Director of Product Security

About Us

At Saildrone, we sustainably explore, map, and monitor the oceans to understand, protect, and preserve our world. We provide real-time access to critical data from any ocean on earth, 24/7/365, and use proprietary software applications to transform that data into actionable insights and intelligence. Our fleet of uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs), powered by renewable wind and solar power, have a minimal carbon footprint and operate without the need for a crewed support vessel. Saildrone works with governments, civil agencies, foundations, universities, and private companies around the globe to drive better information about our oceans and seas—from sailing into the eye of a category 4 hurricane to obtain new data about how storms intensify, collecting new CO2 data in hard-to-reach areas, and counting fish biomass to inform sustainable fishery management, to mapping the ocean floor and reducing illegal fishing and drug trafficking. As a result of our work, Saildrone has been included on Fast Company’s annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies, earned an Ocean Awards’ Innovation Award, won Best Tech For Good from the Timmy Awards, and was recognized by Andreessen Horowitz’s American Dynamism 50 list of the Top 50 Companies Kickstarting American Renewal. Our first-annual Atlantic hurricane mission with NOAA was included as one of The New York Times’ 21 Things That Happened for the First Time in 2021 and Popular Science's 100 Greatest Innovations of 2021.

We are based in Alameda, CA, with offices in Washington DC and St. Petersburg, FL, and operate our missions worldwide. Saildrone is backed by top-tier investors in the frontier tech and sustainability sectors, including Social Capital, Capricorn, Lux Capital, BOND Capital, and Emerson Collective. 

This is an exciting opportunity with a fast-growing team at the cutting-edge intersection of big data services and autonomous hardware. You will be an integral part of a high-performing multi-disciplinary delivering high impact for humanity and future generations.

The Role

As Saildrone’s Director of Product Security, reporting to the VP of Technical Infrastructure, you will set the product security vision and strategy, and own, develop, and maintain our security roadmap in alignment with business initiatives. You’ll be building a security program from the ground up. You’re not only looking to lead a security team, but as the inaugural leader of the security team you are excited about building one from scratch.

You have an interest in building solutions to challenging security problems with a focus on mentorship and scaling the team’s impact.

You will work under minimal direction, are able to influence leadership, advocate for security, mentor others, and cultivate a culture of security awareness.

What you'll do

• Design, implement, and promote security maturity and capability levels and targets for the organization's engineering efforts.
• Assess the security posture of the organization and help architect guardrails for DevOps, Software Engineering, and Hardware Engineering teams.
• Translate business, technology, and security objectives into security architectures and roadmaps that are flexible, streamlined, scalable, and cost-efficient.
• Develop and present security product roadmaps, reference architectures, and implementation plans from concept to production and operational support.
• Drive the adoption of our policy-as-code, security-as-code, zero trust, IaC best practices, and principles of least privilege.
• Communicate in a friendly, supportive manner with engineers or other stakeholders, helping to not only identify security issues, but also a mentor and advocate on solutions.
• Engage cross-functionally to drive other teams’ ownership and measurement of security posture.
• Collaborate and foster strong working relationships with all stakeholders.
• Leverage cybersecurity intelligence and research to enhance the security program.
• Define and measure success of the security program and team.

Required skills and experience

• Experience with assessment of cloud-based and containerized environments (AWS, Docker, Kubernetes)
• Strong Operational Experience in Linux/Unix environment
• Self-motivated, proactive, and solution-oriented individual
• Experience leading and managing projects
• You have either built teams in the past or managed a diverse subset of security roles and skills.
• You have strong prioritization skills, both in prioritizing security team efforts as well as helping other teams understand prioritization of performing security remediation and mitigation work.
• You're a great communicator, and can advocate for your proposals while also empathizing with other team’s goals and priorities
• You understand that security work must be prioritized because all teams have finite resources. You have good judgment and a sense of when to compromise and when to hold your ground
• You communicate security concepts effectively, both to management and individual contributors with a diverse set of backgrounds
• B.S. in Computer Science related, or equivalent experience

Desired skills and experience

• Knowledge of autonomous vehicle architecture, vehicle sensors, and communication protocols
• Experience in the embedded security space
• Experience assessing mixed hardware/software systems for security vulnerabilities
• Experience with the MITRE ATT&CK framework and the tactics, techniques, and procedures it represents.
• Software development experience with Python and C/C++
• Experience incorporating security into build and deployment pipelines
• Experience performing threat models and architecture reviews
• Experience supporting a security champions program, working with developers to provide security guidance, and mentoring them as necessary

Extra bonus points if you have experience leading a Red Team or have experience with autonomous vehicle penetration testing.

We are interested in speaking with candidates that have diverse backgrounds and perspectives.

If you don't meet all the criteria above but are excited about the position, we encourage you to apply. Nobody checks all the boxes; we are looking for someone with passion and drive who is excited for a challenge.

Location

This position is a hybrid role based in Alameda, CA. Only candidates with proper permits to work in the United States can be considered.  Our waterfront office offers beautiful views of San Francisco Bay in always sunny Alameda. Even our walls have good karma, our offices mix software development with a hardware production line in the former airplane hangar used to film 'The Matrix'.

Benefits

• Medical, dental and vision plans for you and your dependents.
• Short and relaxing ferry ride from the Ferry Building for SF residents
• Enhanced Parental Leave Programs
• Competitive benefits including excellent medical, life insurance, 401k plan

Catch up on the latest news about us:

The Tiny Craft Mapping Superstorms at Sea – The New York Times

Saildrone Takes the Wraps Off its Voyager Autonomous Research Vehicle – TechCrunch

An Underwater Mountain was Newly Discovered off California Coast – San Francisco Chronicle

The Quest for CO2: You Can’t Capture What You Can’t Find – Inside Unmanned Systems

Hacking the Anthropocene with Survivalist Robots [VIDEO] – Freethink

Here’s What Hurricane Fiona’s Surf Looked Like, from Atop a 50-foot Wave – The Washington Post 

An Unprecedented View Inside a Hurricane – EOS 

Meet the sailing robots trying to solve climate change – The Hill 

They Sailed Into a Hurricane, Now These Unmanned Saildrones are Seeking Data on Our Carbon Uptake – CNN 

Saildrone Featured Videos Playlist

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. 

Individuals who require employer sponsorship to remain employed in the United States now or in the future will not be considered for hire for certain positions.

Any unsolicited resumes/candidate profiles submitted through our website or to personal email accounts of employees of Saildrone are considered property of Saildrone and are not subject to payment of agency fees.

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