Classified Security Architect

Cyberjobs; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

100% medical, dental, vision coverage

Unlimited PTO and sick leave

Free lunch, snacks, and coffee

Professional Development Stipend

In‑office hardware lab with $250 stipе

Annual company retreat

12 weeks parental leave

Fertility and family planning ($15,000

Wellness stipend ($100/month)

$500/year hardware sensor stipend

401(k)

Employee‑friendly equity terms

In‑office 5 days per week

Job summary

Nominal is seeking a Classified Security Architect to lead security architecture for SAP deployments and highly restricted environments. You will translate customer requirements into deployable architectures, engineering controls, and the evidence needed for security authorizations.

You’ll work with government security stakeholders and cross‑functional teams to resolve challenges and ensure rapid, secure deployments.

Qualifications

• Must hold a active TS/SCI clearance and be able to maintain it.
• Hands-on experience securing systems in classified environments.
• Experience translating security requirements into engineering plans.
• Experience with NIST 800-53, CNSSI overlays, STIGs, and customer requirements.

Responsibilities

• Define security architectures for SAP and restricted environments.
• Translate security requirements into actionable engineering plans.
• Collaborate with engineering to design and validate security controls across infrastructure and IAM, data flows, and monitoring.
• Lead technical security issue resolution for classified deployments with stakeholders.
• Drive authorization readiness with SSPs, diagrams, control narratives, and evidence.

Skills

TS/SCI clearance

Linux security

Network segmentation

Identity and access management

Kubernetes

DevSecOps

Tools

Kubernetes

Security tooling

Job description

About Nominal

Nominal is the Hardware Intelligence Platform: the software and AI layer that hardware engineering teams use to simulate, test, manufacture, and operate the physical systems that keep the world moving, from spacecraft and autonomous vehicles to next‑generation energy systems and robotics. The platform captures data at the source; keeps a durable engineering record across telemetry, video, logs, documents, and simulations; runs and controls tests and live operations; and turns that evidence into answers engineers can trust. It runs wherever the hardware runs: in the cloud, on‑prem, on a bench, on a range, or in an air‑gapped facility. We are defining a new category at the intersection of AI, distributed systems, and physical engineering, and the people we hire get to decide what it looks like.

Our customers span aerospace, defense, manufacturing, transportation, energy, and robotics. They include Anduril, Shield AI, Wisk Aero, Pratt Miller Motorsports, Antares, and Shinkei Systems, amongst others, alongside programs within the U.S. Air Force and Navy.

Our team draws from SpaceX, Palantir, Anduril, Applied Intuition, Tesla, and other leading companies, united by a common mission: giving hardware engineers the tools to build the future with speed, safety, and confidence. We're a fast‑moving team that owns problems end‑to‑end, works across disciplines, and thrives at the intersection of hardware and software.

Some of the world’s leading technology investors, including Sequoia, Lightspeed, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, Lux Capital, and Insight Partners, are backing Nominal’s ambition to change how machines are built and maintained. We’re looking for engineers who want to take on hard problems and help make a new generation of world‑changing hardware possible.

About the role

The Classified Security Architect leads security architecture and technical authorization readiness for Nominal’s classified deployments, with particular emphasis on Special Access Program (SAP) environments. You’ll translate customer security requirements into deployable architectures, engineering controls, and the technical evidence needed to obtain and maintain authorizations.

You’ll work directly with government security stakeholders and partner with Engineering, Platform Security, DevSecOps, and Deployability to resolve technical security challenges, establish repeatable deployment patterns, and speed delivery into highly restricted environments. Engineering owns technical implementation. This role owns classified security architecture requirements, technical design guidance, and coordination of technical authorization deliverables, and it calls for hands‑on classified deployment expertise, not only accreditation process experience.

What you’ll do:

• Define security architectures and technical requirements for classified deployments, including SAP environments and other highly restricted customer environments.
• Translate customer security requirements, NIST 800-53 controls, applicable CNSSI overlays, STIGs, and program‑specific constraints into actionable engineering requirements and implementation plans.
• Partner with engineering teams to design and validate security controls across infrastructure, network boundaries, identity and access management, data flows, software delivery, logging, and system monitoring.
• Lead resolution of technical security challenges that could impede classified deployments, working directly with customer security stakeholders and internal engineering teams.
• Drive technical authorization readiness, including System Security Plan (SSP) content, architecture diagrams, control narratives, supporting evidence, and other artifacts required for ATO packages.
• Coordinate with customer ISSMs, assessors, and authorizing stakeholders to validate proposed architectures, resolve security findings, and support authorization decisions.
• Develop and maintain Plans of Action and Milestones (POA&Ms), partnering with engineering on remediation planning and technical resolution.
• Establish reusable security architectures, controls, documentation, and deployment patterns across classified customer programs.
• Maintain security architecture and authorization readiness as software, infrastructure, and customer requirements evolve.
• Identify security architecture constraints early in customer engagements and inform technical feasibility, deployment planning, and program timelines.

We’re looking for someone with

• Demonstrated experience designing, deploying, or securing systems in classified environments, including SAP or similarly restricted environments.
• Hands‑on technical experience with infrastructure and platform security, including Linux, network segmentation, identity and access management, and secure software delivery.
• Experience translating classified security requirements into technical architecture and engineering implementation plans.
• Experience applying NIST 800-53, applicable CNSSI overlays, STIGs, and customer‑specific security requirements.
• Experience supporting authorization of classified systems, including technical contributions to SSPs, control narratives, assessment evidence, and remediation activities.
• Experience working directly with government ISSMs, security assessors, and other security stakeholders to resolve technical and authorization challenges.
• Ability to independently evaluate security architecture tradeoffs and guide engineering teams toward compliant, technically viable solutions.
• This position requires you to currently possess and be able to maintain a U.S. TS/SCI security clearance, in order to meet U.S. regulatory eligibility requirements for the access to classified information associated with this role.

Skills that supercharge us

• Direct experience with SAP deployment architectures, program‑specific security requirements, and authorization processes.
• Experience obtaining and maintaining ATOs across multiple classified programs or customer environments.
• Experience with Kubernetes, containerized infrastructure, and modern DevSecOps practices in restricted or disconnected environments.
• Government‑side accreditation, security engineering, or assessment experience.
• Experience establishing reusable security architectures and control implementations across multiple deployments.
• Relevant security certifications, such as CISSP, GIAC, or equivalent technical credentials.

Benefits/Perks

• 100% coverage of medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Unlimited PTO and sick leave
• Free lunch, snacks, and coffee
• Professional Development Stipend
• In‑office hardware lab with a $250 project stipend
• Annual company retreat
• 12 weeks parental leave
• Fertility and family planning ($15,000 lifetime)
• Wellness stipend ($100/month)
• $500/year hardware sensor stipend
• 401(k)
• Employee‑friendly equity terms
• In‑office 5 days per week

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin.

ITAR Requirements

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.