Lead IT Engineer

Neurophos • Austin, TX

3d • Onsite

About The Position

Neurophos is at the forefront of redefining AI hardware by utilizing silicon photonics and active, programmable metasurfaces for matrix multiplications at the speed of light. Our innovative architecture offers significantly higher energy efficiency and performance compared to traditional solutions. We have secured $110M in Series A funding from leading investors and are looking for passionate individuals to join our world-class team and shape the future of computing. This is a full-time, onsite position located in Austin, TX or Sunnyvale, CA.

Requirements

• 8+ years in IT engineering, systems administration, or infrastructure operations, including experience as the primary IT owner at a company under 200 people.
• Strong hands-on Linux system administration: installation, storage, networking, package and configuration management, and troubleshooting below the application layer.
• Demonstrated ownership of SSO/IdP administration (Okta strongly preferred), including SCIM-based provisioning and verified deprovisioning.
• Practical network engineering ability: switching, VLANs, enterprise Wi-Fi, firewall policy, VPN, and DNS/DHCP — able to design a site network and then physically stand it up.
• Hands-on administration of a mixed macOS and Windows fleet, including imaging, patching, encryption, and compliance enforcement at scale.
• Working proficiency with at least one major public cloud, ideally Azure, including IAM, networking, storage, and cost management.
• Demonstrated success managing an MSP or outsourced IT function, including holding a provider to scope and SLA.
• Interest in growing into ownership of the IT function, including hiring and developing a small team.
• Scripting and automation fluency and comfort treating infrastructure as code.
• Sound judgment about what to automate, what to buy, and what to delegate to the provider.
• Communication skills to explain those trade-offs to engineering leadership.
• Willingness to travel between Sunnyvale and Austin as needed.

Nice To Haves

• Experience supporting semiconductor or hardware engineering organizations: EDA/CAD environments, license servers, large simulation farms, and lab/test networks.
• GitHub Enterprise administration and developer platform operations.
• Experience building IT operations from near-zero, including a second-site office or lab build-out.
• Experience standing up an internal help desk, MDM, or endpoint program that replaced an external provider.
• Familiarity with SOC 2, NIST Cybersecurity Framework, or ISO 27001 control evidence from the infrastructure side.
• Experience with high-performance networking (RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE), InfiniBand) or rack-scale hardware bring-up.
• Experience transitioning outsourced IT or security operations in-house is a significant advantage.

Responsibilities

• Install, configure, and maintain on-premises Linux servers and clusters supporting EDA/CAD tools, simulation, and performance modeling.
• Operate shared storage, tiering, snapshots, and backup, with restore procedures that are durable and scalable.
• Manage batch scheduling and resource sharing, floating license servers, and queue capacity planning.
• Apply configuration management and infrastructure-as-code practices.
• Own patch and lifecycle cadence for Linux instances.
• Forecast compute, storage, and license demand ahead of program milestones.
• Own SSO and identity provider administration in Okta, application onboarding via SAML, SCIM provisioning, group and role design, and MFA policy.
• Administer GitHub Enterprise.
• Own configuration and data governance for Google Workspace and Drive, Dropbox, and Atlassian, including sharing controls, retention, and external-collaborator policy.
• Administer engineering and AI tooling, own license inventory, utilization tracking, and renewals.
• Administer cloud storage and compute, including account and project structure, IAM, networking, and machine images.
• Own cloud cost visibility, spend control, and report spend.
• Manage hybrid connectivity between both sites and cloud environments.
• Own wired and wireless network design at both sites: switching, VLAN, firewalls, VPN, and remote access.
• Manage ISPs, circuit provisioning, and networking for new space and site build-outs.
• Serve as the single accountable owner of the MSP relationship: scope, SLAs, escalation paths, quarterly reviews, and cost.
• Audit MSP-delivered outcomes, verify offboarding completeness, patch coverage, backup restores, and endpoint compliance on a defined cadence.
• Own the insourcing roadmap: recommend which functions move in-house and when.
• Keep the company transition-ready throughout.
• Own the full endpoint fleet across Mac, Windows, and Linux with responsibility for standards, imaging, deployment, configuration, patching, and refresh.
• Administer mobile device management, including configuration profiles, application deployment, operating system update enforcement, and compliance reporting.
• Build and maintain standard machine images and software bundles, including engineering workstation builds carrying EDA and design tooling.
• Own endpoint procurement, asset tracking, warranty and spares strategy at both sites, and secure disposal or wipe at end of life.
• Provide escalation-tier support for endpoint issues the provider's help desk cannot resolve, particularly on Linux and engineering-tool configurations.
• Serve as the IT owner for both Sunnyvale and Austin, administering the remote site directly and using local smart-hands support where physical presence is required.
• Supply infrastructure evidence for security and customer compliance efforts: asset inventory, logging, access reviews, and configuration baselines.
• Implement access controls consistent with export control and customer data protection obligations, in coordination with the Lead Security Engineer and General Counsel.
• Own conference room audio/visual and video conferencing standards for a two-site engineering team.

Benefits

• 100% coverage of base health plan premiums for you and your dependents, plus HSA contributions.
• Unlimited PTO.
• 401(k) matching and stock option opportunities.
• Full suite of voluntary benefits, including Dental, Vision, Life, Hospital, Critical Illness, and Accident insurance.
• Personalized Benefits: Choose the plans that fit your life and take the cash back for those that don’t.

What This Job Offers

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