Application Security Engineer

About this role

<p class="p1">At <strong>Ardent</strong>, we hire people who want more than a job — they want to serve a mission that matters. Our teams support the federal government’s most critical national security and defense priorities, helping protect the nation, strengthen resilience, and advance the technologies and capabilities that keep America secure. For veterans, cleared professionals, and purpose-driven innovators, Ardent is a place to continue serving alongside a team that understands the importance of the mission and the people behind it.</p> <p class="p1">We also know top talent has choices, which is why we back our mission with benefits and flexibility that stand out: competitive pay, comprehensive health coverage, flexible PTO, federal holidays off, tuition reimbursement, professional development support, wellness stipends, and a culture that values and rewards hard work, dedication, and adaptability. If you want to build something meaningful, while enjoying the kind of flexibility and support that you need to do your best work — <strong>Ardent</strong> is where your next mission begins.</p> <hr> <p><strong>Ardent</strong> is seeking an&nbsp;<strong>Application Security Engineer</strong>&nbsp;to join our team.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>This is a&nbsp;<strong>remote position</strong>.</p> <p><strong><u>Position Description:</u></strong></p> <p><strong>Ardent</strong> is seeking an <strong>Application Security Engineer </strong>to join the team. The Application Security Engineer supports application security assessment, vulnerability management, DevSecOps enablement, and secure reference implementation activities across USCIS systems and delivery environments. This role works closely with development, security, platform, and operations teams to identify application security risks, support remediation, validate fixes, improve security automation, and maintain consistent security practices throughout the application lifecycle. The position also supports the development of proof-of-concept reference implementations and utility applications that demonstrate secure design patterns, integrate with DevSecOps tools, and help bridge process and technology gaps between development and security teams.</p> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Responsibilities and Duties:</span></strong></p> <ol> <li><strong>Perform application security testing and vulnerability assessments</strong> <ul> <li>Conduct application security testing using approved tools, processes, and techniques.</li> <li>Assess web applications, APIs, services, containers, dependencies, and delivery environments for security weaknesses.</li> </ul> </li> <li><strong>Support automated security scanning</strong> <ul> <li>Support automated scanning of applications, APIs, services, software dependencies, containers, and CI/CD pipelines.</li> <li>Assist with configuring and maintaining security scanning tools used during development, build, test, release, and runtime activities.</li> </ul> </li> <li><strong>Document, track, and validate vulnerabilities</strong> <ul> <li>Document, triage, track, and validate vulnerabilities and security findings through remediation and closure.</li> <li>Maintain accurate vulnerability status, remediation evidence, and closure documentation.</li> </ul> </li> <li><strong>Assist development teams with secure coding and remediation</strong> <ul> <li>Provide technical guidance to development teams on secure coding practices and remediation of identified weaknesses.</li> <li>Help teams understand scan results, vulnerable dependency reports, policy violations, and recommended fixes.</li> </ul> </li> <li><strong>Support DevSecOps tool integration and automation</strong> <ul> <li>Support integration and operation of security tools and controls within CI/CD pipelines.</li> <li>Help implement automated security gates, policy enforcement, and reporting workflows.</li> <li>Integrate DevSecOps tools through APIs to improve visibility, automation, and operational efficiency.</li> </ul> </li> <li><strong>Develop proof-of-concept secure reference implementations</strong> <ul> <li>Design and develop proof-of-concept sample applications using common technology stacks to demonstrate application security best practices.</li> <li>Build reference examples that illustrate secure authentication, authorization, logging, dependency management, secrets handling, containerization, API security, and secure CI/CD workflows.</li> <li>Maintain reusable patterns and examples that development teams can reference when implementing security controls.</li> </ul> </li> <li><strong>Ideate and develop security utility applications</strong> <ul> <li>Identify process and technology gaps between development and security teams.</li> <li>Design and develop utility applications, scripts, dashboards, integrations, or automation workflows that improve vulnerability management, reporting, remediation tracking, tool interoperability, and DevSecOps operations.</li> <li>Integrate with security, development, repository, observability, and CI/CD tools through available API interfaces.</li> </ul> </li> <li><strong>Monitor compliance with application security standards</strong> <ul> <li>Monitor security findings and alignment with established application security standards and controls.</li> <li>Support security improvement initiatives aligned to Zero Trust principles and applicable NIST, CISA, and CIS security frameworks.</li> </ul> </li> <li><strong>Collect metrics, evidence, and reporting data</strong> <ul> <li>Collect and maintain security assessment data, scan results, vulnerability evidence, remediation status, and operational metrics.</li> <li>Support reporting for continuous monitoring, vulnerability reduction, and application security improvement initiatives.</li> </ul> </li> <li><strong>Support DevSecOps and vulnerability reduction initiatives</strong> <ul> <li>Support enterprise DevSecOps, vulnerability reduction, secure software development, an