Senior Threat Detection Engineer

Vast is looking for a Senior Threat Detection Engineer, reporting to the Information Security Manager, to support the development of the systems that will be required for the design and build of artificial-gravity human-rated space stations..

This will be a full-time, exempt position located in our Long Beach location.

Responsibilities:

• Research, select/build, and implement processes/tools to improve detection security methodologies.
• Analyze logs from various sources to identify patterns indicative of malicious activities to drive detection strategies.
• Create detection queries to enhance visibility and monitoring capabilities within Vast’s infrastructure.
• Implement continual improvements to incident response playbooks.
• Monitor security systems, networks, and applications for suspicious activities.
• Design and implement security orchestration and automation response.
• Collaborate with the Information Security team to peer review detection strategies and to foster an effective and positive work environment.
• Support compliance efforts as it relates to NIST 800-171, CMMC, 2.0 and/or ITAR/EAR.

Minimum Qualifications:

• 4+ years of hands-on experience.
• Deep understanding of MITRE ATT&CK and how it applies to various on-prem and cloud resources.
• Prior experience handling material incidences from start to finish.
• Previous experience implementing “Detection as Code”.
• Proficiency in configuring, deploying, and maintaining security tools such as SIEM, IDS/IPS, antivirus, SOAR tooling and/or vulnerability scanning.
• Proficient knowledge of network protocols, firewalls, and intrusion detection/prevention systems.

Preferred Skills & Experience:

• Understanding of compliance requirements and certifications like NIST 800-171, CMMC 2.0, DFARS 252.204-7012, ITAR/EAR
• Prior experience handling digital forensics with tooling such as FTK and Autopsy
• Prior experience working in a fast-paced startup environment.
• 5+ years of hands-on experience for Staff level
• Prior experience using agentic AI to augment detection capabilities
• Familiarity with security SaaS solutions and relevant integrations
• Prior experience architecting a new custom detection framework

Additional Requirements:

• Ability to travel up to 10% of the time.
• Willingness to work overtime, or weekends to support critical mission milestones.

Pay Range:

• Threat Detection Engineer Level II: $106,000 - $151,900
• Senior Threat Detection Engineer: $125,000 - $171,500
• Staff Threat Detection Engineer: $152,000 - $230,000