About this Security Engineer, Identity and Access Management (IAM) role at K2 Space
K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit. Backed by over $1 billion in total funding from leading investors including Altimeter Capital, ICONIQ, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, and T. Rowe Price — and with over $1 billion in signed contracts across commercial and US government customers, we're mass-producing the highest-power satellite platforms ever built for missions from LEO to deep space.
The rise of heavy-lift launch vehicles is shifting the industry from an era of mass constraint to one of mass abundance, and we believe this new era demands a fundamentally different class of spacecraft. Engineered to survive the harshest radiation environments and to fully capitalize on today's and tomorrow's massive rockets, K2 satellites deliver unmatched capability at constellation scale and across multiple orbits.
With multiple launches in 2027 and plans to scale to 100 satellites a year, we're Building Bigger — helping develop the solar system and build toward a Kardashev Type II (K2) civilization. If you are a motivated individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment and you're excited about contributing to the success of a high-growth Series D-funded company, we'd love for you to apply.
The Role
Identity is the perimeter at K2. Every engineer, every ground and mission system, every SaaS tool and automated pipeline depends on the right people and services holding exactly the access they need and nothing more. As a Security Engineer on the Identity & Access Management team, you'll help build and operate the identity platform that governs authentication and authorization across our corporate, engineering, and mission environments. You'll get hands-on with our identity provider, SSO and federation, phishing-resistant MFA, lifecycle automation, and access reviews, working alongside senior identity engineers who will help you grow from executing well-defined work to owning identity problems end to end. This is a role for someone early in their security career who wants real-world impact: every application you onboard to SSO, every shared credential you retire, and every workflow you automate directly supports our ability to move fast, operate confidently, and deliver breakthrough satellite capabilities.
Responsibilities
- Administer and support the enterprise identity platform, including the identity provider, single sign-on, and directory services across corporate, engineering, and mission environments
- Onboard SaaS and internal applications to SSO and automated provisioning using SAML, OIDC, and SCIM, retiring local accounts and shared credentials as you go
- Operate and improve identity lifecycle workflows, including joiner, mover, and leaver processes, provisioning and deprovisioning, and access requests
- Help drive adoption of phishing-resistant MFA (FIDO2/WebAuthn) and support users through enrollment and rollout
- Maintain role-based access groups and entitlements under established least-privilege standards, and flag where access models need to evolve
- Support privileged access management operations, including administrator accounts, service accounts, and break-glass credential handling
- Assist with secrets management hygiene, including credential rotation for the non-human accounts used by automated pipelines
- Help implement and monitor conditional access policies, and escalate anomalies in authentication patterns
- Execute access review and certification campaigns and collect the evidence auditors and customers require
- Write scripts and contribute to infrastructure as code that automate repetitive identity operations rather than resolving them ticket by ticket
- Triage identity-related tickets and incidents, and partner with security operations on investigations involving credential abuse or MFA fatigue attacks
- Contribute to identity documentation, runbooks, and standards, and keep them current as the environment changes
Qualifications
- 1–3 years of experience in identity and access management, security engineering, IT systems administration, or a related technical role (internships and co-ops count)
- Hands-on experience with an enterprise identity provider (e.g., Okta, Microsoft Entra ID, Ping, or Google Identity), including SSO, MFA, and user or group administration
- Foundational understanding of identity protocols and standards such as SAML, OIDC, OAuth 2.0, SCIM, and LDAP, and a desire to go deep on them
- Familiarity with least-privilege and role-based access concepts and why they matter
- Scripting experience in a modern language such as Python, PowerShell, or Go, used to automate tasks or integrate systems
- Exposure to at least one major cloud provider (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and its IAM model
- Bachelor's degree in cyber security, computer science, information systems, engineering, or another STEM discipline; OR equivalent hands-on experience
- Comfortable working with mission critical and sensitive systems, with a sense of urgency appropriate to the responsibilities
- Strong attention to detail, clear written and verbal communication, and a genuine curiosity about how access systems work and break
Nice to Have
- Entry-level security or identity certifications such as CompTIA Security+, Okta Certified Professional or Administrator, Microsoft SC-300, or equivalent hands-on experience
- Experience with infrastructure as code (Terraform, CloudFormation, or CDK)
- Experience with secrets management tooling such as HashiCorp Vault or cloud-native secret stores
- Exposure to Active Directory, Kerberos, or hybrid on-premise and cloud identity environments
- Familiarity with identity threat detection concepts (ITDR) or SIEM tooling
- Personal projects, home labs, or CTF participation that demonstrate hands-on interest in identity or security
- Prior experience or internship in a defense, aerospace, or other ITAR-regulated environment
Compensation and Benefits
- Base salary range for this role is $120,000 – $150,000 and equity in the company
- Salary will be based on several factors including, but not limited to: knowledge and skills, education, and experience level
- Comprehensive benefits package including paid time off, medical/dental/vision coverage, life insurance, paid parental leave, and many other perks
If you don’t meet 100% of the preferred skills and experience, we encourage you to still apply! Building a spacecraft unlike any other requires a team unlike any other and non-traditional career twists and turns are encouraged!
If you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know.
Export Compliance
As defined in the ITAR, “U.S. Persons” include U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (i.e., Green Card holders), and certain protected individuals (e.g., refugees/asylees, American Samoans). Please consult with a knowledgeable advisor if you are unsure whether you are a “U.S. Person.”
The person hired for this role will have access to information and items controlled by U.S. export control regulations, including the export control regulations outlined in the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR). The person hired for this role must therefore either be a “U.S. person” as defined by 22 C.F.R. § 120.15 or otherwise eligible for a federally issued export control license.
Equal Opportunity
K2 Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with K2 Space is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.
