Cyber Security Engineer Jobs in El Segundo, CA (NOW HIRING)

Role: CyberSecurity Engineer (US)
Employment Type: Full Time
Educational Qualification: Bachelor's degree in cybersecurity, computer science, information technology, engineering, or a related discipline, or equivalent professional experience.
Work Experience: 4+ Four or more years of cybersecurity engineering, security operations, cloud security, or technical compliance experience. Must be a US Citizen
Role Description:
Pixxel is seeking a Cybersecurity Engineer to implement and operate the security program supporting its U.S. aerospace and satellite operations. This role will protect endpoints, identities, networks, cloud services, business systems, and environments that process, store, or transmit FCI and CUI.
The Cybersecurity Engineer will play a central role in Pixxel's NIST SP 800-171 implementation, CMMC Level 2 assessment readiness, Body of Evidence development, incident response, vulnerability management, and continuous compliance program.
The ideal candidate can translate compliance requirements into practical security controls, validate whether controls operate effectively, maintain assessment-ready evidence, and drive remediation through completion.
C Level 2 compliance, NIST SP 800-171 implementation, and ongoing assessment readiness.
Responsibilities & Duties:
Security Engineering and Operations

• Design, implement, maintain, and improve security controls across endpoints, identities, networks, cloud services, and business applications.
• Administer and optimize CrowdStrike Falcon, endpoint detection and response, security monitoring, and next-generation SIEM capabilities.
• Monitor and investigate security alerts, suspicious activity, unauthorized access, malware, and potential data exposure.
• Lead or support incident analysis, containment, eradication, recovery, evidence preservation, and post-incident review.
• Configure and validate endpoint protection, encryption, logging, MFA, device compliance, vulnerability-management, and data-protection controls.
• Review security configurations across JumpCloud, Google Workspace Enterprise, AWS, Meraki, Fortinet, and other approved platforms.
• Support secure adoption of SaaS, cloud, AI, remote-access, and zero-trust technologies.
• Develop automation using APIs, PowerShell, Bash, Python, or infrastructure-as-code tools where appropriate.

CMMC and NIST Compliance

• Coordinate implementation and maintenance of security requirements supporting NIST SP 800-171 and CMMC Level 2.
• Translate applicable requirements into technical safeguards, operating procedures, control owners, testing methods, and evidence expectations.
• Help define and maintain the CMMC assessment scope and CUI system boundary.
• Identify where FCI and CUI are received, processed, stored, transmitted, and disposed of.
• Develop and maintain the System Security Plan, security control narratives, Body of Evidence, Plans of Action and Milestones, and supporting documentation.
• Establish evidence standards and ensure records are current, complete, approved, and retrievable.
• Perform control testing through examination, interviews, and technical validation.
• Conduct gap assessments and maintain a prioritized compliance-remediation plan.
• Track corrective actions, responsible owners, dependencies, milestones, evidence, and closure status.
• Prepare Pixxel for internal reviews, customer inquiries, SPRS-related activities, and CMMC assessments.
• Coordinate with external consultants, assessors, customers, and government stakeholders when authorized.
• Monitor changes to applicable cybersecurity requirements and recommend updates to controls, policies, procedures, and technical architecture.

Security Control Maintenance

• Manage or oversee recurring compliance activities, including:
• User and privileged-account reviews.
• Access authorization and termination reviews.
• Audit-log review and retention validation.
• Vulnerability scanning and remediation tracking.
• Patch and secure-configuration verification.
• Firewall and remote-access reviews.
• Asset, software, and system-boundary reconciliation.
• Incident-response testing.
• Backup and restoration testing.
• Security-awareness and phishing exercises.
• Risk assessments and policy reviews.
• CUI handling, transmission, storage, printing, media protection, and disposal reviews.
• Verify that recurring activities are completed on schedule and supported by appropriate evidence.
• Document deficiencies and ensure remediation is validated before closure.
• Evaluate security exceptions and present risks to the appropriate approving authority.

Vulnerability and Risk Management

• Manage the vulnerability-management lifecycle for endpoints, servers, cloud systems, applications, and network devices.
• Analyze findings, validate risk, assign remediation owners, and track corrective actions.
• Conduct technical risk assessments for systems, vendors, applications, and material infrastructure changes.
• Review proposed technology for security, privacy, CUI, export-control, and compliance considerations.
• Maintain risk registers and communicate material risks clearly to technical owners and leadership.
• Escalate overdue remediation, control failures, and unacceptable risk promptly.

Incident Response

• Maintain Pixxel's cybersecurity incident response plan, procedures, severity criteria, escalation paths, and communication requirements.
• Coordinate incident detection, triage, containment, eradication, recovery, reporting, and lessons-learned activities.
• Support investigation and reporting of incidents that may affect FCI, CUI, government information, credentials, or company systems.
• Conduct incident-response tabletop exercises and track improvement actions.
• Preserve incident records and technical evidence in accordance with applicable contractual and legal requirements.
• Coordinate with legal counsel and leadership concerning external reporting obligations.

Policy, Documentation and Training

• Draft and maintain cybersecurity policies, standards, procedures, plans, control narratives, and technical guidance.
• Ensure written requirements accurately reflect Pixxel's actual operating environment.
• Maintain evidence repositories, document-control records, approvals, review dates, and version history.
• Develop cybersecurity guidance and training for employees, administrators, and system owners.
• Support KnowBe4 training, phishing simulations, and corrective awareness activities.
• Provide employees with practical guidance on protecting sensitive information and reporting security concerns.

Communication and Project Ownership

• Maintain cybersecurity tasks, owners, dependencies, milestones, and evidence in Jira or another approved tracking platform.
• Provide clear and timely project and compliance status reports.
• Communicate anticipated delays, resource needs, and blockers before commitments are missed.
• Take ownership of assignments from planning through implementation, testing, evidence collection, documentation, and closure.
• Coordinate effectively with the Network and Infrastructure Engineer while maintaining clear responsibility for security validation and compliance oversight.

Present risks, findings, and recommendations in language appropriate for technical teams and company leadership.
Desirable Skills & Certifications:

• Direct experience preparing an organization for a CMMC Level 2 assessment.
• Experience developing or maintaining SSPs, POA&Ms, CUI data-flow diagrams, assessment scopes, and Bodies of Evidence.
• Experience with CrowdStrike Falcon, CrowdStrike Next-Gen SIEM, JumpCloud, Google Workspace Enterprise, AWS, Meraki, Fortinet, Jira, KnowBe4, or Zscaler.
• Familiarity with DFARS 252.204-7012, SPRS assessments, and applicable cyber-incident reporting obligations.
• Familiarity with NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 3 and Organization-Defined Parameters.
• Experience with scripting, APIs, Terraform, or Ansible.
• Experience in aerospace, defense, satellite, manufacturing, or another regulated technical environment.
• Security+, CySA+, CISSP, CCSP, CISM, GIAC, or comparable certification.
• Hands-on experience implementing or assessing NIST SP 800-171, CMMC, NIST SP 800-53, or a comparable cybersecurity framework.
• Knowledge of protecting CUI, FCI, sensitive technical information, or regulated data.
• Experience with EDR, SIEM, vulnerability management, security monitoring, and incident investigation.
• Knowledge of identity and access management, MFA, least privilege, privileged access, and account lifecycle management.
• Experience assessing the security of Windows, macOS, Linux, network, SaaS, and cloud environments.
• Experience creating technical policies, procedures, control narratives, risk records, and assessment evidence.
• Ability to test security controls and distinguish documented intent from actual implementation.
• Strong project ownership, analytical, prioritization, and root-cause-analysis capabilities.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate realistic timelines, escalate risks, and complete work with limited supervision.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Candidate Acumen:

• Continued operation and documented maintenance of assigned security controls.
• Complete, current, and retrievable assessment evidence.
• Measurable reduction in cybersecurity and compliance gaps.
• Timely remediation of vulnerabilities, findings, and POA&M items.
• Accurate SSP, system-boundary, CUI-flow, and control documentation.
• Effective incident detection, response, escalation, and recordkeeping.
• Successful internal control reviews and improved CMMC assessment readiness.
• Reliable communication of progress, risks, blockers, and schedule changes

Benefits:
Health insurance coverage
Unlimited leaves & flexible working hours
Role-based remote work and work-from-home benefit
Relocation assistance
Professional Mental Wellness services
Creche facility for primary caregivers (limited to India)
Employee Stock Options for all hires
About Pixxel
Pixxel is a space data company and spacecraft manufacturer redefining Earth observation with hyperspectral imaging. The company's first three commercial hyperspectral satellites-Fireflies-deliver imagery at 5-meter resolution and 135+ spectral bands, providing 50x richer detail than traditional Earth observation systems and unlocking insights across agriculture, climate, energy, environment, and more.
Once fully deployed, Pixxel's constellation of 18-24 satellites will capture imagery across up to 250 bands in VNIR and SWIR ranges, with a 40 km swath and daily global revisit capability. Pixxel's most unique strength is its full-stack approach, integrating every layer of the value chain from satellite hardware and manufacturing to AI-powered analytics.
Pixxel's satellite constellation is complemented by Aurora, its in-house Earth Observation Studio that simplifies satellite imagery analysis and democratises remote sensing for all. Designed to make hyperspectral data more accessible, Aurora by Pixxel combines high-frequency imagery with AI-powered tools to generate actionable insights, even for users without technical backgrounds. The third pillar of Pixxel's ecosystem is its in-house satellite manufacturing capability. Beyond building its own spacecraft, Pixxel also provides satellite systems and subsystems to other organisations. This dual capacity sets it apart in a sector where most companies focus on either payload design or data operations, but not both.
Pixxel's team is young but deeply mission-aligned, with a culture rooted in curiosity, speed, and long-term thinking. As the company grows its constellation and expands Aurora, the focus remains on making space-based insights practical, scalable, and genuinely helpful so that the health of the planet becomes measurable and action becomes possible.
Pixxel was the only Indian startup selected for the Techstars Starburst Space Accelerator in Los Angeles and has been recognised in TIME's Best Inventions of 2023, Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies, and Via Satellite's Top Innovators list.
For more information, see our Careers page or follow Pixxel on LinkedIn and X/Twitter.
Culture
Pixxel is an organization where we enable our employees to work on world-changing problems that they are passionate about, and a place where they can be their best selves day in and day out while ensuring they have fun every day.
Central to our employee-first ethos is a commitment to ensuring that every team member feels valued and heard. We nurture a healthy and supportive work environment where we prioritise well-being and growth in all aspects of life.
Link to Pixxel in Media
To know more about us, visit https://www.pixxel.space.
Link to Pixxel in Media
https://www.notion.so/pixxelspacetech/Pixxel-in-Media-92a5072f085e4300a0defa1ba2d37149