Security Specialist

About this role

ABOUT NOOKS

Nooks is pioneering Classified-Infrastructure-as-a-Service (CIaaS) — designing, building, and operating Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities (SCIFs) and other secured, classified environments for the defense and national security community. We work with the agencies, contractors, and mission-driven organizations that keep the nation safe, delivering the physical infrastructure that makes classified work possible. We’re growing fast, operating across multiple markets, and building a company that takes both the mission and the business seriously.

About the Role

As a Security Specialist, you’re part of the front line of Nooks’ site operations team – the person our clients see and rely on day to day inside our accredited spaces. You’ll work onsite daily, learning the governing doctrine behind Collateral areas, SCIFs, and SAPFs, and applying it in real time: triaging questions, verifying visitors, provisioning access, and helping keep our facilities compliant and ready for use. This is an entry-level role built for someone who wants to build a real career in industrial security – you’ll be trained, mentored, and given increasing ownership as you grow.

At Nooks, we move fast. While you’ll have clear ownership over your core responsibilities, startup life means priorities can shift. We’re looking for a proactive problem-solver who thrives in a fast-paced evolving environment and is ready to lean in wherever the team needs them most to drive us forward.

Key Responsibilities

Client & Site Security Operations

• Own first-line triage for client security questions and concerns, resolving routine matters independently and looping in the Security Manager only when a situation genuinely warrants escalation.

• Deliver onboarding briefings to new clients, walking them through Nooks procedures and answering their questions so they can work comfortably in our spaces from day one.

• Process and verify clearance eligibility and access for clients, partners, and visitors, and provision badges and access credentials accordingly.

• Prep rooms ahead of client use and sanitize and check them afterward, and act as a first responder to after-hours alarm activations.

• Train and mentor Level 1 and Level 2 Security Specialists, serving as their first point of escalation before matters reach the Security Manager.

• Provide informal coverage of routine site operations when the Security Manager is unavailable, keeping day-to-day work moving without interruption.

Compliance & Systems of Record

• Review DD254s to understand, implement, and enforce each client’s specific security requirements within our facilities

• Take a lead role in preparing for and completing security reviews and inspections that keep our sites compliant with NISPOM, SCI, and SAP requirements.

• Lead incident response actions independently, directed by the Security Manager only on the most complex or sensitive matters.

COMSEC & Cross-Functional Support

• Serve as the site’s Primary COMSEC Custodian, owning the local COMSEC account – conducting inventories, intaking and keying controlled cryptographic items (CCI), completing SF-153s, and liaising directly with government COMSEC Managers.

• Work cross-functionally with IT, Cyber, Product, and People Team to keep site operations running smoothly for every client and program.

Construction Security

• Independently execute and enforce the approved Construction Security Plan (CSP) for active secure builds at your site.

• Conduct walkthroughs and inspections of secure construction sites with the Security Manager, learning to identify and report deviations or discrepancies from the CSP.

• Attend construction meetings and inform the Security Manager of site-specific progress, documenting conditions through photos as the build progresses.

What Success Looks Like in This Role

After 12 months, you’ve earned the trust of your assigned site’s clients as their go-to point of contact for day-to-day security questions, and your Security Manager routinely delegates triage to you without following up. Clients and colleagues describe you as reliable, calm under pressure, and someone who flags problems before they become incidents.

Cross-Functional Expectations

You’ll report to and take direction from your site’s Security Manager, but you’re expected to operate with real independence, making judgment calls on routine triage, COMSEC actions, and construction walkthroughs without waiting for sign-off. Day to day, you’ll work closely with IT, Cyber, and Product, and you’ll regularly liaise with government and industry clients. You’re also expected to informally lead junior security specialists, serving as their first point of contact before issues reach the Security Manager.

The Skillset

Required

• 2-5 years of experience in security, military, law enforcement, or a related operational field.

• Demonstrated working knowledge of the doctrine governing Collateral areas, SCIFs, and SAPFs.

• Comfortable working onsite daily and being available as a first responder to after-hours alarm activations.

• Strong communication skills – you’ll be the face of Nooks for clients during onboarding briefings and day to day questions and security inquiries.

• Administrative rigor and attention to detail, from reviewing DD254s, conducting walkthroughs, and checking eligibility and access in the appropriate systems of record.

• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance as a condition of employment.

Preferred

• Recent experience working in classified environments.

• Familiarity with secure construction projects and site walkthroughs.

• Direct experience serving as a primary or alternate COMSEC Custodian.

Eligibility & Clearance

Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States. An active security clearance is preferred. All candidates must be eligible for and committed to obtaining and maintaining a U.S. government security clearance as a condition o

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