Cybersecurity Incident Response Lead

About the role

At Stoke, we believe a thriving space economy will enable a vibrant, sustainable, and equitable future here on Earth. That is why we're building Nova, our fully and rapidly reusable launch vehicle. Designed for daily flight, Nova tackles the core challenges of space transportation by reducing cost, increasing availability, and improving reliability. By radically lowering launch costs and increasing flight cadence, we're helping create a truly scalable space industry.

Our team is mission-driven, collaborative, and empowered to take ownership of their work. If you want to work alongside some of the most dedicated and talented people on Earth, we'd love to have you join us.

About the role

Reusable launch systems depend on secure, resilient information systems. As a Cybersecurity Incident Response Lead, you will lead the detection, investigation, containment, and recovery of cybersecurity incidents affecting Stoke's infrastructure, engineering environments, manufacturing systems, and sensitive aerospace data.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role with ownership of incident response readiness and execution. You will lead complex investigations, coordinate response across teams, and translate findings into practical improvements that reduce risk and strengthen our ability to respond. You will provide technical direction and mentorship while working closely with IT, security, software engineering, manufacturing, and operations.

We are a small, highly motivated team. You will balance decisive response with operational safety and continuity, keeping technical teams and leadership informed as incidents evolve. You must be ready to stay focused, move fast, self-direct, and learn on the fly.

Responsibilities

• Lead cybersecurity incidents from initial triage through containment, eradication, recovery, and closure; establish severity, scope, response priorities, and escalation paths
• Serve as the technical incident lead, coordinating responders, assigning actions, maintaining decision records, and escalating business risks and resource needs
• Investigate endpoint, identity, network, cloud, and application activity to reconstruct timelines, identify initial access and persistence, and assess affected systems and data
• Collect and preserve logs, forensic artifacts, and other evidence with documented handling, chain of custody, and appropriate access controls
• Coordinate containment and recovery with system owners, validating remediation and monitoring for recurrence; align actions affecting manufacturing, test, or launch systems with operational and safety requirements
• Maintain the incident response plan, escalation procedures, and playbooks for scenarios such as compromised accounts, ransomware, data exfiltration, and cloud compromise
• Improve detection coverage and response workflows using SIEM, endpoint detection and response, threat intelligence, and automation; identify telemetry gaps and tune alerts
• Conduct threat hunting and translate investigation findings into detection rules, control improvements, and prioritized remediation with accountable owners
• Provide clear incident updates and reports that distinguish confirmed findings from uncertainty and explain business impact, response actions, and outstanding risks
• Coordinate with leadership, legal, compliance, and external response partners to support evidence requests and applicable notification obligations
• Lead tabletop exercises and post-incident reviews; track corrective actions and measure response effectiveness, readiness, and recurring failure patterns
• Mentor responders, maintain investigation standards, and participate in on-call coverage and after-hours response for critical incidents
• Perform additional duties as assigned to support organizational goals and objectives

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Cybersecurity, Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
• 5+ years of experience in cybersecurity operations, incident response, digital forensics, or a related technical field, including hands-on leadership of complex security incidents
• Demonstrated ability to investigate and contain security incidents, determine scope and impact, and coordinate recovery across multiple technical teams
• Strong understanding of Windows and Linux systems, identity and access management, networking, cloud infrastructure, and common attacker techniques
• Hands-on experience with SIEM and endpoint detection and response platforms, log correlation, forensic triage, and evidence preservation
• Ability to write investigation queries and automate repeatable analysis or response tasks using tools such as KQL, Python, PowerShell, or Bash
• Sound judgment under pressure, including the ability to prioritize actions based on threat activity, business impact, and operational constraints
• Clear written and verbal communication skills, with experience producing investigation reports and briefing technical and nontechnical stakeholders
• Ability to lead through influence, mentor colleagues, and drive corrective actions to closure across organizational boundaries

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Microsoft Sentinel, Defender, Entra ID, Microsoft 365, and investigations in AWS or Azure environments
• Experience with disk and memory forensics, malware triage, threat hunting, or investigations involving ransomware, identity compromise, and data theft
• Experience building an incident response program, running exercises, or coordinating external incident response providers
• Familiarity with MITRE ATT&CK and incident response practices aligned with NIST; experience supporting NIST 800-53/171, FedRAMP, ISO 27001, SOC 2, or CUI protection requirements
• Experience supporting aerospace, manufacturing, operational technology, or other environments where response actions must account for safety and availability
• Relevant certifications such as GCIH, GCFA, GCFE, or equivalent demonstrated expertise
• Prior experience in a startup environment, demonstrating adaptability, resourcefulness, and a hands-on approach to security

Benefits

• Equity - We know that our employees are the reason we succeed. To give everyone a stake in our future, we are pleased to offer equity in the form of stock options to all regular, full-time employees.
• Comprehensive benefits program including subsidized medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Company-paid life and disability insurance
• 401(k) plan with employer match
• 4 weeks' Paid Time Off
• Holidays - 11 days (including an end-of-year closure)
• Paid Family/Parental Leave
• On-site gym or monthly wellness stipend (depending on location)
• Dog friendly offices!

Compensation

Target Levels

• Level 3 Range: $133,560 - $200,340
• Level 4 Range: $160,230 - $240,450

Our job posts are intentionally written to attract a wide variety of experience levels, and we make decisions about the right fit on a per-candidate basis.

Your actual level and base salary will be decided based on your specific experience and skill level.

ITAR Requirements

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S. (i.e., current Green Card holder), or protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).