Infrastructure Manager

Kentik

5h • $163,000 - $220,000 • Remote

About The Position

Kentik is the network intelligence platform for modern infrastructure teams. Unlike traditional monitoring and observability tools, we demystify complex network operations, enabling organizations to deliver applications and innovation at scale. Built by network experts to make critical insight accessible to every engineer, Kentik is the real-time source of truth that understands every network in context — from data center to cloud to the internet. This single platform unifies and correlates cloud, device, flow, synthetic data to turn telemetry into action. Market leaders like Akamai, Booking.com, Dropbox, and Zoom rely on Kentik to run, manage, and optimize their networks.
Kentik is looking for a deeply technical leader to own the end-to-end lifecycle of our infrastructure delivery. This is a "bridge" role sitting at the intersection of Infrastructure, Product, Engineering, and the customer.
You are the technical architect of how we land our product in any environment, whether it’s a customer’s data center or our own. As an owner, this role requires much more than acquiring and providing status updates and reporting out milestones.
You will initially focus on the flawless execution of Kentik's on-premises product, including hardware selection and logistics. However, because our SaaS environment is built on our own bare metal and private data centers, you will also apply your expertise to our internal infrastructure programs. You are the "glue" that ensures the hardware is defensible, the logistics are tight, and the engineering teams are aligned to execute.
Reporting to the VP, Infrastructure Engineering, this is a hands-on, Individual Contributor role in a rapidly-growing startup environment, with the clear potential to grow and lead a dedicated team as we scale.

Requirements

• 8+ years of experience in infrastructure operations, technical sourcing, or data center or technical program management.
• Deep technical knowledge of data center infrastructure:
• Server Hardware: Experience with any or all of Dell, HPE, and Supermicro as vendors, and the configuration tradeoffs between CPU, RAM, and storage.
• Network & Connectivity: Solid understanding of switches, routers, and basic network architecture.
• Colocation Operations: Experience managing power, cooling, space planning, and cross-connect logistics.
• Supply Chain & Logistics: Proven ability to manage hardware sourcing, BOM validation, and global delivery logistics.
• Execution & Orchestration: Ability to map complex dependencies and drive prioritization across multiple engineering and SRE teams.
• Influential Leadership: Strong cross-functional skills with the ability to drive alignment and "burn down" technical debt without direct authority.
• Communication: Excellent verbal and written communication skills; comfortable interfacing with both internal engineers and customer leadership.
• Deep Infrastructure Roots: You have a background in data center operations, network engineering, or NOC/Systems administration. You can talk deeply about CPU/RAM trade-offs, NIC performance, and Linux internals.
• Delivery Mastery: You have experience managing high-risk, company-wide technical programs. You know how to guide multidisciplinary teams through complex execution plans without losing the thread or resorting to "status update" bureaucracy.
• Startup Scrappiness: You thrive in an environment where you need to build the playbook while you’re playing the game. You are an IC today, but you have the seniority and vision to eventually build and lead a small team.
• Strategic & Analytical: You understand that "shipped" is only half the battle. You advocate for long-term operational health and can push back on engineering or sales when a delivery path creates unsustainable technical debt.

Nice To Haves

• Bare-Metal SaaS Experience: Background in SaaS or service provider environments running on private, bare-metal infrastructure.
• System Architecture: Familiarity with distributed systems concepts and how software interacts with physical infrastructure.
• Infrastructure Tooling: Hands-on experience with Netbox (or similar DCIM), JIRA, and monitoring tools like Grafana.
• FinOps & Budgeting: Exposure to technology budgeting, CapEx/OpEx management, or infrastructure FinOps.
• Domain Expertise: Familiarity with network observability (e.g., Kentik) or large-scale enterprise/service provider network environments.

Responsibilities

• Hardware Standards & Certification: Architect and curate the "Kentik Certified Hardware" standard. You will evaluate customer-provided hardware against our requirements and define the "Gold Standard" for both our on-prem product and our internal SaaS bare-metal footprint.
• Infrastructure Strategy & Sourcing: Own vendor relationships and the complexity of global hardware sourcing. This includes BOM (Bill of Materials) validation, procurement, and managing logistics to ensure gear hits the data center floor, on time and to spec, anywhere in the world.
• Technical Delivery Orchestration: Act as the air traffic controller for product deployment. You will coordinate cross-functionally with SRE, Product Engineering, and customer-facing teams (and often the customer directly) to ensure the environment is ready and the installation of the Kentik application is executed successfully.
• Internal Infrastructure Programs: Beyond customer delivery, you will perform similar tasks for our SaaS environment. You'll help manage our own data center footprint and bare-metal lifecycle, ensuring our internal ops are as rigorous as our customer-facing ones.
• Technical Debt & Operational Excellence: Identify and curate the technical debt that hinders our delivery speed or complicates maintenance. You will prioritize and drive the "burn-down" of this debt to make our product more maintainable, stable, and scalable from an SRE perspective.

Benefits

• 100% of premiums are paid by company for health, vision and dental coverage for you and your dependents
• Additionally, an annual Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) of $3,000 for an individual or $4,500 for a family
• Paid family & medical leave
• Open PTO, a quarterly Wellness Day, and a minimum of 10 paid holidays
• 401(k) retirement account
• Home office reimbursement
• Stock options

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed