Full-Time

MSS Security Specialist

Updated on 9/8/2026

Nooks

Nooks

51-200 employees

Platform enabling classified government–private collaboration

Compensation Overview

$85k - $100k/yr

No H1B Sponsorship

Colorado Springs, CO, USA + 1 more

More locations: Arlington County, Arlington, VA, USA

In Person

US Top Secret Clearance Required

Category
Risk & Compliance (1)

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Requirements
  • Two to three years of personnel or industrial security experience, or equivalent cleared-environment administrative experience.
  • Working knowledge of 32 CFR Part 117, the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual, and the Facility Security Officer administrative scope, including clearances, visits, self-inspections, insider threat, and training.
  • Hands-on fluency with Defense Information System for Security and National Background Investigation Services, and comfort learning each client's security systems.
  • Strong attention to detail and deadline discipline across a high-volume, multi-client caseload.
  • Clear written and verbal communication with client employees at every level.
  • Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States.
  • An active Secret security clearance is required.
Responsibilities
  • Initiate and manage personnel security actions in Defense Information System for Security and National Background Investigation Services, maintaining accurate and up-to-date records across the assigned client portfolio.
  • Process visit authorization requests, maintain personnel access rosters, and manage key management records under each client's appointed Facility Security Officer.
  • Guide client employees through security-questionnaire submissions in eApp, working directly inside client systems to ensure accuracy and complete documentation.
  • Execute annual 32 CFR Part 117 National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual self-inspections and keep client documentation audit-ready year-round.
  • Track corrective action plans to closure following self-inspections or government reviews so findings are resolved promptly.
  • Monitor periodic reinvestigation timelines across assigned accounts to ensure clearance actions do not go overdue.
  • Support each client's Insider Threat Program by assisting with intake and documentation of reportable and adverse information for the designated official.
  • Deliver, track, and record initial, annual, and specialized security briefings and training across assigned accounts.
  • Maintain complete briefing, debriefing, and training records required for client audit readiness.
  • Manage a multi-client caseload while meeting service-level agreement turnaround times for routine security requests.
  • Communicate with client employees and escalate gray-area or high-risk compliance matters to a Senior Security Specialist or Group Lead.
  • Standardize notes and casework documentation so teammates can cover client accounts when needed.
  • Collaborate with Senior Security Specialists and the Group Lead to balance portfolio workloads, resolve capacity bottlenecks, and build compliance expertise through casework.
  • Execute daily administrative actions for clients' appointed Facility Security Officers and cleared personnel, escalating complex compliance questions, high-risk matters, and government interactions as needed.
Desired Qualifications
  • DCSA Center for Development of Security Excellence Facility Security Officer curriculum or Security Professional Education Development Security Fundamentals Professional Certification.
  • Experience with e-QIP/eApp and insider threat program support.
  • Prior work in a defense-tech, startup, or multi-client services environment.

Nooks offers a platform-as-a-service that enables government agencies and private defense/space firms to collaborate on classified projects. It accelerates tech adoption in national security by handling facility clearance sponsorship and personnel clearances, simplifying compliance and onboarding. The platform provides secure workflows and vendor-access controls, expanding options for vendors while managing the complexities of clearance processes. Its veteran-led team focuses on moving faster, reducing costs, and letting clients concentrate on their core work within the government–private sector ecosystem.

Company Size

51-200

Company Stage

Series A

Total Funding

$32.7M

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Founded

2021

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Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • June 2025 Series A gave Nooks $25M for expansion into Arlington and Colorado Springs.
  • 2026 job postings show hiring in Colorado Springs and El Segundo, indicating active scaling.
  • MDA SHIELD award opens access to a $151 billion vehicle through 2035.

What critics are saying

  • Nooks depends on defense contracting cycles; SHIELD task orders arrive only after competition.
  • July 2026 CEO switch from Sean Blackman to David Willard signals execution pressure.
  • If classified-space demand stalls, Nooks’s SCIF-heavy model becomes a capital-intensive niche.

What makes Nooks unique

  • Nooks sells CIaaS for SCIFs, simplifying classified access without facility buildouts.
  • Lockheed Martin, SAIC, Zigg Capital, and Upper90 back Nooks’s June 2025 Series A.
  • MDA selected Nooks for SHIELD IDIQ, validating its classified-infrastructure credibility.

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Benefits

Stock Options

Company Equity

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

3%

1 year growth

11%

2 year growth

0%
FinSMEs
Jun 9th, 2025
Nooks Closes $25M Series A Funding

Nooks, a Crystal City, VA-based classified-infrastructure-as-a-service (CIaaS) model company for workspaces, raised $25M in Series A funding.

Nooks
Jun 9th, 2025
Nooks Closes $25M Series A Funding Round with Unmatched Team of Industry Leaders

Nooks raises $25M Series A to expand its subscription-access classified workspaces. Backed by Zigg Capital, Upper90, SAIC, and Lockheed Martin, Nooks is redefining access to secure, flexible classified workspaces for government and defense.

MB News
Jun 9th, 2025
Nooks Raises $25M in Series A Funding

Nooks has closed a $25M Series A funding round, partnering with Zigg Capital, Upper90, SAIC, and Lockheed Martin. The funding will enhance Nooks' Classified-Infrastructure-as-a-Service (CIaaS) model, aiming to improve secure collaboration for government and industry. The investment will support Nooks' growth in key markets and its integration of advanced technologies, with a focus on transforming classified infrastructure access.

Forbes
Aug 3rd, 2023
Small Companies Can’T Access Classified Work Without A Secure Space To Work In

A modular SCIF facility designed by Maryland-based builder, Modular Genius. Modular GeniusIf your small defense business has desirable technology that the government considers classified, you’ll need a secure workspace before you can secure government work. It’s a Catch-22 that Congress wants to alleviate.The 2024 National Defense Authorization Act includes language from both the House and Senate meant to open up existing classified work-spaces to small businesses.Building or gaining access to a government-approved secure workspace is a costly burden that adds to the already thorny problems defense startups face in getting security clearances for their employees and in getting their companies as a whole “covered” or cleared to work on classified projects.Such hurdles curb or prevent innovative, potentially war-winning technologies and ideas from being embraced and applied by the Pentagon says Andrew “Scar” Van Timmeren, vice president of government solutions for Blue Force Technologies, a small North Carolina-based business which recently secured a contract to build prototype unmanned adversary training aircraft for the Air Force.A former USAF F-22 pilot, Van Timmeren has seen the problem surface repeatedly among the cohort of defense startups traveling in the same circles as Blue Force, shutting them out of potentially meaningful contracts and contributions to national security.“It’s remarkably easy for continued contracts to go to incumbents within the cleared [classified] space because of the time and effort it takes to increase the number of new businesses that have access to cleared [workspace].”Van Timmeren cites an example wherein defense program managers are evaluating candidates to perform radar cross section survivability analysis of an aircraft. There’s already a cleared company with its own approved secure workspace. Another new firm may want to enter into that mix. But for DoD, “the easy button is to just go to the incumbent which may not be a small business.”Setting up a secure workspace isn’t easy

Intelligence360 News
Jul 19th, 2022
San Francisco California based Nooks is raising $5,000,000.00 in New Equity Investment.

San Francisco, CA - According to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Nooks is raising $5,000,000.00 in new funding. Sources indicate as part of senior management Chief Executive Officer, Sean Blackman played a