Job Description
Who Are We?
Government technology has failed the public for decades, and Americans have been conditioned to expect websites from the 90s for essential public services.
Kaizen exists to strengthen trust in American public services by building technology that residents and public servants are proud to use. We partner with local, state, and federal agencies to replace legacy systems with modern, AI-native software that is worthy of the people they serve. We started in outdoor recreation, and now we’re building toward something much larger — the software layer that powers how Americans access any government service.
Our platform already reaches 40 million residents across 50+ agencies in 17 states.
Founded in 2022 and based in New York City, Kaizen has raised $35 million from NEA, a16z, Accel, 776, and Carpenter Capital. We’re builders, designers, and operators who believe that beautifully designed software shouldn’t be a luxury in government. It’s how you earn trust back.
The Role
Kaizen’s platform reaches 40M residents across 50+ agencies in 17 states. We’ve already signed multiple federal customers with many more in the pipeline — and the work of making Kaizen federal-ready is currently spread across a handful of engineers. That doesn’t scale. We’re hiring our first dedicated security engineer to sit on the platform team and own this end to end: architect the controls, write the SSPs, and partner with engineering to embed compliance into how we ship rather than bolt it on after.
Location
This is a hybrid role based out of our New York City HQ. Candidates must reside in New York or be able to commute to New York City to work out of our office at least three times a week (Tuesdays - Thursdays).
What You’ll Do
Architect and operationalize security across infrastructure, platform, CI/CD, and application layers, with a focus on AWS (including GovCloud) and Terraform
Lead readiness across federal compliance frameworks — FedRAMP, CMMC, and DoD Impact Levels — translating NIST 800-53 and related controls into real engineering implementations, and owning the SSPs, POA&Ms, and technical policy documentation
Build continuous compliance and audit-readiness workflows that make accreditation a byproduct of how we ship, not a separate workstream
Be smart about AI and tooling — use automated AI-driven security scanning, modern hardened-image platforms like Chainguard, and other leverage points to multiply the impact of a small security team
Establish secure software supply chain practices: SBOMs, image signing, workload identity, and hardened deployment pipelines
Own the technical relationship with assessors, auditors, and federal security stakeholders — you are the credible technical voice in those rooms
Drive a secure-by-default engineering culture so residents and public servants can trust the systems we put in front of them
What You’ll Bring
5+ years of hands-on experience building and securing cloud-native platforms in AWS and Terraform — you can architect controls and also implement them yourself
Direct experience with federal authorization work — FedRAMP, CMMC, DoD IL, or comparable regulated environments. You don’t need to have shepherded a full authorization across the finish line, but you’ve done enough of the real work to know what it takes
Deep familiarity with NIST 800-53 and the ability to translate controls into pragmatic engineering work rather than checkbox compliance
Strong working knowledge of modern supply chain security: SBOMs, image signing, workload identity, secure CI/CD
Track record operating effectively in early-stage or fast-moving environments where you set the bar rather than inherit it
Strong Candidates May Also…
Have supported federal SaaS, defense tech, or regulated infrastructure companies through accreditation
Have led a company through its first federal authorization rather than maintaining an existing one
Have hands-on experience with Chainguard, AI-powered security tooling, or similar leverage-multiplying platforms
Have worked with platforms like Second Front or similar federal compliance accelerators
Don’t Apply If…
You want to own policy and hand the implementation to someone else — this role lives in the code and the infrastructure
You think compliance is paperwork — at Kaizen it’s a load-bearing engineering discipline
You think AI tools are a crutch rather than a force multiplier
You need a mature security program already in place to be effective
Kaizen exists to strengthen trust in American public services. Security and compliance aren’t constraints on that mission — they’re the foundation that makes the work matter at the federal scale.
What Kaizen Offers
Health & Insurance
Comprehensive medical through Oxford/United — Gold and Platinum PPO plans, with 85% of premiums covered on the Platinum plan and a $0 employee premium option. Dental through Guardian PPO and vision through Beam, with 99% of employee premiums covered and 50% for dependents.
$100,000 in fully paid life insurance. FSA and Dependent Care FSA. 401(k) access through Guideline.
Family & Time Off
16 weeks of fully paid parental leave for birthing parents. 10 weeks fully paid for non-birthing parents.
Unlimited PTO, closed for all federal holidays, and company-wide winter break the week of Christmas.
Office & Remote Setup
Up to $750 one-time home office or desk setup stipend for NYC-based employees. $500 for remote employees.
$50/month commuter benefit (company contribution).
Expensed lunch 3x a week while in the office.
Company-provided laptop.
Wellness
Fully covered gym membership at Grindhouse — right across the street from our office at 47 W 17th St (and in Williamsburg). A $225/month value, on us. For remote employees, $100/month dedicated to gym or physical fitness reimbursement.
$300/quarter pet care stipend.
Stipends
$100/month utility stipend.
$500/year professional development.
$250/year recreation.
Kaizen is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. If you need an accommodation during the interview process, email us at careers@kaizenlabs.co.
