Senior Security Engineer, Operations

K2 Space•Los Angeles, CA

4d•$150,000 - $190,000

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 K2 is a target for sophisticated adversaries, from nation-state actors to criminal groups, all intent on stealing or disrupting the technology behind a new class of high-powered satellites. This role owns detection and response for our corporate environment: you’ll run and mature our SIEM, build detections against real adversary tradecraft, triage what fires, and drive incidents from first signal through containment, eradication, and lessons learned. You’llbe deeply hands-on across identity, endpoints, SaaS, network, and cloud telemetry, closing the visibility gaps you find rather than simply documenting them. This is a role for someone who thrives on real-world impact and operates with urgency when it counts. Every detection you write and every incident you shut down directly supports our ability to move fast, operate confidently, and deliver breakthrough satellite capabilities.

Requirements

5+ years of experience in security operations, detection and response, or incident response, preferably in a fast-paced startup or technology environment
Hands-on experience administering and tuning a SIEM (e.g., Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, Elastic, Panther, or Chronicle), including log source onboarding, parsing, and detection rule development
Demonstrated experience leading security incidents end to end, from detection and scoping through containment, eradication, and post-incident review
Strong working knowledge of attacker tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), the MITRE ATT&CK framework, and the evidence sources needed to investigate them
Experience investigating endpoint, identity, network, and cloud telemetry across macOS, Windows, and Linux, including EDR, identity provider, and SaaS audit logs
2+ years of development experience with any modern programming language (including but not limited to Python, Go, C++, Rust) used to automate detection, enrichment, and response, in lieu of a degree; OR a bachelor’s degree in security engineering, cyber security, computer science, engineering, math, or other STEM discipline
Knowledge of operating systems, networking, cloud and SaaS platforms, security best practices, and log analysis at scale
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
Detection and response certifications such as GCIH, GCFA, GCIA, GCDA, or OSCP, or equivalent hands-on experience
Experience building detection-as-code pipelines, security data lakes, or ETL for security telemetry
Experience with cloud detection and response in AWS, Azure, or GCP
Experience with threat intelligence, malware analysis, or reverse engineering
Experience protecting engineering, manufacturing, OT, or mission and ground segment environments
Prior experience in a defense, aerospace, or other ITAR-regulated environment
Security community contributions such as tooling, blog posts, conference talks, or CTFs

Responsibilities

Own day-to-day detection and response across the corporate environment, from alert triage and investigation through containment and remediation
Administer and mature the SIEM, including log source onboarding, parsing and normalization, telemetry enrichment, rule tuning, and platform health, retention, and cost
Write, test, and maintain detection content mapped to MITRE ATT&CK using detection-as-code practices, including version control, peer review, and automated testing
Act as incident commander for corporate security incidents, coordinating stakeholders and delivering timelines, root cause analysis, and post-incident follow-through
Build response playbooks and automation across SOAR, scripting, and vendor APIs to reduce time to detect, triage, and contain
Threat hunt proactively across endpoint, identity, SaaS, and cloud telemetry using threat intelligence and hypotheses about adversary behavior
Run adversary emulation and purple team exercises to validate detection coverage, then close the gaps you find
Perform host, network, and cloud forensics across macOS, Windows, and Linux to reconstruct attacker activity and scope impact
Investigate phishing, business email compromise, credential abuse, and insider risk in partnership with IT, HR, and Legal
Partner with IT and infrastructure teams to harden identity, endpoint, and network controls, including conditional access, EDR policy, MDM baselines, segmentation, and secure remote access, informed by what investigations reveal
Translate detection and incident findings into vulnerability management priorities and security architecture improvements
Participate in an on-call rotation for security escalations, including occasional after-hours and weekend response
Maintain runbooks, detection documentation, and standard operating procedures, and mentor junior team members on investigation and response tradecraft
Support compliance and audit efforts by producing monitoring, detection, and incident response evidence as needed