Director of IT & Security, DEFCON AI

• 8+ years of progressive IT experience, including leadership responsibility
• Direct ownership of at least one of the following:
• CMMC 2.0 readiness or implementation
• SOC 2 audits (Type I or Type II)
• Experience operating in government contracting / defense / regulated environments
• Strong working knowledge of:
• NIST 800171 / NIST 80053
• Identity and access management
• Endpoint security and device management
• Cloudbased IT environments (AWS, Azure, or similar)
• Ability to communicate clearly with executives, auditors, and nontechnical stakeholders
• Comfortable operating in a small company where priorities shift and handson work is sometimes required
• Must be a U.S. Citizen working from within the United States

Desirable

• We are seeking a Director of IT & Security to lead all information technology and security functions for our growing, mission driven organization supporting U.S. government, defense, and commercial clients
• This role is both strategic and hands-on. You will own our security posture, compliance programs, and audit readiness (CMMC 2.0 and SOC 2), while also ensuring that day-to-day IT operations run smoothly
• You will serve as the owner accountable for audits, security controls, and IT risk, while partnering closely with Operations, Engineering, HR, and Finance
• This role reports directly to the Head of Ops and will help shape how our IT and security capabilities scale as the company grows
• Security, Compliance & Risk (Primary Focus)
• Own CMMC 2.0 and SOC 2 end-to-end, including:
• Control design and implementation
• Evidence collection and readiness
• Audit coordination and remediation
• Serve as the primary point of contact for auditors, assessors, and external security partners
• Maintain and evolve security policies, standards, and procedures aligned with DoD and federal requirements
• Oversee access control, device security, identity management, and incident response processes
• Partner with leadership to assess and manage IT and security risk across the organization
• IT Leadership & Operations
• Lead all IT functions supporting corporate and program needs
• Own IT architecture, tooling decisions, and vendor selection
• Manage relationships with MSPs, security vendors, and cloud providers
• Ensure secure, reliable operation of systems supporting a distributed workforce
• Plan and execute IT improvements that scale with company growth
• Hands On Support & Team Enablement
• Provide guidance and escalation support for IT hardware/software issues as needed
• Support a culture of responsive, pragmatic IT service (without being a fulltime helpdesk)
• Help mentor and support an IT Support Speciaist & Cloud Infrastructure Engineer
• Balance operational execution with long term security and compliance priorities
• What Success Looks Like:
• The company is audit ready at all times, not scrambling
• CMMC 2.0 and SOC 2 requirements are clearly owned, documented, and operationalized
• Employees experience reliable, secure IT support without friction
• Leadership has confidence in IT risk posture and compliance maturity
• The IT function scales cleanly as the company grows
• Why This Role Is Unique:
• You will have real ownership and authority, not just responsibility without control
• You’ll partner directly with the Head of Operations and leadership team
• You’ll shape the IT and security foundation for a missionfocused, governmentaligned organization
• This role blends security leadership, operational execution, and strategic influence