Head of IT

Job description

ABOUT BASETEN Baseten powers mission-critical inference for the world's most dynamic AI companies, like Cursor, Notion, OpenEvidence, Abridge, Clay, Gamma and Writer. By uniting applied AI research, flexible infrastructure, and seamless developer tooling, we enable companies operating at the frontier of AI to bring cutting-edge models into production. We're growing quickly and recently raised our $1.5B Series F https://www.baseten.co/blog/announcing-our-series-f/, led by Altimeter Capital, Conviction Partners, and Spark Capital. Join us and help build the platform engineers turn to to ship AI products. THE ROLE As the Head of IT at Baseten, you will build, scale, and secure our internal technology function to support our rapid growth. Reporting to our Chief Information Security Officer, you will lead and mentor a team of 5+ IT engineers, leading the charge to transition Baseten from startup-era IT to a highly automated, enterprise-ready IT organization. You will take full ownership of corporate IT infrastructure, Helpdesk operations, corporate identity management, device lifecycles, and vendor procurement. As we scale to support the world’s most dynamic AI companies, you will ensure our internal systems scale seamlessly with our headcount, providing a secure, frictionless, and world-class technology experience for all Baseten employees. RESPONSIBILITIES - Team Leadership: Manage, mentor, and grow a team of IT engineers, fostering a high-performance culture focused on technical excellence and end-user satisfaction. - Helpdesk Operational Excellence: Build a fast-response support function by establishing clear response SLAs, tracking employee satisfaction metrics, and formalizing on-call and incident response processes. - Zero-Touch Automation: Architect and implement automated employee onboarding, offboarding, and role-based access changes through deep integrations across HRIS, MDM, and IAM systems. - SaaS Management & Procurement: Establish comprehensive SaaS management processes to eliminate shadow IT, automate access workflows, optimize vendor spend per employee, and build visibility into corporate tools and budgets. - AI-Enabled Workflows: Spearhead the deployment of internal AI tools and automated IT agents—powered by Baseten models—to resolve routine tickets, maintain knowledge bases, and significantly boost internal productivity. - Infrastructure & Hardware Ownership: Manage hardware logistics, global device lifecycles, software license consolidation, and the overarching corporate IT budget. REQUIREMENTS - Experience: 5+ years of overall IT leadership experience, ideally accompanied by 2+ years of experience as a Head of IT or IT Director at an internet company, scaling developer-focused SaaS or AI infrastructure startups through rapid growth (e.g., 100 to 500+ employees). - Modern Cloud-Native Stack Mastery: Deep, hands-on expertise with Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), IAM/SSO (Okta, Google Workspace), MDM (Kandji, Jamf), and HRIS integrations (Rippling). - Vendor & Financial Discipline: A proven track record of successful vendor negotiations, complex hardware logistics, software license consolidation, and strict IT budget ownership. - AI-First Mindset: Proactive and forward-thinking approach to leveraging modern AI tooling and automation to eliminate operational friction, rather than relying on manual headcount expansion. - Process Engineering: Demonstrated ability to build enterprise-ready processes from the ground up, establish performance metrics, and drive continuous improvement in a fast-paced environment. BENEFITS - Competitive compensation, including meaningful equity. - 100% coverage of medical, dental, and vision insurance for employee and dependents - Flexible PTO policy including company wide Winter Break (our offices are closed from Christmas Eve to New Year's Day!) - Paid parental leave - Fertility and family-building stipend through Carrot - Company-facilitated 401(k) - Exposure to a variety of ML startups, offering unparalleled learning and networking opportunities. Apply now to embark on a rewarding journey in shaping the future of AI! If you are a motivated individual with a passion for machine learning and a desire to be part of a collaborative and forward-thinking team, we would love to hear from you. At Baseten, we are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable law (by example, the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, where applicable).