Founding Lead IT Engineer
Founding Lead IT Engineer who owns and builds the entire IT and security function at a stealth space hardware startup: identity, endpoints, networks, cloud tenants, and a CMMC 2.0 Level 2 / NIST SP 800-171 / DFARS / ITAR compliance program. A hands-on leadership role spanning architecture, day-to-day IT, security operations, and team building.
- Compensation
- $185K–$275K / yr
- Location
- Los Angeles, CA
- Work setup
- Hybrid
- Seniority
- Lead
- Employment
- Contract
- Experience
- 3+ years
- Category
- Software engineering
- Posted
Skills
Must have
- Bachelor's degree in CS, IT, Information Security, Computer Engineering, or related, or equivalent practical experience
- 8+ years in IT infrastructure, systems administration, or security engineering, including 3+ years in defense, aerospace, or regulated environments handling CUI or export-controlled data
- Prior experience leading technical workstreams, managing/mentoring engineers, or building high-performing teams
- Hands-on experience implementing NIST SP 800-171 controls and preparing for CMMC or DIBCAC assessments, including System Security Plans and POA&Ms
- Working knowledge of DFARS cybersecurity clauses and ITAR/EAR requirements for technical data
- Deep experience administering Microsoft 365 and Entra ID (ideally GCC High) or comparable enterprise identity and cloud platforms
- Experience with endpoint management and security across Windows, macOS, and Linux (e.g., Intune, Jamf, EDR platforms)
- Strong networking fundamentals: routing, switching, firewalls, VPN, VLANs/segmentation, DNS, DHCP, wireless
- Experience with security operations: logging and SIEM, vulnerability management, incident response
- Scripting and automation skills (PowerShell, Python, Bash) and infrastructure-as-code where it fits
- Experience writing clear policies, procedures, and evidence that hold up to assessors and auditors
- Ability to work independently with limited direction and drive ambiguous work to a compliant system
- Ability to make practical tradeoffs across security, compliance, usability, cost, and speed
Nice to have
- Experience leading an organization through a successful CMMC Level 2 C3PAO or DIBCAC High assessment
- Certifications such as CCP/CCA, CISSP, CISM, Security+, or Microsoft security/Azure certifications
- Experience building IT from zero at a startup, including choosing between in-house, MSP, and MSSP models
- Experience deploying or migrating to Microsoft 365 GCC High and Azure Government
- Experience designing CUI enclaves and weighing them against whole-enterprise scoping
- Experience supporting engineering environments: CAD/PLM, simulation/HPC, Git and CI
- Experience with FIPS 140-validated cryptography, PKI, and secure file transfer for export-controlled data
- Experience securing lab, manufacturing, and OT networks, including unpatchable test equipment
- Experience with ground station or mission operations center networks, or space system cybersecurity guidance (NIST IR 8401, CNSSP 12)
- Experience with NISPOM, facility clearances, and DCSA authorization of classified information systems
- Experience with NIST SP 800-171 Rev 3, NIST SP 800-172 (CMMC Level 3), and FedRAMP
- Experience with zero trust architecture, FIDO2 phishing-resistant MFA, conditional access, and DLP
- Experience with insider threat programs and U.S./foreign person workforce security
- Experience in early-stage startups or small high-performing teams with broad technical scope
- Experience recruiting, interviewing, closing, and onboarding exceptional technical talent
Full description
Founding Lead IT Engineer
Equity: 0.3% – 1% depending on experience
About Us
We're a stealth team building space hardware at the edge of what's currently possible — high-stakes, flight-grade systems where the engineering bar is unforgiving and the upside is enormous. While we can't share full details yet, our founding and early engineering team includes talent from SpaceX, Northrop Grumman, and Impulse Space, the group includes people who've pulled off feats almost no one else on Earth has.
Role Overview
We are seeking a Lead IT Engineer to own our IT and security infrastructure from first principles — the identities, devices, networks, and cloud systems our engineers rely on every day, built to protect export-controlled and defense data and to meet CMMC 2.0 Level 2 requirements.
This is a senior technical leadership role. You will not only define and execute the IT and security architecture, but also help build the IT and security function, set technical standards, mentor engineers, and establish the systems, processes, and culture required to run a secure, compliant aerospace company.
This is not a narrow help-desk role. You will own the full stack: identity and access, endpoints, networks, cloud tenants and SaaS, the engineering environment (CAD/PLM, simulation compute, source control, lab and test networks), and the security program and evidence that prove it all meets NIST SP 800-171, DFARS, CMMC, and ITAR requirements. You will partner closely with engineering, operations, and leadership on how controlled technical data flows through the company, and make tradeoffs across security, usability, cost, and speed.
The ideal candidate has direct experience building IT and security programs for defense or aerospace companies, implementing NIST SP 800-171, administering secure cloud environments, and leading technical teams. We recognize that very few people have all of this. What matters most is that you have exceptional fundamentals, have built real IT environments from the ground up, have managed or mentored engineers in high-performance technical environments, and can operate independently in ambiguity while making sound engineering tradeoffs. You will have direct ownership over one of the company's core technical challenges.
Key Responsibilities
- Own the IT and security architecture, from initial build-out through compliance readiness, assessment, and continuous monitoring as the company scales.
- Lead the CMMC 2.0 Level 2 program: scoping, gap assessment against the 110 requirements of NIST SP 800-171, the System Security Plan, POA&Ms, the SPRS score and annual affirmations, and readiness for a C3PAO or DIBCAC assessment whenever customers or contracts require one.
- Define the CUI and export-controlled data boundary: data flow mapping, enclave versus whole-enterprise scoping, and asset inventory and categorization.