Lead Security Engineer

About the team At Q-CTRL, Quantum Computing Engineering is a global team of software engineers and infrastructure experts,combining deep technical expertise with a startup mindset to deliver real impact through software innovation. Our work is underpinned by robust standards, and by embracing the three virtues. Our team excels in areas across back-end, front-end, machine learning, and platform engineering.
We transform Q-CTRL's world-leading technological breakthroughs into commercial software products with applications across defense, research, and industry. We work closely with Product, Design, and Research teams to accelerate the path to quantum advantage worldwide.
About the role The Q-CTRL Platform has grown rapidly from a single product running as a single container to a growing list of products in a highly distributed Kubernetes environment. New and exciting customer opportunities are seeing this stack evolve further, including on premises and hybrid architectures and full stack solutions embedded on the edge. This growth brings a diverse and dynamic security landscape shaped by industry, customer, and compliance requirements across multiple deployment models.
As Q-CTRL's engineering function expands, we're bringing on a lead security engineer to establish and grow our security team from its current foundation. Working alongside our existing security engineer, you'll use your hands-on cybersecurity experience to build a highly competent, dynamic, and specialized team focused on ensuring Q-CTRL's security objectives are met. This is an opportunity to shape security practices from the ground up while navigating the unique challenges of securing quantum control software across diverse environments. What you'll be doing:

• Lead Q-CTRL's security engineers and consult engineering teams as a cybersecurity expert to deliver the highest security standards for Q-CTRL products. You'll have the opportunity to build the security team from the ground up with the prospect of managing it as a line manager as the team grows.
• Work with Q-CTRL's Information Security Manager to establish security engineering team rituals and processes that align with industry standards and ensure continued compliance across ISO 27001, NIST r3, DISP and Cyber Essentials.
• Serve as a member of the Q-CTRL cross organization Security Team, playing an active role in ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and customer engagement requirements.
• Share a technical vision of how Q-CTRL's products will continue to be strengthened and monitored with all engineering teams.
• Continuously improve forensics and incident response processes.
• Consistently uphold compliance with security frameworks through the improvement of systems and processes, including access control mechanisms, data management and security guardrails.
• Other duties within your skills and experience, or with reasonable training.

Ideally you'll have:

• 7+ years of experience as a cybersecurity professional working closely with DevSecOps and DevOps teams.
• Knowledge in hardening Kubernetes platforms within Amazon Web Services.
• Experience with one of ISO 27001, SOC 2, NIST, or Essential 8 as a technical contributor.
• Experience with vulnerability management systems, security incident response, threat modeling and risk registers.

It would be fantastic if you have these skills/experience but not essential:

• A passion for delivery and project management (we don't use dedicated Scrum Masters or Project Managers).
• A track record of leading high performing teams to measurable, tangible outcomes working closely with Product Managers, Technical Leads and Principal Engineers.
• Security/Kubernetes certifications, for example, Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist or Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP).
• Red teaming experience, particularly in cloud or AWS environments.
• Experience using open source observability tooling such as OpenTelemetry and Grafana to set up security alerting and alarms.
• Experience working with SIEM/SOC tooling such as Splunk or Microsoft Sentinel to identify and triage security alerts

About Q-CTRL Q-CTRL is the global leader in AI-powered quantum control infrastructure software. We build the tools that make quantum technology useful, solving the hardest challenges in quantum computing and quantum sensing to deliver real-world impact.
Founded in 2017, we operate globally with offices in Sydney, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berlin, and Oxford. Our teams bring together technical and multi-disciplinary expertise across the product lifecycle, and we're hiring talent to help scale every part of the business. We work quickly to turn cutting-edge science into deployable technology.
In 2024 we raised US$113 million in Series B funding, the largest aggregate investment for a quantum software company. Six months later we delivered the first commercial quantum advantage with Ironstone Opal, our field-validated quantum navigation solution for defense and industry.
At Q-CTRL, we prioritize outcomes over hours. We offer flexibility, equity potential, and competitive benefits that reflect our high-performance culture. If you're ready to help shape the future of quantum, we'd love to hear from you
Please be advised that our communications will only come from the @q- domain. All our active job postings are available on our company website.
To recruitment agencies, we do not accept unsolicited branded profiles and are not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes. We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.

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