GRC Engineer

Hybrid, DC · Arlington · USD 155,000-185,000 · 3+ years experience · Full-time · Hybrid · Posted Oct 9, 2026

At a glance

Cape is America’s privacy-first mobile carrier. Our mission is to be a force for good in global wireless. Cape was founded in 2022 by people who believe privacy is a fundamental right, not a luxury to be traded away. Our journey began when our founder recognized a critical vulnerability in our modern world: everyone relies on the same stagnant cellular infrastructure and legacy systems that track our every movement, monitor and profile our connections, and lose and sell our personal data.
Instead of accepting the status quo, we decided to fix it. National security professionals, journalists, parents, and everyone in between can stay connected and have privacy.
We didn’t just build a layer on top of old tech; we built America’s most private and secure mobile carrier from the ground up. By building our own network from scratch, we are able to design and build a suite of privacy and security features that no other carrier on the planet can offer.
Today, Cape provides our secure network to consumers, businesses, and government agencies alike. We closed our Series C in March 2026, and we are scaling rapidly, with the goal of giving people back control of their most personal information.

We are looking for a GRC Engineer to help grow the governance, risk, and compliance function that keeps Cape secure, trustworthy, and audit-ready as we scale.
You will sit at the intersection of security, engineering, and compliance — translating regulatory and contractual requirements into automated controls, clear policies, and pragmatic engineering solutions.

Design, build, and maintain automated systems for continuous controls monitoring across our cloud infrastructure (AWS/GCP/Azure), CI/CD, and SaaS stack.
Own and mature our compliance programs end-to-end (SOC 2 Type II, CMMC, and future frameworks as they arise), including audit prep, evidence collection, and remediation tracking.
Provide subject matter expertise in: risk assessment, controls design, security policy, vendor/third-party risk, access review automation, and audit management.
Proactively assess technical and organizational risk, make data-driven recommendations, and implement scalable solutions rather than one-off manual fixes.
Roll up your sleeves to execute a full range of GRC duties — from writing policy to shipping the automation that enforces it.
Collaborate closely with Security and Engineering to implement solutions across risk management, policy, and compliance tooling.
Ensure successful rollout of key GRC programs such as risk registers, access reviews, vendor risk assessments, and audit cycles.
Lead and contribute to projects as an integral member of the Security team.
Support customers and prospects through security questionnaires, due diligence requests, and trust-building conversations, and build tooling to make that process faster.

3+ years in GRC engineering, security engineering, or compliance with hands-on technical work; startup experience preferred.
Demonstrable expertise across compliance frameworks (SOC 2, CMMC, FedRAMP, NIST CSF, GDPR), including how regulatory and contractual requirements translate into technical controls and day-to-day engineering decisions.
Successful track record of designing and implementing risk or compliance programs, with processes that are clear and auditable but adapt as the business and regulatory landscape change.
Strong prioritization and project management skills, especially when running audits against real deadlines.
Experience partnering with and influencing engineering and security leaders to drive risk decisions and audit outcomes; you build trust easily with both engineers and auditors.
A clear communication style, and the ability to translate technical risk into business terms for different audiences.
Ability to see all sides of a risk tradeoff, remain objective, and drive issues to resolution — including through ambiguity, with a willingness to roll up your sleeves.
BA / BS in a related field or equivalent practical experience; relevant security or audit certifications (CISSP, CISA, CRISC, or similar) a plus.

Proficiency in at least one scripting or programming language (Python, Go, TypeScript) to automate evidence collection, monitoring, and reporting.
Experience standing up a GRC program or compliance automation tooling (Vanta, Drata, Secureframe, OneTrust) from scratch, and working knowledge of cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) and their native security and logging tooling.

401(k) match
100% coverage of medical, dental, and vision premiums for you and your dependents
12 weeks paid parental leave (for all parents, no waiting period)
Stipends for Family-forming needs
Stipends for Gender-affirming care
Unlimited PTO