’s security architecture lead, working closely with other S&C team members, other CHPC teams who are responsible for systems implementation and operations, and with other institutional security and compliance teams to bridge the gap between technical reality and institutional governance.
JOB SUMMARY
The department may choose to hire at any of the below job levels and associated pay rates based on their business need and budget.
Responsibilities
Architecture & Technical Strategy:
- Develop and own the comprehensive security architecture and technical roadmap for HPC systems supporting regulated research.
- Define reusable security patterns for Linux-based HPC clusters, workload schedulers, containers, shared storage, high-speed networks, data-transfer services, virtualization, cloud resources, and interactive research-access services to satisfy NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 3, CMMC, and other federal cybersecurity standards.
- Collaborate with CHPC monitoring specialists and infrastructure teams to define logging, telemetry, detection, logging, detection, and incident response capabilities, including required data sources, integrations, retention, alerting, and validation criteria.
- Lead architectural threat modeling exercises, evaluating complex system designs against potential attack vectors to ensure security is embedded by design prior to deployment.
Cross-Team Leadership & Communication:
- Ability to lead technical design reviews and influence cross-functional teams without direct supervisory authority.
- Serve as a liaison by communicating complex architectural risks, tradeoffs, dependencies, and recommendations to technical and nontechnical audiences.
- Evaluate and select emerging security tools, platforms, and secure data transfer protocols to continuously modernize the HPC security posture.
Security Architecture Assurance & Compliance Partnership:
- Partner with the internal Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) team and compliance analysts to map regulatory and contractual requirements to technical architecture, implementation requirements, and validation criteria.
- Develop and maintain architecture diagrams, technical specifications, trust-boundary documentation, data-flow models, and security design records that support institutional compliance efforts.
- Validate that deployed environments align with approved security designs and document material deviations, compensating controls, and residual risks.
- Serve as the technical Subject Matter Expert (SME) during assessments while compliance personnel retain responsibility for SSP management, evidence coordination, audit administration, and POA&M tracking.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
EQUIVALENCY STATEMENT: 1 year of higher education can be substituted for 1 year of directly related work experience (Example: bachelor’s degree = 4 years of directly related work experience).
Department may hire employee at one of the following job levels:
Information Security Architect, III: Requires a bachelor’s (or equivalency) + 6 years or a master’s (or equivalency) + 4 years of directly related work experience.
Information Security Architect, IV: Requires a bachelor’s (or equivalency) + 8 years or a master’s (or equivalency) + 6 years of directly related work experience.
Information Security Architect, V: Requires a bachelor’s (or equivalency) + 10 years or a master’s (or equivalency) + 8 years of directly related work experience.
- Proven ability to translate federal cybersecurity standards (such as NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 3 and CMMC) into architectural blueprints and control patterns.
- Deep understanding of Linux-based operating systems, distributed computing, virtualization platforms, and HPC-oriented secure container orchestration (e.g., Kubernetes, Docker).
- Demonstrated experience evaluating, selecting, and designing large-scale security capabilities, including centralized logging and SIEM, vulnerability and configuration management, network security, and host-based monitoring or EDR where technically appropriate.
- Strong understanding of infrastructure-as-code (IaC) and automation frameworks to guide engineering deployment.
PREFERENCES
- Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Security, Cybersecurity, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field.
- Active professional architecture certifications (e.g., CISSP - ISSAP, GDSA, CompTIA SecurityX, or vendor-specific enterprise architecture credentials).
- Prior experience designing security architectures for high-performance computing (HPC) environments or high-throughput research networks.
- Concrete experience operating within higher education, government, or defense research environments requiring strict data classification, identity, segmentation, least privilege, device or workload trust, and continuous validation.
LOCATION
Location: Campus
City: Salt Lake City, UT
COMPENSATION
Pay Rate Range: $58,292 - $150,375
TYPE
Benefited Staff
SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS SUMMARY
The University is a participating employer with Utah Retirement Systems (“URS”). Eligible new hires with prior URS service may elect to enroll in URS if they make the election before they become eligible for retirement (usually the first day of work). Contact Human Resources at (801) 581-7447 for information. Individuals who previously retired and are receiving monthly retirement benefits from URS are subject to URS’ post-retirement rules and restrictions. Please contact Utah Retirement Systems at (801) 366-7770 or (800) 695-4877 or University Human Resource Management at (801) 581-7447 if you have questions regarding the post-retirement rules.
This position may require the successful completion of a criminal background check and/or drug screen.
The University of Utah values candidates who have experience working in settings with students and possess a strong commitment to improving access to higher education.
Veterans’ preference is extended to qualified applicants, upon request and consistent with University policy and Utah state law. Upon request, reasonable accommodations in the application process will be provided to individuals with disabilities.
Consistent with state and federal law, the University of Utah does not discriminate based upon race, ethnicity, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, or protected veteran’s status. The University does not discriminate on the basis of sex in the education program or activity that it operates, as required by Title IX and 34 CFR part 106. The requirement not to discriminate in education programs or activities extends to admission and employment. Inquiries about the application of Title IX and its regulations may be referred to the Title IX Coordinator, to the Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, or both.
To request a reasonable accommodation for a disability or if you or someone you know has experienced discrimination or sexual misconduct including sexual harassment, you may contact the Director/Title IX Coordinator in the Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX (OEO). More information, including the Director/Title IX Coordinator’s office address, electronic mail address, and telephone number can be located at the: University of Utah Non-Discrimination page.
Online reports may be submitted at https://oeo.utah.edu
This report includes statistics about criminal offenses, hate crimes, arrests and referrals for disciplinary action, and Violence Against Women Act offenses. They also provide information about safety and security-related services offered by the University of Utah. A paper copy can be obtained by request at the Department of Public Safety located at 1658 East 500 South.
As per University of Utah policy 5-108: Transfer of Benefits Eligible Staff Members, a new hire to the University of Utah who is still serving a 12 month probationary period will not be hired into another University of Utah job (a transfer) until the successful completion of the probationary period.
INTRODUCTION
The University of Utah’s Center for High Performance Computing (CHPC) is seeking a highly skilled Research Computing Security Architect to lead the technical vision, strategic design, and overarching security architecture for its high-performance computing (HPC) environments. This role is critical to enabling research by designing resilient, scalable systems that align with NIST SP 800-171 Revision 3 and other federal cybersecurity standards. Reporting to the head of the Security and Compliance (S&C) team, the Architect will serve as CHPC’s security architecture lead, working closely with other S&C team members, other CHPC teams who are responsible for systems implementation and operations, and with other institutional security and compliance teams to bridge the gap between technical reality and institutional governance.
JOB SUMMARY
The department may choose to hire at any of the below job levels and associated pay rates based on their business need and budget.
Responsibilities
Architecture & Technical Strategy:
- Develop and own the comprehensive security architecture and technical roadmap for HPC systems supporting regulated research.
- Define reusable security patterns for Linux-based HPC clusters, workload schedulers, containers, shared storage, high-speed networks, data-transfer services, virtualization, cloud resources, and interactive research-access services to satisfy NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 3, CMMC, and other federal cybersecurity standards.
- Collaborate with CHPC monitoring specialists and infrastructure teams to define logging, telemetry, detection, logging, detection, and incident response capabilities, including required data sources, integrations, retention, alerting, and validation criteria.
- Lead architectural threat modeling exercises, evaluating complex system designs against potential attack vectors to ensure security is embedded by design prior to deployment.
Cross-Team Leadership & Communication:
- Ability to lead technical design reviews and influence cross-functional teams without direct supervisory authority.
- Serve as a liaison by communicating complex architectural risks, tradeoffs, dependencies, and recommendations to technical and nontechnical audiences.
- Evaluate and select emerging security tools, platforms, and secure data transfer protocols to continuously modernize the HPC security posture.
Security Architecture Assurance & Compliance Partnership:
- Partner with the internal Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) team and compliance analysts to map regulatory and contractual requirements to technical architecture, implementation requirements, and validation criteria.
- Develop and maintain architecture diagrams, technical specifications, trust-boundary documentation, data-flow models, and security design records that support institutional compliance efforts.
- Validate that deployed environments align with approved security designs and document material deviations, compensating controls, and residual risks.
- Serve as the technical Subject Matter Expert (SME) during assessments while compliance personnel retain responsibility for SSP management, evidence coordination, audit administration, and POA&M tracking.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
EQUIVALENCY STATEMENT: 1 year of higher education can be substituted for 1 year of directly related work experience (Example: bachelor’s degree = 4 years of directly related work experience).
Department may hire employee at one of the following job levels:
Information Security Architect, III: Requires a bachelor’s (or equivalency) + 6 years or a master’s (or equivalency) + 4 years of directly related work experience.
Information Security Architect, IV: Requires a bachelor’s (or equivalency) + 8 years or a master’s (or equivalency) + 6 years of directly related work experience.
Information Security Architect, V: Requires a bachelor’s (or equivalency) + 10 years or a master’s (or equivalency) + 8 years of directly related work experience.
- Proven ability to translate federal cybersecurity standards (such as NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 3 and CMMC) into architectural blueprints and control patterns.
- Deep understanding of Linux-based operating systems, distributed computing, virtualization platforms, and HPC-oriented secure container orchestration (e.g., Kubernetes, Docker).
- Demonstrated experience evaluating, selecting, and designing large-scale security capabilities, including centralized logging and SIEM, vulnerability and configuration management, network security, and host-based monitoring or EDR where technically appropriate.
- Strong understanding of infrastructure-as-code (IaC) and automation frameworks to guide engineering deployment.
PREFERENCES
- Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Security, Cybersecurity, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field.
- Active professional architecture certifications (e.g., CISSP - ISSAP, GDSA, CompTIA SecurityX, or vendor-specific enterprise architecture credentials).
- Prior experience designing security architectures for high-performance computing (HPC) environments or high-throughput research networks.
- Concrete experience operating within higher education, government, or defense research environments requiring strict data classification, identity, segmentation, least privilege, device or workload trust, and continuous validation.
LOCATION
Location: Campus
City: Salt Lake City, UT
COMPENSATION
Pay Rate Range: $58,292 - $150,375
TYPE
Benefited Staff
SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS SUMMARY
The University is a participating employer with Utah Retirement Systems (“URS”). Eligible new hires with prior URS service may elect to enroll in URS if they make the election before they become eligible for retirement (usually the first day of work). Contact Human Resources at (801) 581-7447 for information. Individuals who previously retired and are receiving monthly retirement benefits from URS are subject to URS’ post-retirement rules and restrictions. Please contact Utah Retirement Systems at (801) 366-7770 or (800) 695-4877 or University Human Resource Management at (801) 581-7447 if you have questions regarding the post-retirement rules.
This position may require the successful completion of a criminal background check and/or drug screen.
The University of Utah values candidates who have experience working in settings with students and possess a strong commitment to improving access to higher education.
Veterans’ preference is extended to qualified applicants, upon request and consistent with University policy and Utah state law. Upon request, reasonable accommodations in the application process will be provided to individuals with disabilities.
Consistent with state and federal law, the University of Utah does not discriminate based upon race, ethnicity, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, or protected veteran’s status. The University does not discriminate on the basis of sex in the education program or activity that it operates, as required by Title IX and 34 CFR part 106. The requirement not to discriminate in education programs or activities extends to admission and employment. Inquiries about the application of Title IX and its regulations may be referred to the Title IX Coordinator, to the Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, or both.
To request a reasonable accommodation for a disability or if you or someone you know has experienced discrimination or sexual misconduct including sexual harassment, you may contact the Director/Title IX Coordinator in the Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX (OEO). More information, including the Director/Title IX Coordinator’s office address, electronic mail address, and telephone number can be located at the: University of Utah Non-Discrimination page.
Online reports may be submitted at https://oeo.utah.edu
This report includes statistics about criminal offenses, hate crimes, arrests and referrals for disciplinary action, and Violence Against Women Act offenses. They also provide information about safety and security-related services offered by the University of Utah. A paper copy can be obtained by request at the Department of Public Safety located at 1658 East 500 South.
As per University of Utah policy 5-108: Transfer of Benefits Eligible Staff Members, a new hire to the University of Utah who is still serving a 12 month probationary period will not be hired into another University of Utah job (a transfer) until the successful completion of the probationary period.
See all 41+ H-1B Visa Security Researcher Jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new H-1B Visa Security Researcher Jobs.
Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding H-1B Visa Sponsorship in Security Researcher
Align your degree to SOC codes
Security Researcher positions file under SOC codes like 15-1212 (Information Security Analysts). Confirm your degree field maps directly to the role's O*NET classification before applying, a mismatch is the most common specialty occupation RFE trigger.
Target employers with security clearance programs
Defense contractors and federal IT vendors file H-1B petitions regularly for security researchers because cleared roles are hard to fill domestically. Employers already invested in clearance sponsorship are structurally more likely to sponsor H-1B status for the same roles.
Search verified H-1B sponsors on Migrate Mate
Filter for Security Researcher roles on Migrate Mate to see employers with confirmed H-1B LCA filing history in this occupation. That filing history tells you the employer has already navigated DOL certification for this job category.
Request the prevailing wage tier before negotiating
Your employer must certify your wage against the DOL prevailing wage for your job title and location. Pull the OFLC Wage Search to see which Level applies to your seniority, Level I covers entry roles, Level IV covers senior researchers, before salary discussions begin.
Document your CVEs and published research early
USCIS adjudicators scrutinize specialty occupation claims for security researchers. Compile CVE credits, published vulnerability disclosures, conference presentations, and any bug bounty acknowledgments into your petition support file before the employer files the I-129.
Account for premium processing in your start date
Standard I-129 processing can run several months. If your offer letter sets a firm start date, ask your employer to file with premium processing through USCIS, which guarantees a decision within 15 business days and protects against a delayed transfer or new-hire onboarding gap.
H-1B Visa Security Researcher: Frequently Asked Questions
Does a Security Researcher role qualify as an H-1B specialty occupation?
Yes. Security Researcher positions typically fall under computer occupations SOC codes and require at least a bachelor's degree in a directly related field such as computer science, cybersecurity, or information systems. The key is that your employer's job description must require a specific degree, not just accept any bachelor's degree. USCIS will scrutinize the degree-to-role connection, so the job posting language matters.
Which industries sponsor H-1B visas most often for Security Researchers?
Defense contractors, cloud infrastructure providers, financial services firms, and cybersecurity product companies are among the most consistent H-1B sponsors for Security Researcher roles. These sectors face persistent talent shortages in security specializations, which drives repeat LCA filings. You can identify employers with verified filing history in this occupation by searching Migrate Mate, which surfaces DOL LCA data by job category.
Can I transfer my H-1B to a new Security Researcher role without restarting the process?
Yes, H-1B portability under AC21 lets you start working for a new employer once they file a non-frivolous I-129 transfer petition, provided your current H-1B has been approved for at least 180 days. The new employer still needs to file a fresh LCA with DOL for the new position and location. You don't need to wait for USCIS approval before starting, but you must not stop working for your current employer before the transfer petition is filed.
Does a Security Researcher role with a government contractor require special H-1B considerations?
Government contractor roles sometimes require security clearances, which are separate from H-1B status but affect practical employability. H-1B status itself doesn't bar clearance eligibility, but clearance adjudication for non-U.S. citizens involves additional scrutiny. Some contractor positions are also on federal premises subject to place-of-employment LCA rules, meaning your employer must post the LCA at each worksite, which can complicate multi-site or remote arrangements under DOL regulations.
What happens to my H-1B if my Security Researcher role shifts to a different focus area?
If your job duties change materially, such as moving from vulnerability research to a primarily managerial or product function, your employer may need to file an amended I-129 with USCIS to reflect the new role. The amended petition requires a new LCA if the SOC code, job title, or work location changes. Minor scope expansions within the same occupation generally don't require amendment, but significant structural role changes do trigger the filing obligation under USCIS guidance.