IT Department Lead - Remote, Worldwide

Job description

About Nethermind: Nethermind builds and secures core Ethereum infrastructure. We develop the Nethermind execution client, contribute to network upgrades, and deliver protocol-level work across rollups, zero-knowledge systems, and cross-chain architecture. Our security team audits smart contracts, ZK circuits, and off-chain components, with formal verification capabilities for critical systems. We maintain deep expertise across the full stack—from client optimization to open-source tooling—backed by continuous contributions to Ethereum's evolution. As blockchain intersects with AI, we're developing hardware that anchors digital identity in verifiable biometrics with cryptographic privacy guarantees The Role: We're looking for a seasoned IT leader to take ownership of Nethermind's entire Internal IT Department: spanning Platform Engineering, Infrastructure Security, IAM, and FinOps. This role owns the internal/corporate technology estate that the whole company runs on: developer platform, identity, security posture, and infrastructure spend. It sits alongside (and is distinct from) our client-facing blockchain infrastructure operations, though you'll partner closely with those teams. You'll report directly to the CIO and serve as the central point of coordination for everything internal infrastructure. This is a hands-on leadership role: you'll manage people, drive strategy, break down silos between DevOps and the wider organisation, and be the go-to person for C-level and group leads on infrastructure matters. If you thrive at the intersection of people management, technical excellence, and cross-functional communication and you're excited about shaping how a 50+ country, fully remote Web3 company operates - we'd love to hear from you. Responsibilities: - Lead and supervise the full Internal IT Department: Platform Engineering, Infrastructure Security, IAM and FinOps. - Drive company-wide and team-level infrastructure initiatives, co-defining strategy and roadmap with the CIO and rest of the team - People management across the department: staffing, career guidance, performance reviews, and raising the technical bar - Maintain clear, consistent communication with C-level executives and group leads to strengthen cross-functional relationships and eliminate DevOps silos - Act as the primary point of contact for all internal IT matters, staying in constant sync with the CIO on new initiatives and resource allocation - Adapt the best of AI technology to the daily engineering and non-engineering working routine - Communicate with external clients when required, representing the department's capabilities and aligning on infrastructure needs - Continuously identify and implement improvements and optimisations in the way the organisation works - Support hiring efforts: sourcing, interviewing, and evaluating candidates to grow the team with top talent - Conduct monthly performance reviews using Rippling, providing structured feedback Must Haves: - Proven experience leading and scaling IT / infrastructure / platform engineering teams (5+ years in a management role). - Strong background in cloud infrastructure, Kubernetes, and DevOps/SRE practices. - Strategic thinking with the ability to co-define and execute on technical roadmaps. - Hands-on understanding of infrastructure security, IAM, and FinOps disciplines. - Experience translating compliance and audit requirements (e.g. SOC2, ISO 27001, or sector-specific frameworks) into operational controls. - Comfort owning or governing internal AI tooling and agentic workflows, with a security-first mindset. - Excellent people management skills: hiring, mentoring, career development, and performance management. - Ability to communicate complex technical topics clearly to C-level stakeholders and non-technical audiences. - Practical experience with security incident response and threat modelling, ideally including supply-chain and adversarial/state-actor scenarios. - Comfortable operating in a fully remote, async-first, globally distributed environment. - Strong organisational and prioritisation skills, able to juggle multiple initiatives and stakeholders simultaneously. Nice to Haves: - Experience in the blockchain / Web3 / crypto ecosystem. - Familiarity with multi-cloud and hybrid architectures (AWS, OVH) at scale. - Experience running ****self-hosted / sovereign infrastructure (e.g. self-hosted identity providers, internal platforms) over off-the-shelf SaaS. - Background in productising internal platforms (PaaS / IaaS offerings) or spinning internal tools into standalone products. - Hands-on experience with FinOps tooling and large-scale cost optimisation. - Track record building or governing AI/ML and agent infrastructure. What We Offer/ Benefits - Flexible Work Options: Remote-first culture with the opportunity to work from anywhere. - Global and Diverse Workforce: You'll work with people from various backgrounds and cultures. - Learning and Development: You'll work on innovative, challenging projects and have access to experts and mentors to enhance your skills. - Career Growth: Access to training, mentorship, and opportunities to contribute to open-source initiatives. - Global Events and Conferences: Opportunities to attend the industry events. - Collaborative and Innovative Culture: We foster teamwork and encourage new ideas. - Unlimited Time Off: Enjoy the freedom to structure your working hours in a way that suits you best, with the flexibility to take unpaid time off whenever needed to maintain a healthy work-life balance. - Equity participation allowing you to benefit directly from the company's success. Our Commitment to Diversity At Nethermind, we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all team members. We believe a variety of perspectives drives innovation and leads to better solutions for the blockchain community. Ready to Join Us? If you're passionate about blockchain and eager to make an impact, we’d love to hear from you. Click Apply Now to start your journey with Nethermind. Important Notice for Candidates Recruitment scams are becoming increasingly common. Please keep the following guidelines in mind when applying for roles at Nethermind. Where We May Contact You Our Recruitment Team will only contact candidates using official company email addresses ending in @nethermind.io http://nethermind.io. Any communication from our Team will always come from an official company domain — never from Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, Outlook, or any other free email service. You can also find us only through our official Nethermind accounts on: - LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/nethermind - X / Twitter https://x.com/Nethermind - GitHub https://github.com/NethermindEth Please note that we do not use Facebook for recruitment outreach. How We Conduct Interviews All interview scheduling and recruitment communication is managed exclusively through Ashby, our official hiring platform. You may receive scheduling emails sent via Ashby on behalf of our Recruitment Team. Before clicking any links, please make sure the message originates from a legitimate and trusted Ashby source. We do not conduct interviews through: - WhatsApp - Telegram - Wire - Google Hangouts - Signal - Discord DMs - or any other unofficial messaging platforms What We Will Never Do Nethermind will never: - Ask for your banking details, passwords, seed phrases, and wallet credentials at any stage of the hiring process - Request payments, deposits, or fees related to recruitment or interviews - Contact you through unofficial email addresses or suspicious messaging accounts - Ask you to install unknown software or share access to your devices If you ever receive suspicious communication claiming to represent Nethermind, please treat it with caution and verify the source carefully before responding.