Kaizen
Government Technology
SeniorSecurityEngineer
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“Senior Security Engineer at Kaizen. Skills: Cloud-native platforms, Federal authorization, NIST 800-53, Supply chain security. Architect and operationalize security across infrastructure, platform, CI/CD, and application layers. Lead readiness across federal compliance frameworks”
What You'll Achieve.
Make accreditation a byproduct of how we ship; Multiply the impact of a small security team; Earn trust back
Industry & Context.
Hybrid role based out of New York City HQ, Reside in New York or commute to New York City at least three times a week (Tuesdays - Thursdays)
What They're Looking For.
Must Have
5+ years of hands-on experience building and securing cloud-native platforms in AWS and Terraform, Direct experience with federal authorization work — FedRAMP, CMMC, DoD IL, or comparable regulated environments, Deep familiarity with NIST 800-53, 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
Nice to Have
Supported federal SaaS, defense tech, or regulated infrastructure companies through accreditation, Led a company through its first federal authorization rather than maintaining an existing one, Hands-on experience with Chainguard, AI-powered security tooling, or similar leverage-multiplying platforms, Worked with platforms like Second Front or similar federal compliance accelerators
What You'll Do.
Architect and operationalize security across infrastructure
and application layers
Lead readiness across federal compliance frameworks
Translate NIST 800-53 and related controls into engineering implementations
and technical policy documentation
Build continuous compliance and audit-readiness workflows
Use automated AI-driven security scanning
Establish secure software supply chain practices
Own the technical relationship with assessors
and federal security stakeholders
Drive a secure-by-default engineering culture
How You'll Work.
Team & Collaboration
Partner with engineering to embed compliance; Own the technical relationship with assessors, auditors, and federal security stakeholders
Communication Scope
Credible technical voice
Full Job Description
WHO ARE WE? Government technology has failed the public for decades, and Americans have been conditioned to expect websites from the 90s for essential public services. Kaizen exists to strengthen trust in American public services by building technology that residents and public servants are proud to use. We partner with local, state, and federal agencies to replace legacy systems with modern, AI-native software that is worthy of the people they serve. We started in outdoor recreation, and now we're building toward something much larger — the software layer that powers how Americans access any government service. Our platform already reaches 40 million residents across 50+ agencies in 17 states. Founded in 2022 and based in New York City, Kaizen has raised $35 million from NEA, a16z, Accel, 776, and Carpenter Capital. We're builders, designers, and operators who believe that beautifully designed software shouldn’t be a luxury in government. It’s how you earn trust back. 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 — translatin
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