Senior Director Product Security

Akkar; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 260,000 - 380,000; Full time

Job summary

Akkar is seeking a Senior Director of Product Security to architect and lead the security function for a ground-breaking physical-AI robotics platform. You will report to the COO, define strategy, build the team, and embed security across hardware, firmware, AI and connectivity as the product moves toward real-world deployment.

This is a founding leadership role focused on secure-by-design in a complex cyber-physical product.

Qualifications

• 12+ years in security engineering or product security.
• 5+ years leading security organisations.
• Experience building a function from the ground up.
• Deep experience with embedded systems, robotics or autonomous machines.
• Strong understanding of secure boot, firmware, cryptographic key management.
• Experience with supply-chain security.
• Familiarity with IEC 62443, NIST, OWASP, CWE, ITAR and EAR.

Responsibilities

• Own the company's end-to-end Product Security strategy and roadmap.
• Build and lead the Product Security organisation, including hiring, mentoring and defining the future team structure.
• Establish security monitoring, threat detection, escalation and incident response capabilities for deployed robots.
• Work closely with Hardware, Embedded Software, Systems and AI/ML engineering teams to drive security-by-design.
• Define security requirements across secure boot, firmware, SoC/enclave security, communications, OS hardening, AI model integrity and physical attack surfaces.
• Own the security architecture and requirements for OTA updates, including integrity verification and rollback protection.
• Establish product security review and sign-off processes for new features, integrations and releases.
• Develop supply-chain and third-party security requirements across hardware suppliers, manufacturers and technology partners.
• Define physical security, anti-tamper and anti-cloning protections.
• Build security escalation frameworks, response SLAs and incident-management processes.
• Support customer security reviews and help enterprise customers integrate the product into their security environments.
• Advise leadership on regulatory and security considerations across commercial, international and government/defence-adjacent deployments.

Skills

Security leadership

Embedded systems

Robotics security

Threat modeling

OTA security

Job description

Austin, TX or San Francisco Bay Area | Full-time | Robotics / Physical AI

I'm working with a rapidly scaling, heavily funded robotics company that is building one of the most ambitious physical-AI platforms in the world.

As its humanoid robot moves from development towards real-world deployment, they're looking for a Senior Director of Product Security to build and lead the entire product security function.

This is a genuinely founding leadership opportunity. You'll be the first dedicated Product Security leader, reporting directly to the COO, with the authority to establish the strategy, build the team, define the processes and embed security into the product from the ground up.

This is not an IT, SOC or traditional enterprise security role. You'll be securing a complex physical product where hardware, embedded software, AI, autonomy and connectivity all come together — and where security vulnerabilities can have real-world consequences.

What you'll be doing

• Own the company's end-to-end Product Security strategy and roadmap
• Build and lead the Product Security organisation, including hiring, mentoring and defining the future team structure
• Establish security monitoring, threat detection, escalation and incident response capabilities for deployed robots
• Work closely with Hardware, Embedded Software, Systems and AI/ML engineering teams to drive security-by-design
• Define security requirements across secure boot, firmware, SoC/enclave security, communications, OS hardening, AI model integrity and physical attack surfaces
• Own the security architecture and requirements for OTA updates, including integrity verification and rollback protection
• Establish product security review and sign-off processes for new features, integrations and releases
• Develop supply-chain and third-party security requirements across hardware suppliers, manufacturers and technology partners
• Define physical security, anti-tamper and anti-cloning protections
• Build security escalation frameworks, response SLAs and incident-management processes
• Support customer security reviews and help enterprise customers integrate the product into their security environments
• Advise leadership on regulatory and security considerations across commercial, international and government/defence-adjacent deployments

What we're looking for

We're looking for a senior security leader who has secured complex physical or cyber-physical products, rather than someone whose background is primarily enterprise/IT security.

You’ll ideally bring:

• 12+ years in security engineering or product security, with 5+ years leading security organisations
• Experience building a security function, programme or discipline from the ground up
• Deep experience with embedded systems, robotics, autonomous vehicles or other highly automated physical products
• Strong technical understanding of areas such as secure boot, firmware security, cryptographic key management, communications security and application-layer threats
• Experience building security monitoring and incident-response capabilities for products in production
• A track record of translating security risk into practical engineering requirements that teams actually ship
• Experience with supply-chain and third-party security
• Understanding of OTA/update security for field-deployed hardware
• Familiarity with frameworks such as IEC 62443, NIST, OWASP, CWE, ITAR and EAR
• The ability to operate comfortably with everyone from embedded engineers and systems architects through to the C-suite

The opportunity

This isn't about inheriting an established security organisation and maintaining the status quo.

You’ll define what Product Security looks like for a new generation of intelligent physical machines.

You’ll have executive visibility, direct access to the COO, broad cross-functional influence and the opportunity to build the team, strategy and security architecture as the product moves into real-world deployment.

We're particularly interested in people coming from robotics, autonomous vehicles, aerospace, defence, medical robotics, industrial automation, advanced embedded systems or other highly automated hardware environments.

If you've been waiting for an opportunity where you can genuinely build a Product Security organisation from zero and shape security for a next-generation physical-AI product, I'd be very interested in speaking with you.

Location: Austin, TX or San Francisco Bay Area