IT Engineer

Rational Dynamics•Berkeley, CA

About The Position

Rational Dynamics builds customized AI reasoning systems for tasks of high cognitive complexity. Our initial market is the world’s leading institutional asset owners. We work very closely with these customers to create specialized, rigorous benchmark datasets encompassing their most valuable and difficult knowledge work. Then we use the benchmarks to construct agentic large reasoning models, applying the same rigor to prove that the models correctly do the work. Customers access the models through a tailored application service, making their most skilled, expensive workers dramatically more productive. We are an early-stage startup. Our founders previously started Voleon, now one of the world’s largest systematic investment managers, and recognized as a longstanding industry leader in applied machine learning. They bring to Rational Dynamics the same research discipline and data-driven focus that succeeded in the unforgiving, high-stakes setting of financial markets. We are looking for entrepreneurial researchers and engineers who want to work on cutting edge agentic AI methods and build out a best-in-class core technical infrastructure. Our work environment is highly collaborative. Your colleagues will be accomplished experts in AI/ML, statistics, and systems engineering.

Requirements

5+ years building and operating internal IT / corporate systems in a fast-moving, technical organization.
Experience owning core internal systems end-to-end, including identity, endpoint/device management, SaaS administration, access lifecycle, and basic security operations.
Demonstrated experience implementing and operating strong access controls, including SSO, MFA, RBAC/ACLs, provisioning/deprovisioning, and least-privilege patterns.
Experience supporting compliance and audit readiness in practice, including SOC 2 and related control/evidence workflows; able to turn policy requirements into systems, process, and documentation.
Hands-on experience with one or more modern identity platforms such as Okta or Microsoft Entra, plus common collaboration / productivity systems such as M365, Slack, Atlassian, and Notion.
Strong automation mindset; able to remove manual toil using scripting, workflows, integrations, and self-service processes.
Strong judgment balancing security, usability, and execution speed in a startup or similarly ambiguous environment.
Excellent cross-functional communication; able to work effectively with engineering, compliance, HR, and business stakeholders.
Comfortable supporting highly technical users and designing internal systems that help developers move faster without weakening controls.

Nice To Haves

Experience in cloud-forward internal environments with AWS and/or GCP, especially around identity, access boundaries, and developer enablement.
Experience with MDM / endpoint security for laptops and mobile devices.
Experience with zero-trust or secure-by-default internal architecture patterns.
Experience in regulated or audit-heavy environments beyond SOC 2, such as ISO 27001 or PCI-related controls.
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field (preferred).

Responsibilities

Own and build the company's core IT stack end-to-end — from laptops and device management to SaaS apps, identity, and integrations — as a hands-on "all-in-one" IT engineer.
Design and implement secure-by-default architecture (IAM, access controls, endpoint security, network basics), with a mindset of proactively identifying and mitigating vulnerabilities.
Operate and scale key platforms (e.g., M365/Entra, Slack, Atlassian, Notion) while automating workflows and integrations across systems.
Balance scrappy execution (startup environment, minimal structure) with experience in more rigorous, compliance-driven environments (e.g., SOC 2, audit readiness, regulated industries).
Partner closely with engineering and business teams to support technical users and translate needs into reliable, scalable IT solutions.
Bring exposure to modern secure cloud/corp IT environments (e.g., Entra, zero-trust patterns, GCC-High or similar) and apply those principles pragmatically in a growing company.