Function

Engineering

Seniority

Mid

Workplace

On-site

Location

Los Angeles, CA

Compensation

$160K – $245K

Specialty

Security Cryptography

Job Description

<div class="content-intro">K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit.&nbsp;Backed by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/aliciapark/2025/12/11/this-startup-is-building-huge-satellites-for-an-underused-interstellar-sweet-spot/?ctpv=searchpage">$450M</a> from leading investors including Altimeter Capital, Redpoint Ventures, T. Rowe Price, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Alpine Space Ventures, and others – with an additional $500M in signed contracts across commercial and US government customers – we’re mass-producing the highest-power satellite platforms ever built for missions from LEO to deep space.&nbsp;
The rise of heavy-lift launch vehicles is shifting the industry from an era of mass constraint to one of mass abundance, and we believe this new era demands a fundamentally different class of spacecraft. Engineered to survive the harshest radiation environments and to fully capitalize on today’s and tomorrow’s massive rockets, K2 satellites deliver unmatched capability at constellation scale and across multiple orbits.&nbsp;
With multiple launches planned through 2026 and 2027, we're Building Bigger to develop the solar system and become a Kardashev Type II (K2) civilization.&nbsp;If you are a motivated individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment and you're excited about contributing to the success of a groundbreaking Series C space startup, we’d love for you to apply.&nbsp;</div>The Role&nbsp;
As K2's Crypto Engineer, you will own the architecture and design of our Type-1 cryptographic integrations across the spacecraft and ground segment. You will carry these designs cradle-to-grave — from concept and trade studies, through implementation and integration, to NSA certification and accreditation, and into on-orbit operations. You'll define how K2's satellites protect command, telemetry, and mission data; partner with NSA, government customers, and certification authorities; and ensure our COMSEC architecture meets the bar for national-security missions while fitting the pace and scale of a high-volume satellite production line. This is a foundational role:&nbsp;you'll&nbsp;set the cryptographic standards the rest of the program builds against.&nbsp;
Responsibilities&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Own the end-to-end architecture and design of Type-1 cryptographic integrations across the spacecraft, payload, and ground segment&nbsp;</li>
<li>Lead crypto designs from concept and trade studies through implementation, integration, certification, and on-orbit operations&nbsp;</li>
<li>Define COMSEC architecture for command, telemetry, and mission data protection, including encryption, key management, and key loading approaches&nbsp;</li>
<li>Serve as K2's primary technical interface to NSA, certification authorities, and government customers on cryptographic certification and accreditation&nbsp;</li>
<li>Drive the certification and accreditation effort, developing the artifacts, test evidence, and documentation&nbsp;required&nbsp;to achieve and&nbsp;maintain&nbsp;approval to operate&nbsp;</li>
<li>Partner with flight software, avionics, RF, ground, and security teams to integrate cryptographic functions into the broader system architecture&nbsp;</li>
<li>Support COMSEC handling, key management planning, and operational procedures for on-orbit fleet operations&nbsp;</li>
<li>Identify&nbsp;and mitigate cryptographic and supply-chain risks across design and production&nbsp;</li>
<li>Establish reusable cryptographic standards, interfaces, and processes that scale across K2's satellite production line&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
Qualifications&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Bachelor's degree or higher in electrical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, or a related discipline&nbsp;</li>
<li>5+ years of engineering experience with cryptographic systems, COMSEC, or secure communications&nbsp;</li>
<li>Direct experience with NSA Type-1 cryptographic equipment, integration, and certification processes&nbsp;</li>
<li>Working knowledge of key management, key loading, and COMSEC handling requirements&nbsp;</li>
<li>Experience taking a hardware or system design through certification and accreditation to operational use&nbsp;</li>
<li>Strong systems-level thinking with the ability to reason from first principles across hardware, software, and RF boundaries&nbsp;</li>
<li>Ability to work in a fast-paced, autonomously driven, and demanding startup atmosphere with competing priorities and aggressive schedules&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
Nice to Have&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Experience with spacecraft, satellite, or other space-system cryptographic integrations&nbsp;</li>
<li>Familiarity with cryptographic modernization initiatives and current NSA-approved algorithms and equipment&nbsp;</li>
<li>Experience with RMF/ATO, JSIG, or other accreditation frameworks&nbsp;</li>
<li>Background in RF, link design, or secure command and telemetry systems&nbsp;</li>
<li>Experience supporting on-orbit or fielded operations&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
Additional Requirements&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Ability to travel up to 25% of the time&nbsp;</li>
<li>Active Top Secret or&nbsp;Top Secret&nbsp;SCI clearance required; ability to obtain and&nbsp;maintain&nbsp;access to&nbsp;additional&nbsp;programs as needed&nbsp;</li>
<li>Ability to work irregular business hours to support critical project timelines or operations&nbsp;</li>
<li>This role requires access to information controlled under ITAR/EAR; applicants must be a U.S. Person as defined by applicable regulations&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
Compensation and Benefits&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Base salary range for this role is&nbsp;$160,000 - $245,000&nbsp;+ equity in the company&nbsp;</li>
<li>Salary will be based on several factors including, but not limited&nbsp;to:&nbsp;knowledge and skills, education, and experience level&nbsp;</li>
<li>Comprehensive benefits package including paid time off, medical/dental/vision coverage, life insurance, paid parental leave, and many other&nbsp;perks&nbsp;</li>
</ul><div class="content-conclusion">If you don’t meet 100% of the preferred skills and experience, we encourage you to still apply! Building a spacecraft unlike any other requires a team unlike any other and non-traditional career twists and turns are encouraged!
If you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know.
Export Compliance
As defined in the ITAR, “U.S. Persons” include U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (i.e., Green Card holders), and certain protected individuals (e.g., refugees/asylees, American Samoans). Please consult with a knowledgeable advisor if you are unsure whether you are a “U.S. Person.”
The person hired for this role will have access to information and items controlled by U.S. export control regulations, including the export control regulations outlined in the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR). The person hired for this role must therefore either be a “U.S. person” as defined by&nbsp;<a class="c-link" href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/22/120.15" target="_blank">22 C.F.R. § 120.15</a> or otherwise eligible for a federally issued export control license.
Equal Opportunity
K2 Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with K2 Space is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.</div>

Audit details(provenance, verification trail, raw fields)

Core fields

Posting ID

k2-space:5288570008

Title

Principal Crypto Engineer (TS//SCI)

Function

Engineering

Location

Los Angeles, CA

Workplace mode

unspecified

Posted at

2026-07-01 15:37:38Z

Compensation

$160K – $245K

Provenance

First seen (our tracker)

2026-07-21 19:40:43Z

Last seen

2026-07-25 06:25:03Z

Last updated

2026-07-25 06:25:03Z

Removed at

still open

Days open

Open for 24 days (and counting)

ATS adapter

greenhouse

ATS slug

k2spacecorporation

Source URL

https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/k2spacecorporation/jobs/5288570008

Verification trail

This posting hasn't been probed by our closure verifier yet. Stream C runs on a rolling schedule against postings approaching the close-decision threshold.

LLM enrichment

Enriched at 2026-07-22 04:23:12Z. Enrichment runs once per posting, never re-runs.

Seniority

ic_l4

Role archetype

engineering

Specialty

security_cryptography

Workplace mode

unknown

City (normalized)

—

Country (normalized)

United States

Comp range

—

Tech stack

—

Novel role archetype?

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Key details

Job Description

Core fields

Provenance

Verification trail

LLM enrichment