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Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company developing autonomous systems, aircraft, and simulation technologies for military and defense applications. This Senior Manager, Cybersecurity role owns the end-to-end authorization and compliance portfolio for all classified systems across Shield AI's global operations.
Key Responsibilities:
Authorization Portfolio Ownership: Hold overall accountability for Risk Management Framework (RMF) execution across classified systems under JSIG, DAAPM, and NIST SP 800-53 standards. Maintain a single authoritative view of Authorization to Operate (ATO) and Interim Authority to Test (IATT) status, expiration dates, conditions, open Plans of Action & Milestones (POA&M), and assessment findings across all systems and sites. Own the accreditation roadmap and commit dates with program management, managing facility, network, tooling, and personnel dependencies.
Represent Shield AI as the senior security authority with Authorizing Officials, Security Control Assessors, government program security officers, and Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) or cognizant Security Assistance Program Coordinator (SAPCO) representatives. Drive reciprocity and inheritance strategy to reuse controls across programs rather than re-litigating in each package. Approve risk acceptance recommendations, deviations, and mitigation strategies before government submission, and escalate residual risk to Shield AI leadership.
Capability Building: Define enterprise continuous monitoring strategy including vulnerability scanning, STIG and SRG compliance, audit review, and configuration drift detection. Standardize package templates, control evidence libraries, hardening baselines, and inheritance documentation. Invest in automation—infrastructure as code, scripted STIG application, scan and evidence pipelines—to make compliance repeatable. Select and own the security compliance toolchain (eMASS or Xacta, ACAS/Nessus, SCAP, SIEM) including budget and licensing. Define metrics reflecting real security posture and report to Federal Systems and company leadership.
Cross-Company Partnership: Work with IT, network, platform, and product security engineers to design security architecture in rather than retrofit before assessment. Partner with Industrial Security, Facilities, and Contracts on facility and enclave stand-ups from concept through ATO. Advise program managers and engineering leadership on accreditation timelines and security consequences of architecture, schedule, and staffing decisions. Own incident response leadership on classified systems: containment, spillage and contamination response, government reporting, and corrective action plans. Ensure classified user population training, least-privilege access, and compliance with program data transfer and media control 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
