Systems Security Engineer

Recruiting From Scratch • Phoenix, AZ

1d • $150,000 - $160,000 • Onsite

About The Position

We’re representing a defense technology company building autonomous swarm systems designed for demanding national security environments. Their fleet of autonomous unmanned ground vehicles operates across embedded, edge, and cloud environments, combining GPU-accelerated computing, secure communications, and distributed fleet management infrastructure. The company is scaling rapidly and building its security posture from first principles. Security is not an afterthought — it is core to the product. This role will sit at the center of ensuring resilience, compliance, and mission readiness across embedded platforms, vehicle-to-cloud communications, and cloud-hosted services.

Requirements

• 6+ years of experience in systems security engineering or cybersecurity.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Cybersecurity, or related field.
• Experience securing complex embedded systems, including firmware, hardware security modules, and key management.
• Experience designing security architectures for cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
• Strong network security fundamentals (firewalls, VPNs, TLS/mTLS, secure communications, zero-trust models).
• Experience securing distributed systems and vehicle-to-cloud communication pipelines.
• Experience conducting vulnerability analysis and system-level security assessments.
• Experience supporting compliance and accreditation processes, including ATO preparation.
• Working knowledge of federal cybersecurity frameworks (NIST, FISMA, CMMC, etc.).
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Secret security clearance.
• Strong communication skills and ability to operate as the primary security owner.
• Comfortable working onsite in Phoenix, AZ.

Nice To Haves

• Experience serving as the primary security engineer at an early-stage hardware, robotics, or defense company.
• Background in autonomous systems, robotics, aerospace, or cyber-physical platforms.
• Active U.S. TS/SCI clearance.
• Strong programming experience in C++ and Python.
• Experience securing GPU environments (CUDA, TensorRT).
• Experience with penetration testing or red teaming for embedded systems.
• Experience with container security, infrastructure-as-code scanning, secrets management, and SIEM/SOAR tooling.
• Familiarity with ROS or robotics software stacks.
• Experience with supply chain risk management and system-level testing processes.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement secure system architectures across embedded platforms, GPU-accelerated systems, and cloud-hosted services.
• Architect and enforce cloud security controls (IAM, network segmentation, encryption, multi-tenancy, and zero-trust patterns).
• Secure embedded systems including secure boot, trusted execution environments, firmware security, key management, and hardware security modules.
• Protect heterogeneous CPU/GPU systems (e.g., NVIDIA Jetson-class platforms).
• Secure vehicle-to-cloud communications and distributed system protocols.
• Conduct threat modeling, vulnerability analysis, and system-level security assessments.
• Implement continuous monitoring, vulnerability tracking, and remediation processes.
• Lead compliance and accreditation activities, including preparation of documentation for Authority to Operate (ATO).
• Align systems with federal cybersecurity frameworks such as NIST, FISMA, and CMMC.
• Brief security architectures and compliance status to government stakeholders and leadership.
• Coordinate security incident response activities.
• Establish internal security policies and scalable monitoring processes as the company grows.
• This role requires building systems and processes from scratch in a fast-paced startup environment where execution and ownership are critical.

Benefits

• Competitive salary based on experience.
• Full-time, onsite in Phoenix, AZ.
• Ability to obtain and maintain U.S. Secret clearance required (active clearance not required at hire).
• Direct ownership of the security posture of autonomous systems deployed in national security environments.
• Opportunity to architect and scale security from the ground up in a high-impact defense startup.
• This role is ideal for engineers motivated by contributing to the defense of the United States and its allies.
• The company is committed to equal employment opportunity and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local employment laws.

What This Job Offers

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