Senior Security Engineer

Kaizen

New York, Washington (NY, District of Columbia)

Hybrid

USD 160,000 - 230,000

Full time

14 days+

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Benefits offered by this job

Health Insurance

Life Insurance

One Medical Membership

Fertility & family-building support

401(k) with company match

Parental Leave (16 weeks)

Unlimited PTO

NYC home office stipend

Commuter benefit

Gym membership reimbursement

Professional development stipend

Recreation stipend

Pet care stipend

Job summary

Kaizen, a New York City–based government-tech company, is hiring its first dedicated security engineer to own end-to-end security across the platform. You will architect controls, translate FedRAMP, CMMC, and DoD requirements into real engineering work, and embed compliance into shipping.

We seek someone with 5+ years building cloud-native AWS Terraform environments, federal authorization experience, and a passion for secure-by-default engineering in a fast-growing federal-grade team.

Qualifications

5+ years building and securing cloud-native platforms in AWS/Terraform.
Direct experience with federal authorization work (FedRAMP, CMMC, DoD IL) or equivalent.
Deep familiarity with NIST 800-53 and translating controls into engineering work.
Strong knowledge of modern supply chain security: SBOMs, image signing, workload identity, secure CI/CD.
Experience operating in early-stage or fast-moving environments with high standards.

Responsibilities

Architect and operationalize security across infrastructure, platform, CI/CD, and applications (AWS/GovCloud, Terraform).
Lead readiness across FedRAMP, CMMC, and DoD controls; own SSPs, POA&Ms, and policy docs.
Build continuous compliance/workflows so accreditation is a byproduct of shipping.
Leverage AI-driven security tooling and hardened-image platforms to multiply impact.
Establish secure software supply chain practices: SBOMs, image signing, workload identity, deployment pipelines.
Own relationships with assessors, auditors, and federal security stakeholders.
Drive a secure-by-default engineering culture for public-sector trust.

Skills

AWS

Terraform

FedRAMP/CMMC

NIST 800-53

Security architecture

Secure CI/CD

SBOMs

Tools

AWS GovCloud

Chainguard

Job description

Government technology has failed citizens, public servants, and service members for decades.

Kaizen powers America’s application layer. We replace the legacy systems federal agencies run on with modern software, built with craft. The ticketing platform a resident uses to visit a presidential library. The marketplace DoW uses for counter-drone procurement to protect lives and critical infrastructure. The system a Veteran uses to access benefits. We build systems of record, of national consequence. Our AI-native modules and harness allow us to do so in weeks and months, not years.

This year, our revenue has grown 35x. Next year, our software will serve over 100 million Americans across dozens of federal agencies.

Founded in 2022 and based in New York City and DC, Kaizen has raised $35 million from NEA, a16z, Accel, 776, and Carpenter Capital.

The Role

Kaizen's platform reaches 40M residents across 50+ agencies in 17 states. We've already signed multiple federal customers with many more in the pipeline, and the work of making Kaizen federal-ready is currently spread across a handful of engineers. That doesn't scale. We're hiring our first dedicated security engineer to sit on the platform team and own this end to end: architect the controls, write the SSPs, and partner with engineering to embed compliance into how we ship rather than bolt it on after.

Location

This is a hybrid role based out of our New York City HQ. Candidates must reside in New York or be able to commute to New York City to work out of our office at least three times a week (Tuesdays - Thursdays).

What You'll Do

Architect and operationalize security across infrastructure, platform, CI/CD, and application layers, with a focus on AWS (including GovCloud) and Terraform
Lead readiness across federal compliance frameworks (FedRAMP, CMMC, and DoD Impact Levels), translating NIST 800-53 and related controls into real engineering implementations, and owning the SSPs, POA&Ms, and technical policy documentation
Build continuous compliance and audit-readiness workflows that make accreditation a byproduct of how we ship, not a separate workstream
Be smart about AI and tooling. Use automated AI-driven security scanning, modern hardened-image platforms like Chainguard, and other leverage points to multiply the impact of a small security team
Establish secure software supply chain practices: SBOMs, image signing, workload identity, and hardened deployment pipelines
Own the technical relationship with assessors, auditors, and federal security stakeholders. You are the credible technical voice in those rooms
Drive a secure-by-default engineering culture so residents and public servants can trust the systems we put in front of them

What You'll Bring

5+ years of hands-on experience building and securing cloud-native platforms in AWS and Terraform. You can architect controls and also implement them yourself
Direct experience with federal authorization work in FedRAMP, CMMC, DoD IL, or comparable regulated environments. You don't need to have shepherded a full authorization across the finish line, but you've done enough of the real work to know what it takes
Deep familiarity with NIST 800-53 and the ability to translate controls into pragmatic engineering work rather than checkbox compliance
Strong working knowledge of modern supply chain security: SBOMs, image signing, workload identity, secure CI/CD
Track record operating effectively in early-stage or fast-moving environments where you set the bar rather than inherit it

Strong Candidates May Also…

Have supported federal SaaS, defense tech, or regulated infrastructure companies through accreditation
Have led a company through its first federal authorization rather than maintaining an existing one
Have hands-on experience with Chainguard, AI-powered security tooling, or similar leverage-multiplying platforms
Have worked with platforms like Second Front or similar federal compliance accelerators

Don't Apply If…

You want to own policy and hand the implementation to someone else. This role lives in the code and the infrastructure
You think compliance is paperwork. At Kaizen it's a load-bearing engineering discipline
You think AI tools are a crutch rather than a force multiplier
You need a mature security program already in place to be effective

What Kaizen Offers

Health & Insurance

100% coverage across the board: medical through Oxford/United (Gold and Platinum PPO plans), dental through Guardian PPO, and vision through Beam - all fully covered for employees, with 100% coverage for dependents.
$100,000 in fully paid life insurance. FSA and Dependent Care FSA.
One Medical membership, on us - same-day primary care, 24/7 virtual visits, and offices all over the city.
Fertility and family-building support through Carrot.
401(k) through Guideline, with a 2% company match.

Family & Time Off

16 weeks of fully paid parental leave for birthing parents. 10 weeks fully paid for non-birthing parents.
Unlimited PTO, with a two-week minimum (we mean it when we say take time off!)
Closed for all federal holidays.
Company-wide winter break the week of Christmas.
Company offsites throughout the year.

Office & Remote Setup

Up to $750 one-time home office or desk setup stipend for NYC-based employees. $500 for remote employees.
$50/month commuter benefit (company contribution).
Expensed lunch while in the office.
Company-provided laptop of your choice.

Wellness

Fully covered gym membership at Grindhouse - right across the street from our office at 47 W 17th St (and in Williamsburg). A $225/month value, on us. For remote employees, $100/month dedicated to gym or physical fitness reimbursement.

Stipends