Director of Information Security
First dedicated security leader at Efficient Computer, a semiconductor startup building energy-efficient processors: you build the security program (IP protection, compliance, export control) and initially run hands-on IT operations across devices, identity, and multi-site networking. Core tech: NIST 800-171/CMMC, SSO/MDM, CI/CD and cloud security.
- Compensation
- $180K–$230K / yr
- Location
- San Fransisco, Bay Area OR Pittsburgh, PA OR Austin, TX OR Remote
- Work setup
- Remote
- Seniority
- Not specified
- Employment
- Not specified
- Experience
- 7+ years
- Category
- Security
- Posted
Skills
Must have
- 7+ years in information security, including time as founding or sole security owner who built a program from scratch
- Hands-on depth: can configure the control, not just specify it, including on developer workstations and build infrastructure
- Practical experience securing source code and developer infrastructure: source control platforms, CI/CD, secrets management, cloud infrastructure
- Working knowledge of NIST SP 800-171, CMMC, or a comparable federal framework, ideally having taken a company through an assessment
- IT operations depth: MDM, identity providers and SSO, automated user lifecycle management, multi-site networking
- Comfort with identity and access architecture: SSO, MFA, least privilege, and access reviews
- Service mindset paired with strategic judgment
- Clear written communication and ability to document and explain security decisions
- Willingness to travel roughly 25% of the time between offices
- U.S. person status (U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident) required due to export control regulations
Nice to have
- Experience with export-controlled technical data (EAR or ITAR), CUI, or a facility clearance process
- Semiconductor, hardware, or EDA environments where the engineering toolchain drove the security design
- Experience supporting federal or defense customer security requirements
- Security certifications (e.g., CISSP, GIAC, CMMC CCP or CCA)
- Scripting and automation (e.g., Python, Bash, infrastructure as code)
- Experience rolling out or governing AI tools in a company setting
Full description
Efficient Computer is rethinking computing from the ground up to solve one of AI's biggest challenges: energy. Our Fabric architecture delivers a 10–100x improvement in energy efficiency for general-purpose computation, including AI, while supporting familiar programming languages and software frameworks—unlocking new possibilities for autonomous machines, intelligent infrastructure, wearables, and space systems. With our first processor, Electron E1, now shipping in volume and more than $97 million in Series B financing recently announced, we're accelerating customer deployments and scaling our architecture to data center performance. Join us to build the hardware and software that bring intelligence wherever it's needed and help shape the next generation of computing.
Efficient Computer is looking for its first dedicated security leader. You’ll decide what good security looks like here, and then build it. That means owning how we protect our intellectual property, how we meet the security standards our defense and government customers require, how we handle export-controlled technology, and how our engineering environment is designed and hardened.
At the start, you’ll be a team of one. Alongside the security program, you’ll own information technology end to end: devices, identity, onboarding and offboarding, and the systems that keep a fast-growing, multi-site company running. As we scale, we’ll hire a dedicated IT Manager, and you’ll help bring them on and hand off day-to-day IT operations so you can focus fully on security. If you want to build both functions from the ground up and then decide how they grow, this is that job.
This is a hands-on role. You’ll write and own policy, but you’ll also be in the consoles, the configurations, and the architecture reviews. If you’re looking for a security role run entirely through documents and meetings, this isn’t it.
You’ll sit on our Operations team, report to our Head of Legal and Compliance, and hold a standing seat in engineering architecture review.
What You’ll DoProtect what matters most
- Design and enforce how our source code, compiler toolchain, and hardware designs are protected: classification, encryption, storage, and who can reach what.
- Own the access model across our engineering systems: repository permissions, token and credential governance, and recurring access reviews.
- Establish controls for sensitive technical data we hold under third-party confidentiality obligations.
- Build and maintain the evidence that we take reasonable measures to protect our trade secrets
Security engineering and architecture
- Secure a developer-heavy, multi-platform engineering environment where off-the-shelf tooling doesn’t always fit, and make hardening work for engineers rather than against them.