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Senior Manager, Cybersecurity (R6149)

Shield AI
Actively Hiring
Washington, D.C.full_time$170K - $250KPosted 1 day ago
Legal DivisionCybersecurity
About This Role
Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems. Its products include Hivemind autonomy software, V-BAT and X-BAT aircraft, and Aechelon simulation and synthetic reality technologies. With offices and facilities across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Shield AI’s technology actively supports operations worldwide. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and YouTube. 

Job Description:

Lead the security strategy behind advanced, mission-critical technology. In this role, you’ll drive secure and scalable solutions, collaborate across technical and business teams, and help ensure complex systems are protected, compliant, and ready for real-world operations.

What you'll do:

Own the authorization portfolio

  • Hold overall accountability for RMF execution across all Shield AI classified systems under JSIG, DAAPM, and NIST SP 800-53, driving toward continuous authorization as the goal state.
  • Maintain a single authoritative view of authorization posture: ATO and IATT status, expiration dates, conditions, open POA&M items, and assessment findings across every system and site.
  • Own the accreditation roadmap and commit dates with program management, and manage the dependencies — facility, network, tooling, and personnel — that determine whether those dates hold.
  • Represent Shield AI as the senior security authority with Authorizing Officials, SCAs, government program security officers, and DCSA or cognizant SAPCO representatives.
  • Drive reciprocity and inheritance strategy so controls implemented once are reused across programs and sites instead of re-litigated in each package.
  • Approve risk acceptance recommendations, deviations, and mitigation strategies before they go to the government, and escalate residual risk to Shield AI leadership with a clear position.
  • Build the capability, not just the packages

  • Define the enterprise continuous monitoring strategy — vulnerability scanning, STIG and SRG compliance, audit review, and configuration drift detection — and hold the team to a reportable cadence.
  • Standardize package templates, control evidence libraries, hardening baselines, and inheritance documentation so new enclaves start from an accredited pattern.
  • Invest in automation — infrastructure as code, scripted STIG application, scan and evidence pipelines — to make compliance repeatable rather than heroic.
  • Select and own the security compliance toolchain (eMASS or Xacta, ACAS/Nessus, SCAP, SIEM) including budget, licensing, and government-directed tooling requirements.
  • Define metrics that reflect real security posture and report them to Federal Systems and company leadership.
  • Partner across the company

  • Work with IT, network, platform, and product security engineers so security architecture is designed in rather than retrofitted before an assessment.
  • Partner with Industrial Security, Facilities, and Contracts on new facility and enclave stand-ups from concept through ATO, including accredited network extensions between facilities.
  • Advise program managers and engineering leadership on accreditation timelines and the security consequences of architecture, schedule, and staffing decisions.
  • Own incident response leadership on classified systems: containment, spillage and contamination response, government reporting, and after-action corrective plans.
  • Ensure the classified user population is trained, access is least-privilege and auditable, and data transfer and media control actions follow program guidance.
  • Required qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Systems Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical field
  • 8+ years of experience in cybersecurity engineering, defense systems, mission systems, or military aerospace programs
  • Experience leading cybersecurity activities for complex integrated systems or defense platforms
  • Strong knowledge of RMF, STIGs, system hardening, network security, secure architectures, and vulnerability management processes
  • Experience working across hardware, software, networking, and mission system integration environments
  • Active Top Secret Clearance with SCI Eligibility 
  • Preferred qualifications:

  • Experience supporting military aircraft, UAV, mission systems, or tactical communication platforms
  • Familiarity with resilient system architectures, zero trust principles, cross-domain solutions, and contested environment operations
  • Experience with MBSE methodologies and tools such as Cameo Systems Modeler
  • Background supporting cybersecurity test events, airworthiness, or platform accreditation activities
  • Ready to apply?

    This role is listed by Shield AI. You'll finish your application on their site.

    Apply on Shield AI
    Eligibility & work details

    Work authorization

    Subject to U.S. export-control law (ITAR). You must be a U.S. person — a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident (green-card holder) — to be eligible.

    Work arrangement

    On-siteWashington, D.C., US

    Travel

    No travel indicated in this listing.

    Estimated application time

    ~2 min to start on the employer site

    Eligibility details are interpreted from the job listing to help you gauge fit. Always confirm citizenship, clearance, and certification requirements with the employer before applying.

    About Shield AI

    Defense technology company building AI pilots for aircraft

    Defense AI
    San Diego, CA
    500-1000 employees
    View Company Profile
    Job Summary
    Employment Typefull_time
    DepartmentLegal Division
    CategoryCybersecurity
    Salary Range$170K - $250K
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