Director of IT & Security

About Us

Red Cell Partners is an incubation firm building and investing in rapidly scalable technology-led companies that are bringing revolutionary advancements to market in three distinct practice areas: healthcare, cyber, and national security. United by a shared sense of duty and deep belief in the power of innovation, Red Cell is developing powerful tools and solutions to address our Nation’s most pressing problems.

ABOUT DEFCON AI

RESILIENCE IN THE FACE OF DISRUPTION. DEFCON AI is an insights company that leverages artificial intelligence, mathematical optimization, data analytics, and software engineering for resilient optimization of complex systems.
In today’s dynamically changing world, DEFCON AI’s technology aligns outcomes with operational goals, better decision making, and empowers customers to anticipate assess, and mitigate the impacts of disruptions.

About the Role 

We are seeking a Director of IT & Security to lead all information technology and security functions for our growing, mission driven organization supporting U.S. government, defense, and commercial clients. 

This role is both strategic and hands-on. You will own our security posture, compliance programs, and audit readiness (CMMC 2.0 and SOC 2), while also ensuring that day-to-day IT operations run smoothly. You will serve as the owner accountable for audits, security controls, and IT risk, while partnering closely with Operations, Engineering, HR, and Finance. 

This role reports directly to the Head of Ops and will help shape how our IT and security capabilities scale as the company grows. 

Key Responsibilities 

Security, Compliance & Risk (Primary Focus) 

• Own CMMC 2.0 and SOC 2 end-to-end, including: 
  • Control design and implementation
  • Evidence collection and readiness
  • Audit coordination and remediation
• Serve as the primary point of contact for auditors, assessors, and external security partners
• Maintain and evolve security policies, standards, and procedures aligned with DoD and federal requirements
• Oversee access control, device security, identity management, and incident response processes
• Partner with leadership to assess and manage IT and security risk across the organization 

IT Leadership & Operations 

• Lead all IT functions supporting corporate and program needs
• Own IT architecture, tooling decisions, and vendor selection
• Manage relationships with MSPs, security vendors, and cloud providers
• Ensure secure, reliable operation of systems supporting a distributed workforce
• Plan and execute IT improvements that scale with company growth 

Hands On Support & Team Enablement 

• Provide guidance and escalation support for IT hardware/software issues as needed
• Support a culture of responsive, pragmatic IT service (without being a fulltime helpdesk)
• Help mentor and support an IT Support Specialist & Cloud Infrastructure Engineer
• Balance operational execution with longterm security and compliance priorities 

Required Qualifications 

• 8+ years of progressive IT experience, including leadership responsibility
• Direct ownership of at least one of the following: 
  • CMMC 2.0 readiness or implementation
  • SOC 2 audits (Type I or Type II) 
• Experience operating in government contracting / defense / regulated environments
• Strong working knowledge of:  
  • NIST 800171 / NIST 80053
  • Identity and access management
  • Endpoint security and device management
  • Cloudbased IT environments (AWS, Azure, or similar) 
• Ability to communicate clearly with executives, auditors, and nontechnical stakeholders 
• Comfortable operating in a small company where priorities shift and handson work is sometimes required