Founding Information Systems Security Manager (ISSM) – Remote with up to 50% travel to Arlington, VA / DC Area – Opportunity to work with an Ambitious, Rapidly-Growing Start-Up + Equity

Job Description

Company: Orbis Group

Location: Arlington, US

Founding Information Systems Security Manager (ISSM) – Remote with up to 50% travel to Arlington, VA / DC Area – Competitive Salary + Equity + Opportunity to work with an Ambitious, Rapidly-Growing Start-Up

This young, early-stage start-up challenger are currently looking for an experienced Information Systems Security Manager (ISSM) to join their small team and help drive the business forwards.

This could be an excellent opportunity for an experienced Information Systems Security Manager (ISSM) with a natural propensity for customer-facing work to take that next step into an exciting position with a very well-run and ambitious organisation in an innovative, exciting space.

This young and agile company are building cutting-edge AI platforms and utilizing Agentic AI to drive their software engineering principles. They are in a unique space where there is an opportunity for them to gain significant market share very quickly.

About the Company:

Seed-stage company, $7M seed round closed last year

Business has moved past pure architecture and now needs execution and ownership

• ~10 employees currently

• Scaling to ~15 employees over next 2 months

• 6-7 active customer contracts already live

This is early-stage.

Candidates joining now will meaningfully shape:

• Product architecture

• Engineering culture

• Customer delivery

• Technical direction

About the Founding Information Systems Security Manager (ISSM) Vacancy:

You will be in charge of the security program as the initial Information Systems Security Manager (ISSM).

Operating on a continuous-ATO cadence that corresponds with their weekly sprint tempo, you will steer work through Department of War authorisation on the IL2 (NIPR) path and onto a defensible IL5 trajectory.

This position is situated at the nexus of daily security operations, compliance program management, and security architecture. Alongside a small, fast-moving technical team, you will serve as the main point of contact for the Department of War Authorising Official, assessors, and their customer program office.

You will support one client for now – with space to grow into a security lead and/or hire others to support this space as the company continues to grow.

You need to able to work independently and autonomously – someone who needs a team already around them will not be right.

Onsite ~50% of time expected with the client based in Arlington, VA. Longer term, more clients expected in VA/DC region.

Ideal Requirements for the Founding Information Systems Security Manager (ISSM) Vacancy:

Clearance Requirement: Active Top Secret/SCI

Requirements at a glance:
• Active TS/SCI (not able to budge on this)
• Ideally working with IL5+ levels of information
• Needs to have run ATO processes as a lead (not just contributing to them as an ISSO or analyst)

• Ownership of Security Programs:

You have managed a government security program from start to finish, overseeing everything from the initial authorization to ongoing monitoring, and understand how to facilitate its progress within a dynamic engineering team without causing delays. You have successfully guided at least one system belonging to the DoD or IC through the NIST RMF authorization process to achieve an ATO and have maintained it through continuous monitoring. Previous experience as an ISSM or ISSO on a DoD or IC contract is essential; experience as a Prime contractor is highly preferred.

• Experience

Several years in security engineering, cybersecurity, or information assurance, with a significant amount of time spent directly assisting DoD or IC systems. You have a history of completing this assignment under pressure and with dependability.

• Security Architecture & Technical Depth:

You think at the architecture level spanning identification, authorization, cryptography, and audit. You’ve worked in contexts where the security borders between systems matter, and you know how to build for them intentionally. It is advantageous to have prior experience with CSP shared responsibility mapping and FedRAMP inheritance modeling.

• Agentic AI & Emerging Tech:

You’re familiar with how AI agents interact with data and tools, and you’ve thought seriously about what securing those interactions looks like, even if the specific stack is new to you. Familiarity with Palantir Foundry, O365/SharePoint, or Databricks in classified or IL5 environments is a bonus.

• Security Operations & Incident Response:

You’ve run security operations and led incident response in complex environments. You write clear, structured findings for both technical and executive audiences.

• Stakeholder Management:

You’ve been the primary security interface to government customers, assessors, and internal engineering leadership, and you know how to manage all of them at once.

• Certifications:

A current DoD 8140 / 8570 IAM-qualifying certification is required at hire. CISSP or CISM (IAM Level III) strongly preferred; CASP+ accepted. You must be able to maintain certification currency throughout the role.

•Bonus points if you have prior experience standing up a security program at a start-up or small company

Apply to the Role:

Roles like these are snapped up very quickly, so act now if you do not want to miss out! Reply to this advert or email your CV to richard@weareorbis.com

Source: LinkedIn