DANIEL DE CARVALHO / CYBERSECURITY DIRECTOR

Building security.
Enabling growth.
Leading what’s next.

I build cybersecurity programs from the ground up—and grow them into mature operations. Across multiple startups, I’ve connected hands-on engineering with the teams, investment, and processes that make security last.

Explore my experience ↓The executive pitch ↗

BUILD / TEST / LAUNCHSCROLL TO EXPLORE ↓

01 / The executive pitch

I build the security
capability your next
stage of growth needs.

Program builder. Technical leader.
Accountable for the people, investment,
and execution behind the program.

LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR NEXT STAGE ↗

A growing company needs someone who can turn cybersecurity from an open question into an operating capability. That is the work I do.

Across multiple startups, I have taken security from a set of unmet needs to a functioning program. I combine the technical judgment to build the foundations with the management discipline to hire the team, establish ownership, and make delivery repeatable.

I own the budget, headcount, hiring, and roadmap. I turn risk into decisions about what to fund, who needs to own it, and what gets delivered first. I work directly with build, test, and launch teams because security has to function where the business actually operates.

The results are concrete: 24/7 monitoring and response coverage, phishing susceptibility reduced from 46% to below 7%, and Relativity taken through CMMC certification. Before aerospace, I built the Wisely Pay cybersecurity practice and PCI environment, led a small team, and supported four full PCI assessments.

I am now applying the same builder’s approach to AI: secure AI stacks, development sandboxes, governance, and an agentic SOC that connects data, vulnerability management, and threat hunting. Cybersecurity self-service and automation are part of making that capability available as the business grows.

What I bring is the ability to build the program, lead the people, and stay close enough to the technology to make the strategy real.

EXPERIENCE BUILT AT

CSULB / ThriveDX

02 / Building security at Relativity

From startup foundations
to mission-ready operations.

Relativity Space

Cybersecurity Director · Reporting to the CIO

June 2020 – Present · Architect → Manager → Senior Manager → Director

I joined Relativity when the organization had 130 users. As it grew to almost 3,000, I built the security program alongside it—establishing the foundations, developing the team, and turning individual controls into a working operation.

01 / BUILD THE FUNCTION

Start with ownership. Build the team.

I built the cyber function from the ground up. The team now has six engineers and is growing, spanning GRC, IAM, DLP, and DevSecOps. I own the cybersecurity budget, headcount, hiring, and roadmap, translating risk assessments and business priorities into resourced initiatives. Annual roadmaps have included approximately 25 prioritized initiatives.

02 / MAKE IT OPERATIONAL

Secure the work of building, testing, and launching.

I partner with build, test, and launch teams across rocket, factory, launch, and corporate environments. The program has supported 2,900 users and 4,000 endpoints across six sites and a multi-cloud environment, including the organization’s first launch and beyond.

24/7

Monitoring and response coverage established

46% → <7%

Phishing susceptibility reduced through controls, training, and testing

Cybersecurity self-service, automation, and repeatable processes extend the team’s capacity and help the wider organization work securely as it grows.

03 / DELIVER TRUST

Take compliance through to certification.

I took Relativity Space through CMMC certification, leading scope, remediation priorities, evidence collection, and control alignment. I interface with government agencies, law enforcement, and counterintelligence, and partner with legal on investigations and ITAR and CMMC matters.

04 / ENGINEER WHAT COMES NEXT

Build an AI-ready security team.

I transformed the cyber team to be AI ready. That work brings together secure AI stacks, development sandboxes, merge-request-driven reviews, AI governance, and risk assessments.

I use AI to build an agentic SOC that correlates data, processes vulnerability-management information, cross-references findings, and supports threat hunting. AI security roadmaps connect that engineering work to adoption priorities and governance.

The experience that came before

More foundations. Different environments.

2015 — 2020

ADP / Wisely Pay

Lead Cyber Security Engineer

Built the payment security practice, PCI environment, detection capabilities, and operational tooling.

05 / FINANCIAL SERVICES＋

Build the Wisely Pay practice.

A second program-building story: payment security, PCI, and operational engineering.

Explore the foundation →

Built the Wisely Pay cybersecurity practice from the ground up, establishing the PCI cardholder data environment and supporting operations. Led a small team, reporting initially to the CIO at Global Cash Card and to the GSO after ADP’s acquisition.

Led compliance activities and supported four full PCI assessments.
Engineered WAF, SIEM, DLP, file integrity monitoring, email gateways, and SSO capabilities.
Built detection from a near-zero baseline with more than 40 custom SIEM detections.
Established bug bounty intake and triage, reducing validation from 10 days to 48 hours.

CAPABILITY BUILT / A payment security practice with operational depth.

2019 — 2023

CSU Long Beach / ThriveDX

Cybersecurity Program Adjunct Instructor

Taught 200+ students, with 98% course completion and 92% average lab proficiency.

Courses taught

Offensive Security
Computer Hacking Forensics
Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR)
Security Architecture
Network Security

Earlier chaptersThe foundations of a program builder.Expand career history ＋

Sr. Security Engineer / 2013–2015

Global Cash Card

Payment security engineering before the transition into ADP; the foundation of the Wisely Pay program-building story.

Sr. Security Engineer / 2012–2013

iHerb

Security engineering in an e-commerce environment, adding online retail experience to a career spanning finance and aerospace.

Sr. Security Automation Engineer / 2009–2012

Black Knight

A dedicated security automation role that forms part of the foundation for my later work in repeatable operations and self-service.

Security Engineer / PCI QSA / 2008–2009

Tevora

Security engineering and PCI assessment experience, building depth in compliance and payment security.

Sysadmin & Security Engineer / 2005–2008

Petrobras

Systems administration and security engineering in Brazil, establishing a hands-on infrastructure and security foundation.

03 / Continuous learning

Technical depth.
Built over time.

A foundation spanning security leadership, offensive security, cloud, infrastructure, and compliance.

Certifications

Explore ＋

ISC2 / Issued March 2008

CISSP

Certified Information Systems Security Professional.

EC-Council

LPT · ECSA · CHFI · CEH

Licensed Penetration Tester (2014), Certified Security Analyst and Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (2013), and Certified Ethical Hacker (2008).