Director, Security Systems Engineering

About us

One team. Global challenges. Infinite opportunities. At Viasat, we're on a mission to deliver connections with the capacity to change the world. For more than 35 years, Viasat has helped shape how consumers, businesses, governments and militaries around the globe communicate. We're looking for people who think big, act fearlessly, and create an inclusive environment that drives positive impact to join our team.

What you'll do

We're looking for passionate, innovative professionals to join our team and connect the world to more. You'll work in a collaborative and inclusive environment that values diverse perspectives and continuous learning, and provides industry-leading benefits with unmatched opportunities for career growth. Our team is fearless in pursuit of new ideas and uncompromising in our quest to become the world's first truly global Internet Service Provider.

We are seeking a highly skilled and collaborative Security Systems Engineering Lead to drive consistency, alignment, and technical excellence across security engineering practices within our domain-specific engineering teams. This role ensures that security systems engineers working inside multiple product or domain teams follow a unified, high-quality engineering approach while coordinating closely with the Corporate CISO organization for standards, policies, and enterprise-level security strategies.

The day-to-day

As our security systems engineering lead, you must be technically strong, comfortable with modern satellite communications networks, government products/network deployment settings, and system architectures, and able to translate enterprise security directives into practical implementation patterns for engineering teams. The ideal candidate is also capable as a hands-on engineer, mentor, and cross-functional facilitator and can jump in on a program as a performer.

Strategic & Cross-Functional Leadership

• Understands the latest challenges within satellite communications security ecosystem, as well as threats to space systems, including key mitigations that can be undertaken to prevent vulnerability to these threats
• Define, maintain, and enforce a consistent engineering approach, standards, and best practices for all security systems engineers embedded within domain-specific teams.
• Serve as the primary technical liaison between domain engineering teams and the Corporate CISO organization, ensuring alignment on security policies, architectures, and risk management practices.
• Participate in enterprise security architecture discussions and translate outcomes into domain and project-specific engineering requirements and repeatable patterns.

Technical Leadership & Execution

• Provide hands-on technical leadership in designing, developing, and validating secure system architectures, communications networks, and security controls.
• Guide the implementation of secure network design, segmentation strategies, encryption mechanisms, identity and access controls, and monitoring systems.
• Conduct technical reviews, threat modeling, and architecture assessments across multiple engineering teams.
• Support the development of secure-by-design frameworks and automation to improve security posture at scale.

Team Development & Enablement

• Mentor and develop security systems engineers across multiple teams, providing guidance, training, and technical oversight.
• Build and maintain reusable security design templates, configuration standards, and reference architectures.
• Support onboarding, knowledge sharing, and capability building for engineers performing security-critical work.

Operations & Governance

• Partner with Viasat's CSOC organization to develop a strong list of monitoring requirements / patterns as part of the standard expectations across each product or service domain
• Ensure consistent adherence to corporate cybersecurity policies, compliance frameworks, and risk management processes.
• Partner with CISO functions to ensure accurate reporting of risks, issues, and mitigations from within the domain.
• Assess toolsets, platform capabilities, and processes to identify opportunities for enhancement and standardization.

What you'll need

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Cybersecurity, or a related technical field.
• 5+ years of experience in security engineering, systems engineering, network engineering, or similar roles.
• Strong understanding of secure system design, satellite (or similar) communications networks, cybersecurity controls, and threat modeling.
• Demonstrated ability to apply corporate security policies to real-world engineering solutions.
• Experience working across organizational boundaries, including security, infrastructure, networking, and product engineering.
• Familiarity with modern network protocols, routing, wireless communications, encryption, and network security architecture.
• Hands-on experience with enterprise security tools and technologies (e.g., firewalls, IDS/IPS, PKI, SIEM, zero-trust frameworks).
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence stakeholders at multiple levels.
• Leadership or mentorship experience strongly preferred.
• US Citizenship required.
• Active US Secret Clearance.
• Ability to travel up to 20%.

What will help you on the job

• Technical depth in security and networking
• Ability to influence without direct authority
• Systems-level thinking and architectural insight
• Strong communication and cross-functional collaboration
• Problem-solving, analytical reasoning, and risk-based judgement
• Ability to establish structure and consistency across decentralized teams

Salary range

$204,500.00 - $323,000.00 / annually. For specific work locations within San Jose, the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, the base pay range for this role is $254,000.00- $381,000.00/ annually



At Viasat, we consider many factors when it comes to compensation, including the scope of the position as well as your background and experience. Base pay may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Additional cash or stock incentives may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to a range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the position offered. Learn more about Viasat's comprehensive benefit offerings that are focused on your holistic health and wellness at https://careers.viasat.com/benefits.
EEO Statement

Viasat is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, seeking to create a welcoming and diverse environment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, marital status, genetics, age, or veteran status or any other applicable legally protected status or characteristic. If you would like to request an accommodation on the basis of disability for completing this on-line application, please click here.