Systems Security Engineer

Location: Phoenix, AZ Company Stage of Funding: Early-Stage / Defense Technology Startup Office Type: Onsite, Full-Time Salary: Competitive (based on experience) Security Clearance: Ability to obtain U.S. Secret clearance required

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.

As a Systems Security Engineer, you will own and execute the company's end-to-end security strategy across embedded systems, cloud infrastructure, and compliance programs. This is a hands-on individual contributor role with full ownership of technical security architecture and operational execution.

You will:

• 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.

The ideal candidate is a technically deep security engineer who thrives in complex cyber-physical systems and defense environments.

• 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.

• 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.

• Compensation: Competitive salary based on experience.
• Work Model: Full-time, onsite in Phoenix, AZ.
• Clearance: Ability to obtain and maintain U.S. Secret clearance required (active clearance not required at hire).
• Impact: Direct ownership of the security posture of autonomous systems deployed in national security environments.
• Growth: Opportunity to architect and scale security from the ground up in a high-impact defense startup.

Mission Alignment: This role is ideal for engineers motivated by contributing to the defense of the United States and its allies.

Equal Opportunity: The company is committed to equal employment opportunity and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local employment laws.

Salary Range: $150,000-160,000 base.