Forward Networks is revolutionizing the way large networks are managed. The Forward Enterprise platform delivers a vendor-agnostic "digital twin" of the network, based on a mathematical model. The platform scales to support hundreds of thousands of network devices, whether cloud, hybrid cloud, or on-prem. It serves as a single source of truth for the network, enabling network operators to instantly verify security posture, accelerate troubleshooting, avoid outages, and modernize network management.

Over the past few years, Forward Networks has received tremendous industry recognition, including “Cool Vendor in Enterprise Networking” by Gartner, “Product of the Year” by Cloud Computing, “Enterprise Cloud Computing Software of the Year,” and has been named to Fortune’s 2022 “Best Workplaces in the Bay Area” list.

The company was founded by four Stanford PhD graduates who saw a massive opportunity to improve network operations. Investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Threshold Ventures, and Goldman Sachs.

At Forward Networks, you will drive security strategy, policy, implementation, and operations. You will drive security and compliance activities, as well as be the external face of security (with deals and contracts). You will define, create, and run your organization.  You will report to the CTO, with board and exec visibility.

Responsibilities:

• Drive security strategy, covering all endpoints, servers, software, networks, and cloud systems
• Evaluate, select and deploy security software and systems
• Grow the team: architect, motivate, operate
• Own risk management, including vulnerability assessment and incident response
• Drive internal compliance efforts (SOC2, ISO 27001, …)
• Drive external compliance efforts (VSQs, audit requests, …)
• Provide executive presence on sales interactions
• Drive contract review, covering security and data privacy
• Develop and distribute company-wide policies and best practices for IT security, plus run internal training

Required background:

• Minimum 5 years in the "general security space"
• Minimum 3 years experience as InfoSec leadership
• College Degree in related field
• Meaningful experience with on-premise systems
• Experience with authentication, authorization, VPNs, encryption, certificates, and related best practices
• Experience with network connectivity concepts, including IP address allocation, tunneling, L2/L3, firewalls, IDS
• Experience with AWS and general cloud constructs
• Experience with vulnerability and security posture management
• Experience with incident management
• Experience with log analysis, event correlation, incident management procedures and systems
• Team leadership and managerial experience

Nice-to-have:

• Desire to contribute to security-relevant product improvements - via dogfooding, early mock feedback, and broader PM and Sales-team interactions
• Experience in a startup environment
• "Light scripting" and automation experience
• Cloud deployment and management experience
• Willing to travel occasionally
• Experience with Federal security and compliance needs
• Security program management - budgeting and planning
• Experience with setting up and operating security-oriented systems:
• SSO/identity systems
• Endpoint System Management software
• Credential management systems
• Log analysis systems
• Vulnerability-scanning software
• Incident management software
• Remote access systems (SASE, VPN, …)
• Cloud security posture management systems
• Security certifications (Security+, CISSP, CEH, SANS, etc.)

The base pay range for this role is between $240,000 and $280,000. Base pay will depend on your skills, qualifications, experience, and location