Senior Security Engineer, Identity and Access Management (IAM)

K2 Space•Los Angeles, CA

About The Position

K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit. Backed by $450M from leading investors including Altimeter Capital, Redpoint Ventures, T. Rowe Price, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Alpine Space Ventures, and others – with an additional $500M in signed contracts across commercial and US government customers – we’re mass-producing the highest-power satellite platforms ever built for missions from LEO to deep space. The rise of heavy-lift launch vehicles is shifting the industry from an era of mass constraint to one of mass abundance, and we believe this new era demands a fundamentally different class of spacecraft. Engineered to survive the harshest radiation environments and to fully capitalize on today’s and tomorrow’s massive rockets, K2 satellites deliver unmatched capability at constellation scale and across multiple orbits. With multiple launches planned through 2026 and 2027, we're Building Bigger to develop the solar system and become a Kardashev Type II (K2) civilization. If you are a motivated individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment and you're excited about contributing to the success of a groundbreaking Series C space startup, we’d love for you to apply. The Role Identity is the perimeter at K2. Every engineer, every ground and mission system, every SaaS tool and automated pipeline depends on the right people and services holding exactly the access they need and nothing more. This role owns that problem end to end: you’ll design, build, and run the identity platform that governs authentication and authorization across our corporate, engineering, and mission environments. You’ll be deeply hands-on with our identity provider, SSO and federation, phishing-resistant MFA, lifecycle automation, privileged access, and secrets management, and you’ll retire the standing access and shared credentials that accumulate in any fast-growing company. This is a role for someone who thrives on real-world impact: making least privilege the default without slowing down the teams building spacecraft. Every access path you close and every workflow you automate directly supports our ability to move fast, operate confidently, and deliver breakthrough satellite capabilities.

Requirements

5+ years of experience in identity and access management, security engineering, or infrastructure engineering, preferably in a fast-paced startup or technology environment
Hands-on experience administering an enterprise identity provider (e.g., Okta, Microsoft Entra ID, Ping, or Google Identity), including SSO, MFA, and conditional access
Strong working knowledge of identity protocols and standards, including SAML, OIDC, OAuth 2.0, SCIM, LDAP, and Kerberos
Experience designing and implementing identity lifecycle automation, RBAC or ABAC access models, and access review processes
Experience with privileged access management and secrets management for both human and machine identities, such as HashiCorp Vault or equivalent
Experience with cloud IAM in AWS, Azure, or GCP, including least-privilege role and policy design
2+ years of development experience with any modern programming language (including but not limited to Python, Go, C++, Rust) used to automate identity workflows and integrations, in lieu of a degree; OR a bachelor’s degree in security engineering, cyber security, computer science, engineering, math, or other STEM discipline
Comfortable working with mission critical and sensitive systems, with a sense of urgency appropriate with responsibilities
Due to the high visibility of this position, excellent interpersonal skills, attention to detail, and problem-solving skills

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in computer science or engineering
Identity certifications such as Okta Certified Administrator, Microsoft Identity and Access Administrator (SC-300), or CISSP, or equivalent hands-on experience
Experience managing identity resources with infrastructure as code (Terraform, CloudFormation, or CDK)
Experience with policy-as-code frameworks such as OPA or Cedar
Experience with identity threat detection and response (ITDR) and building identity-focused detections
Experience integrating modern identity with legacy or on-premise systems, including Active Directory modernization
Experience with identity and access control for engineering, manufacturing, OT, or mission and ground segment environments
Prior experience in a defense, aerospace, or other ITAR-regulated environment

Responsibilities

Own and mature the enterprise identity platform, including the identity provider, single sign-on, federation, and directory services across corporate, engineering, and mission environments
Design and implement authentication standards using modern protocols such as SAML, OIDC, OAuth 2.0, and SCIM, and drive adoption of phishing-resistant MFA including FIDO2 and WebAuthn
Build and automate identity lifecycle management, including joiner, mover, and leaver workflows, provisioning and deprovisioning, and just-in-time access
Design and maintain role-based and attribute-based access models, entitlement structures, and least-privilege standards for corporate and engineering systems
Implement and operate privileged access management for administrators, service accounts, and break-glass credentials
Manage machine and workload identity, including secrets management, credential rotation, and the non-human accounts used by automated pipelines and mission systems
Onboard SaaS and internal applications to SSO and automated provisioning using SCIM, REST APIs, and webhooks, retiring local accounts and shared credentials as you go
Implement conditional access and risk-based authentication policies, then tune them against real access patterns
Build and run access review and certification campaigns, producing the evidence auditors and customers require
Harden cloud IAM across AWS, Azure, or GCP, including roles, trust policies, and permission boundaries
Write code and infrastructure as code to automate identity operations rather than resolving them ticket by ticket
Partner with security operations on identity threat detection and response, including credential abuse, session hijacking, and MFA fatigue attacks, and support investigations involving identity
Serve as the identity subject matter expert in architecture and design reviews, acting as a liaison between the security team and engineering
Maintain identity documentation, runbooks, and standards, and mentor junior team members on identity engineering practices