Space Security Architect: Ground Stations & Cloud

Northwood Space; Torrance (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Northwood Space is building a global, secure space communications network and seeks a Senior Security Engineer to design robust security frameworks for ground stations and space protocols. You will own security across the stack—from RF to Kubernetes—and collaborate with government customers to maintain high-assurance operations.

The role requires creating scalable security controls, incident response leadership, and automated compliance pipelines that meet FedRAMP and NIST 800-171 requirements

Qualifications

• 5+ years of production experience with infrastructure as code (Terraform, AWS CDK).
• Ability to obtain and maintain TS/SCI clearance.
• Experience conducting security architecture reviews in regulated environments.
• Strong knowledge of NIST 800-171, CUI, and FedRAMP frameworks.
• Familiarity with government cloud environments (AWS GovCloud, Azure Government) and CI/CD deployment across air-gapped networks.
• Proficiency in Python, Go, Rust, etc.
• Experience implementing defensive controls for endpoints, SaaS apps, and infrastructure in high-security contexts.

Responsibilities

• Build security architectures for brand-new ground station infrastructure and space communication protocols.
• Design and implement security controls for distributed systems spanning continents.
• Deploy SIEM solutions and maintain audit trails for stringent compliance.
• Write security playbooks and liaison with Space Force and government customers.
• Lead incident response and threat hunting across a globally distributed network.
• Create automated compliance pipelines satisfying FedRAMP and NIST 800-171 without slowing deployment.

Skills

Terraform

AWS CDK

Security architecture

Python

Go

Rust

Kubernetes

Incident response

Threat hunting

Tools

Splunk

QRadar

Sentinel

CrowdStrike

SentinelOne

SIEM

Job description

Northwood Space is building a global, secure space communications network and seeks a Senior Security Engineer to design robust security frameworks for ground stations and space protocols. You will own security across the stack—from RF to Kubernetes—and collaborate with government customers to maintain high-assurance operations.

The role requires creating scalable security controls, incident response leadership, and automated compliance pipelines that meet FedRAMP and NIST 800-171 requirements