Founding Lead -- Cybersecurity Research, Product Intelligence \& Innovation
Company: Kodaowl, Inc.
Location: Remote -- United States
Employment Type: Part-Time
Position Level: Founding Lead
Reports To: Founder \& CEO
Schedule: Flexible, approximately 5--10 hours per week initially
About Kodaowl
Kodaowl is an emerging cybersecurity technology company developing an AI-native exposure and risk intelligence platform designed to help organizations discover, assess, prioritize, remediate, and validate cybersecurity risks.
Our platform brings together asset discovery, vulnerability intelligence, attack surface visibility, contextual risk assessment, AI-assisted security analysis, remediation management, and validation within a unified security environment.
Our vision extends beyond traditional vulnerability scanning. We aim to transform fragmented security evidence into actionable intelligence, enabling organizations to understand their exposures, make informed decisions, and continuously improve their security posture.
Decide with Evidence. Act with Confidence.
As an early-stage company, Kodaowl offers founding team members an opportunity to influence product strategy, contribute to technological innovation, and help establish the foundations of a competitive cybersecurity platform.
About the Role
Kodaowl is seeking a technically knowledgeable, analytical, and forward-thinking Founding Lead -- Cybersecurity Research, Product Intelligence \& Innovation to establish and drive our continuous research, competitive intelligence, product evaluation, and innovation function.
This position combines external cybersecurity research with internal product assessment to identify opportunities for technological advancement, competitive differentiation, and continuous improvement.
The successful candidate will monitor cybersecurity industry developments, evaluate competing platforms, assess Kodaowl's capabilities, identify product gaps, and translate research findings into practical recommendations for product enhancement.
This is not a traditional academic research position or a role limited to preparing competitive intelligence reports. We are seeking someone who can connect emerging technologies, cybersecurity market developments, and real-world customer requirements with actionable improvements to Kodaowl's platform.
The role will collaborate closely with the Founder \& CEO, engineering, AI development, product delivery, and commercialization functions.
Hauptverantwortlichkeiten
- Cybersecurity Research \& Emerging Technologies
Continuously research cybersecurity technologies, emerging threats, industry developments, and evolving security practices relevant to Kodaowl.
Key areas include:
Vulnerability Assessment and Management
Attack Surface Management (ASM/EASM)
Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM)
Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (RBVM)
Threat and Vulnerability Intelligence
Cloud, Application, API, and Container Security
Security Risk Prioritization
Remediation Management and Validation
AI-Powered Security Operations and Automation
Identify meaningful technological developments and assess their potential impact on Kodaowl's capabilities, architecture, and product strategy.
- Competitive Intelligence \& Benchmarking
Research and evaluate established and emerging cybersecurity platforms, including Wiz, Tenable, Qualys, Rapid7, Zafran, Axonius, and other relevant competitors.
Compare capabilities across asset discovery, vulnerability assessment, exposure management, risk intelligence, AI automation, remediation, reporting, integrations, and user experience.
Identify competitive strengths, limitations, emerging trends, and opportunities for meaningful product differentiation.
Maintain evidence-based assessments and translate competitive findings into actionable recommendations.
- Internal Product Evaluation \& Gap Analysis
Regularly evaluate Kodaowl's existing and planned product capabilities to identify functional, technical, operational, and usability improvements.
Assessment areas include:
Asset discovery and attack surface visibility
Vulnerability scanning and intelligence enrichment
Risk scoring and contextual prioritization
AI-assisted security analysis
Remediation workflows and validation
Dashboards, reporting, and analytics
Multi-tenant SaaS functionality
Integrations, automation, and user experience
Conduct structured product walkthroughs and authorized testing in designated environments.
Identify capability gaps, inefficient workflows, missing functionality, and opportunities to improve accuracy, reliability, usability, and customer value.
- Product Innovation \& AI Advancement
Identify opportunities to enhance Kodaowl through emerging technologies, intelligent automation, and innovative security capabilities.
Research practical applications of:
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Large Language Models (LLMs)
Agentic AI and intelligent security workflows
Automated vulnerability analysis
Context-aware risk prioritization
Security evidence correlation
Intelligent remediation recommendations
Continuous exposure assessment and validation
Evaluate proposed innovations based on technical feasibility, customer benefits, implementation complexity, security implications, and operational costs.
Prioritize practical, measurable improvements over technology adoption for its own sake.
- Security Technologies \& Integration Research
Research open-source and commercial technologies that could strengthen Kodaowl's scanning, intelligence, automation, and integration capabilities.
Evaluate vulnerability scanners, discovery tools, security intelligence feeds, cloud security technologies, application security tools, and related frameworks.
Assess technologies based on functionality, reliability, scalability, integration requirements, licensing restrictions, security risks, and cost efficiency.
Recommend technologies and integration opportunities that support a scalable, commercially viable cybersecurity platform.
- Product Improvement \& Strategic Recommendations
Translate research findings, competitive assessments, and product evaluations into structured, prioritized improvement recommendations.
Recommendations should identify:
The problem or opportunity
Supporting evidence and competitive context
Proposed enhancement
Expected customer and business value
Technical considerations and implementation complexity
Cost implications and recommended priority
Success and validation criteria
Collaborate with engineering and commercialization stakeholders to refine recommendations and support product roadmap decisions.
- Continuous Innovation \& Cross-Functional Collaboration
Help establish a continuous innovation process connecting:
Industry Research → Competitive Intelligence → Product Evaluation → Gap Analysis → Innovation Recommendations → Engineering Implementation → Validation → Customer Feedback → Continuous Improvement
Participate in product innovation reviews, contribute to strategic discussions, and evaluate the effectiveness of implemented enhancements.
Work collaboratively with engineering and product delivery teams while maintaining clear accountability for research, evaluation, and recommendations rather than direct engineering execution.
Required Qualifications
Demonstrated experience in cybersecurity, security engineering, cybersecurity product management, technical research, or a related field.
Strong understanding of vulnerability management, exposure management, security intelligence, or cybersecurity risk assessment.
Ability to evaluate cybersecurity products and identify technical, functional, and usability improvements.
Experience conducting competitive analysis, technology assessments, product evaluations, or technical research.
Familiarity with cloud technologies, APIs, integrations, and SaaS architectures.
Strong analytical, problem-solving, and critical-thinking abilities.
Ability to translate complex technical findings into practical product recommendations.
Excellent communication, documentation, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
Ability to work independently in a dynamic, early-stage environment.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience with CTEM, ASM, EASM, RBVM, or cloud exposure management.
Knowledge of CVE, CVSS, CISA KEV, EPSS, NVD, and vulnerability intelligence.
Familiarity with open-source cybersecurity tools and scanning technologies.
Understanding of AI, LLMs, agentic AI, or security automation.
Experience evaluating cybersecurity vendors and competitive platforms.
Background in cybersecurity product strategy, innovation, or SaaS product development.
Experience with startup environments or emerging technology companies.
Expected Contributions \& Success Measures
The successful candidate will help Kodaowl establish an evidence-driven research and innovation function that consistently produces meaningful product improvements.
Expected contributions include:
Regular cybersecurity and competitive intelligence updates.
Structured evaluations of Kodaowl's capabilities and product gaps.
Prioritized recommendations for product enhancement and innovation.
Research-backed assessments of emerging technologies and integration opportunities.
Collaboration with engineering and commercialization teams to evaluate proposed improvements.
Assessment of implemented enhancements against their intended objectives.
Success will be measured by the quality, feasibility, relevance, and measurable value of recommendations, rather than the volume of research reports produced.
Why Join Kodaowl?
Founding Team Opportunity: Help shape the technological and strategic direction of an emerging cybersecurity company.
Meaningful Product Influence: Contribute directly to product innovation, competitive differentiation, and long-term platform development.
Exposure to Emerging Technologies: Work across cybersecurity research, AI, vulnerability intelligence, exposure management, and advanced security automation.
Direct Leadership Collaboration: Work closely with the Founder \& CEO and contribute to important product strategy discussions.
Flexible Remote Engagement: Participate in a part-time, remote role designed to accommodate experienced professionals with other commitments.
Employment \& Compensation
This is a part-time founding opportunity, initially requiring approximately 5--10 hours per week, with potential for expanded responsibilities as the company grows.
Kodaowl is building its team through a lean, milestone-driven approach focused on product commercialization, customer adoption, and sustainable growth.
Compensation and engagement arrangements will be discussed with qualified candidates and established in accordance with applicable employment requirements. Potential equity participation may be considered separately, subject to appropriate agreements and corporate approvals.
Equal Opportunity
Kodaowl is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome qualified applicants from diverse professional backgrounds and evaluate candidates based on relevant skills, experience, capabilities, and professional contributions.
Who Should Apply?
We are particularly interested in cybersecurity professionals who enjoy exploring emerging technologies, critically evaluating security platforms, identifying opportunities for improvement, and translating research into practical innovation.
If you combine cybersecurity expertise with analytical thinking, product curiosity, and a passion for building meaningful security solutions, we welcome your interest in helping shape Kodaowl's future.
Kodaowl --- Decide with Evidence. Act with Confidence.
