---
title: 'Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) Manager at Northwood Space'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/governance-risk-compliance-grc-manager-northwood-space-torrance-fpbynvw6kk52'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-10'
---

# Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) Manager at Northwood Space

- **Company:** Northwood Space
- **Location:** Torrance, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Posted:** 2026-08-15
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-10
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/northwoodspace/c5e46839-d717-4e7c-a8af-411edd44aabb

## Job description

Northwood is a modern space infrastructure company bringing the benefits of space to the masses through advanced communications technology. We are building a global network of phased array ground stations that enable real-time, reliable communication for satellite missions such as national security, global connectivity, and disaster response. With a vertically integrated approach, Northwood designs, builds, and rapidly deploys scalable systems that power the next generation of space missions. If you like solving complex challenges and seeing your work deployed around the world with real impact, Northwood is the place to do it.

Role: As Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) Lead, you will own Northwood's compliance program across CMMC, FedRAMP, SOC 2, and ITAR — building the policies, processes, and evidence frameworks that enable the company to operate as a trusted dual-use space communications provider. This is a senior individual contributor role for a practitioner who combines deep regulatory knowledge with the technical fluency to work directly with security engineering, network, and product teams to translate compliance requirements into operational reality. You will serve as the primary point of contact for government customers, third-party assessors, and internal stakeholders on all matters related to compliance posture, risk management, and audit readiness. You will work across Northwood's full security stack — spanning on-premises infrastructure, AWS GovCloud, GCC, and corporate systems — to ensure controls are implemented, documented, and defensible. This role reports to the Head of Security.

Responsibilities: Compliance Program Ownership

- Own Northwood's compliance program across CMMC Level 2, FedRAMP, SOC 2 Type II, and ITAR, including control mapping, gap assessment, remediation tracking, and audit preparation.
- Maintain Northwood's System Security Plan (SSP), Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M), and associated compliance documentation in alignment with NIST 800-171 and applicable frameworks.
- Coordinate and manage third-party assessments, including C3PAO engagements for CMMC, FedRAMP 3PAO assessments, and SOC 2 audits, serving as the primary assessor liaison.
- Monitor the regulatory environment for changes to CMMC, FedRAMP, DFARS, and ITAR requirements and assess impact on Northwood's compliance posture.

Risk Management

- Build and maintain Northwood's enterprise risk management program, including risk register development, risk scoring methodology, and executive-level risk reporting.
- Conduct and facilitate periodic risk assessments across security domains, incorporating input from security engineering, network, product, and operations teams.
- Identify, track, and drive remediation of compliance gaps and security control deficiencies, working directly with technical teams to ensure timely closure.
- Develop and maintain risk acceptance processes, exception management workflows, and compensating control documentation.

Policy & Control Framework

- Develop, maintain, and enforce Northwood's security policy library, including acceptable use, access control, incident response, data classification, and CUI handling policies.
- Map Northwood's control environment across overlapping frameworks — NIST 800-171, NIST 800-53, SOC 2 Trust Services Criteria, and FedRAMP — to reduce duplicative compliance effort and maximize control reuse.
- Define and maintain the control evidence collection program, ensuring audit artifacts are continuously gathered, organized, and accessible for assessment cycles.
- Partner with the Security Engineering Lead, Security Operations Lead, and Product Security Lead to validate that technical controls are implemented in alignment with documented policies and compliance requirements.

ITAR & CUI Program Management

- Own Northwood's CUI program, including data classification guidance, CUI handling procedures, marking standards, and employee training.
- Maintain ITAR compliance program documentation, including technology control plans, export authorization tracking, and coordination with Northwood's legal counsel on regulatory obligations.
- Ensure network segmentation, access controls, and data handling practices across Northwood's infrastructure appropriately enforce CUI and ITAR boundaries in coordination with security and network engineering teams.

Audit Readiness & Stakeholder Engagement

- Serve as the primary compliance point of contact for government customers, prime contractors, and subcontractors, including responding to security questionnaires, flow-down requirement reviews, and customer audit requests.
- Build and maintain audit readiness posture year-round, ensuring evidence collection, control testing, and documentation currency do not become point-in-time exercises.
- Brief executive leadership and the Head of Security on compliance status, upcoming assessment milestones, and material risk items requiring business-level decisions.
- Develop and deliver security awareness and compliance training programs for Northwood employees, with targeted content for personnel handling CUI or operating in ITAR-controlled environments.

Basic Qualifications:

- 5+ years in a governance, risk, and compliance role with demonstrated ownership of enterprise compliance programs in a regulated environment.
- Deep working knowledge of CMMC Level 2 and NIST SP 800-171, including SSP development, POA&M management, and C3PAO assessment preparation.
- Experience managing FedRAMP authorization processes, including boundary definition, control implementation documentation, and 3PAO coordination.
- Hands-on experience with SOC 2 Type II audits, including control mapping, evidence collection, and auditor engagement.
- Familiarity with ITAR compliance requirements, including technology control plans, export authorization processes, and CUI program management.
- Demonstrated ability to translate technical security controls into compliance documentation and audit evidence across multiple overlapping frameworks.
- Experience conducting risk assessments and maintaining enterprise risk registers with executive-level reporting.
- Strong technical fluency — this role works directly with security engineering and infrastructure teams and requires the ability to evaluate technical control implementations against compliance requirements.
- Ability to obtain and maintain a TS/SCI clearance.
- U.S. citizenship or status as a lawful permanent resident required to conform with ITAR export regulations.

Preferred Qualifications:

- Active TS clearance or higher.
- Experience working within the Defense Industrial Base, including prime or subcontractor compliance environments with DFARS flow-down obligations.
- Familiarity with eMASS or similar government assessment and authorization management tools.
- Experience with GRC platforms for control tracking, evidence management, and audit workflow automation.
- Knowledge of Northwood's core infrastructure environment, including AWS GovCloud, Microsoft GCC, and on-premises security tooling, and how these map to FedRAMP and CMMC control boundaries.
- Experience developing and delivering security awareness and CUI handling training programs.
- Familiarity with DFARS 252.204-7012 incident reporting obligations and coordination with DIBCAC or DCSA.
- Professional certifications such as CISSP, CISM, CISA, CCSK, or equivalent GRC credentials.
- CMMC Registered Practitioner (RP) or Certified Professional (CP) designation.

Additional Requirements:

- This position requires successfully obtaining and maintaining a Top Secret Security Clearance as a condition of employment. While the clearance may not be immediately necessary upon hire, we encourage you to initiate the application process promptly upon accepting this offer. Your ability to secure the necessary clearance is essential for fulfilling key responsibilities of the role. Should you be unable to obtain it, Northwood Space reserves the right to modify or terminate your employment to align with optional needs.

Additional Information: If you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know.

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., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Northwood Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Northwood Space is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

## About Northwood Space

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Building a global ground network for the future of space communications — delivering vertically integrated hardware, software, and shared infrastructure that lets space missions go from concept to live data delivery in months instead of years.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series B, raised $100M in January 2026)
- **Headquarters**: Los Angeles, California, United States (additional offices in Torrance, CA; Washington, D.C.; with presence in the United Kingdom and India)
- **Founded**: 2022
- **Founders**: Bridgit Mendler (CEO, Cofounder), Griffin Cleverly (Co-Founder, CTO), Shaurya Luthra (Co-Founder, Head of Digital)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Defense and Space Manufacturing; Space-to-ground infrastructure; Satellite communications.
- **Target customers**: B2B and B2G — commercial satellite operators, government agencies (e.g., U.S. Space Force), and defense customers.
- **Mission**: “Take space missions further, faster” by building resilient, cloud-like ground infrastructure for the next century of space operations.

## Products & Services
- **Hardware (Antennas built for scale)** : Phased-array antenna systems designed for volume manufacturing and rapid deployment (hours, not months).
- **Network (Shared infrastructure)** : A horizontally scalable, dynamic capacity provisioning network that eliminates single points of failure and works across multiple orbits and frequency bands.
- **Software (Orchestration intelligence)** : The intelligence layer that schedules contacts, routes data, and manages the entire ground network — enabling on-demand capacity without traditional procurement cycles.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not publicly disclosed.
- **Key Metric**: Total funding raised — **$136.4M** across four rounds (Grant $100K in 2023, Seed $6.3M in 2024, Series A $30M in 2025, Series B $100M in 2026).
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Andreessen Horowitz (led Seed, Series A, and Series B), Founders Fund (Seed), Washington Harbour Partners (led Series B and a prior round). Strategic partners include government agencies and commercial launch providers.
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Headcount grew **117.6% YoY** to 65 employees (as of mid-2026).
  - 48 active job postings (+140% YoY increase).
  - Successfully tested next-generation phased array antennas.
  - Won a U.S. Space Force contract (mentioned in news snippets).
  - Expanded to three U.S. offices and international presence (UK, India).

## Competitive Advantages
- **Vertically integrated ground stack** — from antenna hardware to network orchestration software — collapses deployment timelines from years to months/days.
- **Hardware that deploys in hours** and scales like cloud computing, avoiding traditional multi-year procurement cycles.
- **Resilient, shared infrastructure** designed for multiple orbits and frequency bands, reducing single points of failure.
- **Strong talent pipeline** from SpaceX, Anduril, Tesla, Palantir, and other top aerospace/defense firms.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale the global ground network** by deploying more sites and increasing capacity for both government and commercial customers.
- **Volume manufacturing** of antenna systems to meet surging demand.
- **Deepen partnerships** with defense and intelligence agencies (National Security Space) and commercial satellite operators.
- **Continue hiring aggressively** across engineering, operations, site management, and business development.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Values include humility, bias to action, autonomy, and exceptionalism. Teams are trusted to own their work and make decisions.
- **Impact**: Work is deployed globally — antennas built in Torrance, software orchestrated from LA, sites stood up worldwide.
- **Benefits**: Competitive salary, meaningful equity, comprehensive medical/dental/vision, employer-sponsored 401(k), paid parental leave, commuter benefits, sponsored clubs and quarterly events.
- **Work Model**: Likely on-site for hardware roles (Torrance, El Segundo, Washington D.C.); some software roles may offer flexibility. Two main office hubs: Los Angeles (HQ) and Washington D.C.
- **Engineering culture**: Fast iteration, real-world deployment, cross-functional collaboration. “If you like building quickly and seeing your work deployed in locations around the globe, we want you at Northwood.”

## Sources
1. [northwoodspace.io](https://www.northwoodspace.io/)
2. [northwoodspace.io/about-us](https://www.northwoodspace.io/about-us)
3. [northwoodspace.io/careers](https://www.northwoodspace.io/careers)
4. [LinkedIn – Northwood](https://www.linkedin.com/company/northwood-space)
5. [Crunchbase – Northwood Space](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/northwood-space)

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