Security Engineering Lead

Northwood; Torrance (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Northwood is looking for a Manager of IT Security & Operations in Torrance, California. This role requires 5+ years in IT, security, or DevSecOps, and involves building the company’s security operations from the ground up. Responsibilities include owning corporate IT, managing helpdesk operations, and establishing security monitoring frameworks. Ideal candidates should have hands-on experience with identity management and SIEM platforms, and must be eligible for TS/SCI clearance.

Qualifications

• Experience leading or building teams in IT or security.
• Hands-on background with identity providers and helpdesk operations.
• Technical experience with SIEM platforms and building monitoring programs.
• Knowledge of compliance frameworks like NIST, SOC 2, and FedRamp.

Responsibilities

• Own corporate IT and security operations.
• Build and manage team across security engineering and IT operations.
• Stand up the SIEM and build security monitoring capabilities.

Skills

IT Security

DevSecOps Engineering

Identity Management

Endpoint Management

SaaS Administration

Compliance Frameworks

Scripting (Python, Bash, PowerShell)

Cloud Environments (AWS)

Education

5+ years in IT, security, or DevSecOps

Tools

Okta

Azure AD

Splunk

Sentinel

CrowdStrike

Job description

About Northwood

Northwood is deploying a global network of phased array ground stations that will fundamentally change how satellites communicate with Earth. These systems support real-time, high-throughput communications that commercial and government customers rely on for mission-critical operations.

Role Overview

As Manager of IT Security & Operations, you will build and own our corporate IT, security operations from the ground up. This is the pathway to company wide leadership as the company scales - you will define how Northwood secures infrastructure that simply does not exist anywhere else.

Your immediate priorities are owning corporate IT and helpdesk operations and standing up our SIEM. You are the person responsible for keeping the company running day-to-day-endpoint management, identity, access, onboarding, helpdesk. Building the security monitoring foundation we need as a dual use company handling mission-critical space communications. At the start you will manage our IT operations engineer and hire to build out the team: security engineers, IT operations staff, and additional roles as Northwood grows. You bridge hands-on DevSecOps and IT work with security and compliance strategy, progressively automating corporate IT while standing up detection, response, and capabilities. This role reports to the Head of Security.

Responsibilities

• Own all corporate IT: identity management (Okta), device management (Intune/Jamf/FleetDM), endpoint security, SaaS administration, and helpdesk.
• Provide and oversee hands‑on IT support—new hire setup, desk deployment, A/V, asset management—while building automation to eliminate manual work over time.
• Drive Infrastructure as Code for IT systems. Build self-service tooling and integrations that scale operations without scaling headcount linearly.

SIEM & Security Operations

• Stand up Northwood’s SIEM—platform selection, log ingestion across ground stations and cloud infrastructure, correlation rules, and automated alerting.
• Work with our product infrastructure engineers on building out things properly.
• Build SOC capabilities: detection and response playbooks, incident response processes, and continuous monitoring for distributed space communications infrastructure.
• Deploy and manage endpoint detection/response, email security, DLP, and zero‑trust controls.

Team Building

• Hire and develop a team across security engineering and IT operations. You are building the org, not inheriting one.
• Collaborate across engineering, network operations, and mission management as the primary IT and security subject‑matter expert.

Basic Qualifications

• 5+ years in IT, security, or DevSecOps engineering with experience leading or building teams.
• Hands‑on corporate IT background: identity providers (Okta, Azure AD), endpoint management, SaaS administration, and helpdesk operations.
• Experience deploying and operating SIEM platforms and building security monitoring programs.
• Basic knowledge of compliance frameworks (i.e. NIST 800, SOC 2, FedRamp)
• Technical depth with Infrastructure as Code, scripting (Python, Bash, PowerShell), and cloud environments (AWS).
• Experience in regulated or compliance‑heavy environments.
• Ability to obtain and maintain TS/SCI clearance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Active TS clearance or higher.
• Experience in aerospace, defense, or critical infrastructure industries.
• Hands‑on with SIEM platforms (Splunk, Sentinel, Panther) and EDR solutions (CrowdStrike, SentinelOne).
• Experience scaling IT and security from startup to enterprise.
• ITAR compliance experience.
• CISSP, CISM, CISA, or similar certifications.

Additional Information

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Northwood is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Northwood is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.