Director of Information Security

Varda Space Industries • El Segundo, CA

21d • Onsite

About The Position

About Varda Low Earth orbit is open for business . Varda is accelerating the development of commercial space infrastructure, from in-orbit pharmaceutical processing to reliable and economical reentry capsules. From life-saving pharmaceuticals to more powerful fiber optics, there is a world of products used on Earth today that can only be manufactured in space. Varda is accelerating innovation in the orbital economy by creating both the products and infrastructure needed so space can directly benefit life on Earth. Our mission is to expand the economic bounds of humankind. Our team is uniquely suited to accomplishing this goal, with leadership and staff comprised of veterans from SpaceX, Blue Origin, major pharmaceutical companies and Silicon Valley. Varda was founded in January 2021 by Will Bruey and Delian Asparouhov with significant backing from world class investors including Khosla Ventures, Lux Capital, Founders Fund, Caffeinated Capital, General Catalyst, and Also Capital. Varda is headquartered in El Segundo, California, where we have offices and a production facility where our vehicles, equipment, and materials are built, integrated, and tested. Varda also has offices in Washington, DC and Huntsville, AL. Join Varda, and work to create a bustling in-space ecosystem. About This Role As the Head of Information Technology, you will be responsible for managing Varda’s IT systems, processes, and controls. You will manage a highly skilled team of folks with expertise in information technology, enterprise applications, information security, and spacecraft mission operations. You will be responsible, either directly or through your team, for an array of critical functions including overseeing critical IT infrastructure, managing sophisticated IT services, and designing and managing highly availability networks and applications. You and your team will also be asked to provide a technology strategy for the company with the help of the engineering teams, spacecraft operations teams, and the vehicle production organization. This is a full-time, exempt position located in our El Segundo headquarters.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, math, physics, information systems, or similar technical discipline and 5+ years of systems engineering experience, or 8+ years of systems engineering experience in lieu of a degree
• Direct experience as a people manager
• Ability to receive Top Secret or TS/SCI clearance
• Strong written and verbal communication
• Independently motivated with a demonstrated track record of delivering complex technical projects
• Experience with Linux servers in physical and virtualized environments.
• Experience with Python or other scripting and automation languages.
• U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident of the U.S. to conform with U.S Government space technology export regulations under ITAR

Nice To Haves

• 17+ years in the IT industry with demonstrated leadership experience as a team manager or a comparable role within the startup ecosystem
• Experience leading multiple production deployment and test programs with varied timelines
• Demonstrated experience building and growing lean teams in a fast-paced environment
• Demonstrated strengths in organizational, attention-to-detail, follow-through, reasoning, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills

Responsibilities

• Recruit, retain and empower a diverse team of engineers to design and build next-generation information technology infrastructure for the Varda corporation and the Winnebago spacecraft
• Scope projects including requirements capture and initial design trades to open-ended problems
• End-to-end ownership of IT system including provider relationships, testing, networking, mission control, and ground station design/build/maintenance
• Provide day-to-day support and administration for our portfolio of enterprise software applications
• Manage the Site Reliability, IT, Information Security, and Software Application teams to define business processes and identify areas of improvements/automation
• Lead development, implementation and reporting of high-availability and disaster recovery strategies.
• Partner with Avionics, Software, and Mission Operations teams to develop mission critical hardware, software, and networking support for space missions
• Work closely with Varda engineers to gather requirements, research, evaluate, design, plan, deploy, and support software platforms and related technologies in a world-class environment
• Build highly-resilient, high-performance, scalable, and flexible systems
• Support proposal and business development activities
• Drive scripting and automation to develop solutions to common problems and software integrations
• Implement best practices and controls across all information technology functions
• Prepare schedules and supporting documentation related to information security audit requirements, and interact with external auditors as required

Benefits

• Exciting team of professionals at the top of their field working by your side
• Equity in a fully funded space startup with potential for significant growth (interns excluded)
• 401(k) matching (interns excluded)
• Unlimited PTO (interns excluded)
• Health insurance, including Vision and Dental
• Lunch and snacks provided on site every day.
• Dinners provided twice a week.
• Maternity / Paternity leave (interns excluded)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director