Director of Cybersecurity

Spacecraft represent the most pressing unmet need across the entire aerospace industry. As more launch vehicles come online and the cost to orbit decreases, more companies launching payloads to space continue to emerge.

For the first time in history, this influx of payload companies combined with reduced launch costs has resulted in a massive increase in need for commercial spacecraft platforms, known as satellite buses. These buses hold the payloads of our customers and are flown on launch vehicles.

Apex manufactures these satellite buses at scale using a combination of software, vertical integration, and hardware that is designed for manufacturing. Our spacecraft enable the future of society: ranging from earth observation to communications and more.

We’d love for you to join us on our mission of providing humankind access to the galaxy beyond our planet.

The Director of Cybersecurity is a senior leadership role responsible for Apex's enterprise security strategy, operations, and compliance. Reporting to the VP of IT & Security and based on-site at our Playa Vista office, this role leads the Cybersecurity (SOC) Lead and security team to safeguard the organization's information assets against evolving cyber threats. The Director of Cybersecurity owns security strategy, the Security Operations Center (SOC), threat and vulnerability management, incident response, and governance, risk, and compliance for a fast-growing space and satellite manufacturing company operating in regulated and often controlled environments.

The role requires deep technical expertise, strategic oversight, and strong leadership, and partners closely with IT, compliance, engineering, and executive leadership.

• Security roadmap: Define and execute the multi-year cybersecurity strategy, aligning security investments and controls with Apex's business and mission objectives and emerging threats.
• Policy and architecture: Establish and maintain security policies, standards, reference architectures, and playbooks across infrastructure, cloud, endpoints, and applications.
• Budget ownership: Own the security budget, technology evaluations, and resource allocation; optimize spend while strengthening the overall defensive posture.

• SOC leadership: Direct the Cybersecurity (SOC) Lead and team in 24/7 monitoring, detection, triage, and response; ensure appropriate staffing, coverage, and surge support.
• Incident command: Serve as the senior escalation point for complex incidents; own incident response readiness, containment and eradication, and post-incident analysis and remediation.
• Threat management: Oversee proactive threat hunting, malware analysis, and threat intelligence integration to stay ahead of emerging cyber risks.

• Security tooling: Own the selection, tuning, and optimization of SIEM, EDR/XDR, IDS/IPS, CASB/SASE, SOAR, and vulnerability management systems to maximize detection and reduce false positives.
• Automation and metrics: Drive automation, develop and track KPIs and dashboards, and deliver executive reporting on threats, incidents, and defensive posture.

• Accreditations: Lead efforts to achieve and maintain CMMC, ISO 27001, NIST 800-171, and other accreditations required to support Apex's government and commercial programs.
• Risk and audits: Own risk assessments, audits, tabletop exercises, data protection, and continuous monitoring; ensure timely remediation of findings.

• Leadership: Build, mentor, and develop a high-performing security team; set goals, manage performance, and lead hiring, training, and…