Facility Security Officer

About the Role

This is an opportunity to build a security program from the ground up. As Cognition's founding Facility Security Officer, you will stand up, own, and run the industrial security program that enables our rapidly growing federal business — supporting customers across the U.S. Government, including NASA JPL, the Social Security Administration, and the Department of War, as well as the defense industrial base.

You will be the appointed FSO of record with the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA), responsible for establishing and maintaining our facility clearance (FCL), administering personnel security clearances for a fast-scaling cleared workforce, and ensuring day-to-day compliance with the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM, 32 CFR Part 117). You will work directly with federal sales, deployed engineering, legal, and people operations.

Core Responsibilities

• Serve as the appointed FSO under 32 CFR Part 117 (NISPOM), owning the establishment, maintenance, and administration of Cognition's facility clearance in partnership with DCSA.
• Administer the personnel security clearance lifecycle end-to-end: initiate, track, and maintain investigations and adjudications in DISS/NBIS, manage periodic reinvestigations and continuous vetting enrollment, and conduct indoctrinations and debriefings.
• Establish and run the insider threat program as the Insider Threat Program Senior Official (ITPSO), including required training, monitoring processes, and reporting.
• Prepare for and lead DCSA security vulnerability assessments and annual self-inspections; drive remediation of findings and maintain a posture of continuous review readiness.
• Develop and deliver required security education: initial briefings, annual refresher training, foreign travel pre-briefs and debriefs, and derivative classification training where applicable.
• Manage safeguarding of classified information and visits: visit authorization requests, classified meeting support, courier procedures, and closed area accreditation as the program grows.
• Author and maintain security documentation: Standard Practice Procedures (SPP), technology control plans, DD Form 254 review and flow-down for classified contracts, and reporting of change conditions (SF-328, KMP changes) to DCSA.
• Submit required reports — suspicious contacts, adverse information, security violations, and foreign travel — accurately and on time.
• Partner with GTM, deployed engineering, and legal on capture and contract execution: advise on facility and personnel clearance requirements in solicitations, and forecast clearance needs against program timelines.
• Coordinate with IT and security engineering on the physical and procedural controls that support classified and CUI work, including interface with FedRAMP High and DoD IL4/IL5/IL6 environments.

Requirements

• Active U.S. Government security clearance at TS/SCI.
• 5+ years of industrial security experience under the NISP, including 2+ years as an appointed FSO (or Assistant FSO) at a cleared defense contractor or technology company.
• FSO Program Management for Possessing Facilities certification (or Non-Possessing with willingness to complete Possessing curriculum), plus current ITPSO training.
• Demonstrated hands-on proficiency with DISS, NISS, NBIS/eQIP, and SF-86 processing.
• Working knowledge of 32 CFR Part 117 (NISPOM), the personnel security adjudicative guidelines (SEAD 4), continuous vetting (SEAD 3 reporting), and DD Form 254 administration.
• Experience preparing for and passing DCSA security reviews, including self-inspection programs and remediation.
• Excellent written communication — ability to author security procedures and briefings.
• Ability to work on-site in Washington, D.C. and travel occasionally to other Cognition offices and customer sites.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience standing up an FCL or a security program at a startup or a company new to the federal market.
• Additional credentials such as ISP certification or CDSE FSO curriculum completion, or experience with SCI/SAP program security (CSSO/CPSO).
• Experience supporting software or cloud companies pursuing FedRAMP, IL5/IL6, or classified cloud deployments.