Head of IT

Job description

Who we are at Osmo: Osmo is a digital olfaction company, on a mission to give computers a sense of smell to improve the health and wellbeing of human life. Why? Our sense of smell both enriches and saves lives, and has a deep and direct connection to our emotions and memory. Olfactory Intelligence has applications across industries including fragrance, manufacturing, security, medicine, and more. We believe in the power of automation and thoughtfully applied AI/ML to solve problems beyond the reach of human intuition alone. Osmo is headquartered in Elizabeth, NJ, with an additional office in Somerville, MA. Osmo is scaling rapidly and needs a hands-on, operationally excellent IT leader to own infrastructure, security, endpoint management, identity, vendor management and employee IT experience. We’re looking for a manager or director-level candidate who can bring startup-grade speed and a Series-B level of discipline: clear deliverables, strong documentation, reliable execution, and measurable SLAs. Role summary You will be the owner for Osmo’s workplace IT and security operations. You’ll own the IT roadmap, vendor relationships (SaaS, MDM, identity, security), incident response, asset lifecycle, and a high-quality employee support experience. You will be expected to be both strategic (roadmaps, budgeting, compliance) and tactical (hands-on implementation, troubleshooting), and to communicate clearly with the executive team. Core responsibilities - Operational ownership - Own day-to-day IT operations: identity and access management (SSO/MFA), device lifecycle and MDM, endpoint security, network, backups, and remote-work tooling. - Maintain and improve an employee-facing IT service model (ticketing, SLAs, knowledge base, onboarding/offboarding). - Security & compliance - Implement and maintain baseline security controls (MFA, patching, least privilege, phishing defenses, logging/monitoring). - Lead incident response, forensics and remediation; create runbooks and playbooks. - Prepare the company for audits or investor / partner security reviews; implement risk reduction projects. - Serve as the primary guardian of the organization's digital assets, responsible for developing, implementing, and maintaining a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy - Vendor & contract management - Own relationships and contracts with critical vendors (Okta/SSO, MDM, endpoint/EDR, cloud providers, SaaS procurement), negotiate pricing, drive cost optimization and vendor SLAs. - Manage outsourced IT partners and contractors. Ensure high quality of deliverables and transparency. - Infrastructure & cloud - Coordinate with engineering on cloud identity, network segmentation and secure access patterns; partner effectively with engineering/devops teams where responsibilities overlap. - Own on-prem or hybrid infrastructure if present (or cloud spend & lifecycle if fully cloud). - Process, documentation & governance - Build and enforce IT policies (acceptable use, device policy, BYOD, password/credential standards). - Deliver clear, up-to-date documentation: asset inventory, runbooks, onboarding/offboarding checklists, project plans. - Establish measurable KPIs: ticket response/resolution times, patch compliance, uptime SLAs, time to onboard, incident MTTR. - People & communication - This role will initially be an individual contributor with a path to building a team as Osmo scales. - Communicate clearly to executives and non-technical staff; produce concise status reports, risk summaries, and roadmap updates. Success criteria (first 90 days) - Deliver a 30/60/90 day plan including top 10 critical risks and remediations. - Implement an authoritative IT asset & identity inventory. - Establish ticketing SLAs and reduce ticket backlog by measurable amount (e.g., 50%). - Implement or improve an MDM + SSO baseline and resolve high-risk issues (unpatched endpoints, overly permissive access). - Provide a security & continuity roadmap, including vendor consolidation or cost reductions. Required qualifications - 7+ years in IT roles with progressive responsibility; 3+ years leading IT teams or owning IT for a scaling company. - Proven track record at Series-B or similarly fast-growing startups (or vendor side supporting startups). - Hands-on experience with SSO/IdP (Okta or similar), MDM (Jamf, Intune, Kandji), endpoint security/EDR, device provisioning and lifecycle. - Familiarity with cloud provider platforms (AWS/GCP/Azure), networking fundamentals and secure access patterns. - Strong vendor management and contract negotiation experience. - Demonstrated ability to deliver consistent, high-quality work and documentation under tight timelines. - Excellent written and verbal communication — able to explain technical risk and project status to executives. - Experience with incident response, security controls and risk reduction. - Comfortable being both strategic and deeply technical; willing to do hands-on work when needed. Preferred / nice-to-have - Prior experience building IT processes and playbooks at Series B startups. - Experience managing outsourced/contract IT partners and driving improved work product from vendors. - Familiar with compliance frameworks (SOC 2, ISO 27001) or audit readiness. - Located in New Jersey or willing to be onsite periodically for team meetings and hardware needs. - Familiarity with Notion/Atlassian service management or modern ticketing & knowledge-base tools. Salary: $124k-138k If this role inspires you we’d encourage you to apply. We are committed to recruiting, developing, and retaining an incredible team optimized for a diversity of thought, background, and approaches. For all Full-Time Employees, compensation is just one component of Osmo’s total rewards approach, which is designed to support the well-being, growth, and long-term success of our team members. Depending on the role, this may include base salary or contract-based pay, along with access to health, dental, and vision coverage; a 401(k) retirement savings plan with company match; flexible paid time off and company holidays; and equity or incentive compensation for eligible roles. Actual compensation will vary based on factors such as experience, skills, location, internal equity, and other relevant business considerations. Osmo regularly reviews pay ranges and compensation structures to ensure they remain competitive, equitable, and aligned with current market data. All employment decisions and responsibilities are determined based on current ability and your ability to grow, without regard to race, color, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, religion, age, marital status, physical, mental, or sensory disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Recruitment & Staffing Agencies: Osmo does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates. The submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to Osmo or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by the Osmo Talent Acquisition team. Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of Osmo and Osmo will not owe any referral or other fees with respect thereto. In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire