Principal Crypto Engineer (TS//SCI)

Description

K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit. Backed by over $1 billion in total funding from leading investors including Altimeter Capital, ICONIQ, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, and T. Rowe Price — and with over $1 billion 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.

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.

With multiple launches in 2027 and plans to scale to 100 satellites a year, we're Building Bigger — helping develop the solar system and build toward a Kardashev Type II (K2) civilization. If you are a motivated individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment and you're excited about contributing to the success of a high-growth Series D-funded company, we'd love for you to apply.

Responsibilities

• As K2's Principal Crypto Engineer, reporting to the VP of Satellite Engineering & Operations, you will own the technical architecture and design of our Type-1 cryptographic integrations across the spacecraft, payload, and ground segment. You'll lead these designs from concept and trade studies through implementation, integration, and test. You'll define how K2's satellites protect command, telemetry, and mission data at the hardware and software level, and build it to fit a high-volume satellite production line. You'll work hand-in-hand with our COMSEC Certification Lead on the National Security team, who owns the path to NSA approval. This is a foundational role: you'll set the cryptographic design standards the rest of the program builds against.
• Own the end-to-end technical architecture of Type-1 cryptographic integrations across the spacecraft, payload, and ground segment
• Lead crypto designs from concept and trade studies through implementation, integration, and test
• Design encryption, key management, and key loading implementations for command, telemetry, and mission data
• Integrate cryptographic functions into flight software, avionics, FPGA, RF, and ground systems in partnership with those teams
• Define hardware and software interfaces between crypto equipment and the broader system architecture
• Produce the design documentation and test evidence needed to support certification, working closely with K2’s COMSEC Certification lead
• Identify and mitigate cryptographic design risks across hardware, software, and RF boundaries
• Establish reusable cryptographic designs, interfaces, and standards that scale across K2's production line
• Support anomaly resolution and troubleshooting for fielded and on-orbit crypto systems

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree or higher in electrical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, or a related discipline
• 5+ years of engineering experience designing or integrating cryptographic systems or secure communications
• Hands-on experience integrating NSA Type-1 cryptographic equipment into a hardware or software system
• Working knowledge of key management and key loading implementations
• Strong systems-level thinking, with the ability to reason from first principles across hardware, software, and RF boundaries
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, autonomously driven, and demanding startup atmosphere with competing priorities and aggressive schedules
• Experience with spacecraft, satellite, or other space-system cryptographic integrations
• Experience with embedded systems, FPGA design, or flight software
• Familiarity with cryptographic modernization initiatives and current NSA-approved algorithms and equipment
• Background in RF, link design, or secure command and telemetry systems
• Exposure to NSA certification processes
• Additional Requirements
• Ability to travel up to 15% of the time
• Active Top Secret or Top Secret SCI clearance required; ability to obtain and maintain access to additional programs as needed
• Ability to work irregular business hours to support critical project timelines or operations

Conditions

Base salary range for this role is $160,000 - $245,000 + equity in the company

Salary will be based on several factors including, but not limited to: knowledge and skills, education, and experience level

Comprehensive benefits package including paid time off, medical/dental/vision coverage, life insurance, paid parental leave, and many other perks

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!

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 22 C.F.R. § 120.15 or otherwise eligible for a federally issued export control license.