Principal Embedded Systems Security Engineer (Aerospace)

Location: Hybrid work near Denver or Colorado Springs, with some work required on site; the posting also lists Denver, CO or Long Beach, CA.

Base salary: $225,000–$330,000 per year, plus equity and benefits.

Company

hirify.global develops autonomous spacecraft, advanced payloads, mission software, and space-based interceptors for space superiority and defense.

What you will do

• Own security architecture, threat modeling, and defensive controls across spacecraft flight computers, firmware, FPGA gateware, cryptographic implementations, and secure boot.
• Build security platforms, tooling, foundational services, and automated testing frameworks for embedded hardware and software teams.
• Design spacecraft PKI covering device authentication, firmware signing, secure boot, certificate lifecycle management, key storage, and HSM integration.
• Implement cryptographic solutions aligned with FIPS 140-3, CNSA 2.0, CCSDS SDLS, and post-quantum cryptography migration requirements.
• Secure build, deployment, and test environments against supply-chain attacks and lead security assessments and penetration testing.
• Set technical direction, mentor engineers, and drive secure design practices across flight software, hardware, and test engineering.

Requirements

• Active security clearance or the ability to obtain and maintain one.
• U.S. citizenship, lawful permanent residence, protected-individual status, or eligibility for required U.S. government export authorizations under ITAR.
• Deep hands-on experience in embedded, hardware, firmware, hardware attack surfaces, side-channel and fault-injection attacks, secure boot, and HSMs.
• Strong C and C++ development skills, with experience in low-level programming, assembly, data structures, algorithms, API design, debugging, and production systems.
• Expertise in embedded PKI, applied cryptography, certificate management, secure key storage, FIPS 140-3, CNSA 2.0, CCSDS SDLS, and NIST publications.
• Principal-level experience setting security strategy, prioritizing risks, leading hardening initiatives, influencing teams, and mentoring engineers.

Nice to have

• Formal FIPS validation experience, including CMVP processes.
• Experience with real-time or safety-critical systems, aerospace, defense, avionics, medical devices, or industrial control systems.
• Hardware reverse engineering, firmware analysis, FPGA/VHDL security, RF security, HIL/SIL infrastructure, embedded Linux, and supply-chain security.
• Security research, published CVEs or publications, conference talks, open-source contributions, or relevant practical projects.

Culture & Benefits

• Hybrid work environment with on-site work required for some responsibilities.
• Health, dental, vision, HRA/HSA options, PTO, and paid holidays.
• 401(k), parental leave, and equity.
• AI-native engineering environment focused on solving novel embedded systems security problems.

Hiring process

• The position remains open until successfully filled.
• Actual level and base salary are determined case by case based on knowledge, skills, education, location, and experience.