Staff/Principal Security Engineer

Summary

Join Skylight, a digital consultancy assisting government agencies in enhancing public services, as a Security Engineer supporting the Air Force's BESPIN software factory. You will leverage your expertise to optimize BESPIN's ability to evaluate, select, and accredit tools needed for scaling operations. Key responsibilities include assessing existing accreditation capabilities, conducting stakeholder interviews to determine priorities, identifying optimal ATO accreditation strategies, preparing risk assessment reports, mapping policy intent to compliance positions, and streamlining the accreditation process. This fully remote position offers a competitive salary, comprehensive benefits, and opportunities for professional development. The ideal candidate possesses experience in risk detection and mitigation, holds an IAT II or higher certification, and understands ATO processes and regulatory requirements. While not mandatory, experience in coding, application development, and working as a defense contractor are beneficial.

Requirements

• Experience detecting risks by continually reviewing all aspects of a portfolio of systems for vulnerabilities, enumerating them, and escalating them to security governance personnel for risk evaluation
• Experience mitigating and preventing risks by proactively working with teams to design, build, and/or configure secure systems in compliance with NIST RMF
• Certified at IAT II or higher as defined by DoD 8570.01
• Understanding of the ATO process and experience operating in DecSecOps environments
• Understanding of common sources of vulnerability information
• Understanding of regulatory requirements regarding security and compliance
• Ability to work successfully within a professional services environment (e.g., can communicate effectively with clients)
• Passionate about creating better public outcomes through great government services
• A mindset and work approach that aligns with our core values
• Ability to travel occasionally to Montgomery, Alabama
• Ability to work successfully within a professional services environment (e.g., can communicate effectively with clients)
• Passionate about creating better public outcomes through great government services
• A mindset and work approach that aligns with our core values
• All work must be conducted within the U.S., excluding U.S. territories
• Some federal contracts require U.S. citizenship to be eligible for employment
• You must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. now and in the future without sponsorship
• As a government contractor, you may be required to obtain a public trust or security clearance
• You may be required to complete a company background check successfully
• Some of our available roles are on federal contracts that require a degree or additional years of experience as a substitute
• Ability to obtain a Common Access Card (CAC), including successful completion of a DoD background investigation

Responsibilities

• Assess BESPIN’s existing accreditation capabilities using quantitative and/or qualitative research methods
• Conduct interviews with stakeholders and SMEs to determine accreditation priorities, such as acquisition needs that are particularly high-impact or high-risk
• Work with the BESPIN security team to identify optimal ATO accreditation strategies for candidate software and take the lead on implementation
• Prepare risk assessment and proposed risk mitigation reports for BESPIN leadership, following best practices such as the NIST RMF
• Map the underlying intent of policies and requirements to defensible technical and policy compliance positions
• Work with BESPIN to operationalize and streamline the accreditation process

Preferred Qualifications

• Can write clean, working, and reusable code in at least one programming language
• Experience with application development, particularly web development and testing frameworks
• Experience working as a Defense contractor
• Prior experience working in the civic tech space
• Experience working in a remote-team environment

Benefits

• Medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance
• Life and AD&D insurance
• Dependent care FSA, healthcare FSA, health savings account
• Dollar-for-dollar 401(k) match up to 10% of your salary with no vesting period
• Flexible paid-time-off policy (generally around 25 days per year), plus 11 paid federal holidays
• Up to 12 weeks paid-time-off for all eligible new birth, adoption, or foster parents
• Performance rewards, including annual salary increase, annual performance bonus, spot bonuses, and stock options
• Business development / sales bonuses
• Referral bonuses
• Annual $2,000 allowance for professional development
• Annual $750 allowance for tech-related purchases
• Annual swag budget of $100 to display your Skylight pride with some merchandise (hoodies, hats, and more)
• Dollar-for-dollar charity donation matching, up to $500 per year
• Access up to $1,000 before payday to cover emergency expenses
• Flexible, remote-friendly work environment
• An environment that empowers you to unleash your superpowers for public good