Lead IT Engineer

Job description

ABOUT PERIODIC LABS The most important scientific discoveries of our time won’t happen in a traditional lab. We’re an AI and physical sciences company building state-of-the-art models to accelerate breakthroughs across materials, energy, and beyond. Backed by world-class investors and growing rapidly, we operate at the pace the frontier requires. Our team brings deep expertise, genuine ownership, and an insatiable drive to push the boundaries of what’s scientifically possible. ABOUT THE ROLE You will lead, design, build, and operate Periodic Labs’ internal IT systems and workflows. You will own workforce identity, endpoint lifecycle, SaaS administration, office and lab networking, and the day-to-day IT systems and workflows that keep the company productive. You will write automation, integrate systems, and set a high bar for reliability, usability, and operational discipline. You will work closely with research, infra, lab, and operations teams to make our environments fast, well-run, and easy to support as the company scales. WHAT YOU’LL DO - Own workforce identity and access operations, including SSO, MFA, group management, onboarding, offboarding, and lifecycle automation - Own the end-to-end lifecycle for company endpoints across macOS, Windows, and Linux, including procurement, zero-touch provisioning, MDM, inventory, configuration baselines, repair and replacement, and secure deprovisioning - Operate the core security controls on company devices, including EDR, full-disk encryption, host firewall baselines, app controls, and extension approvals - Administer core internal systems such as Google Workspace, Slack, GitHub, and other business-critical SaaS tools, with clear group design and sensible permission boundaries - Build automation and self-service workflows for common IT tasks so employees can get what they need quickly without manual ticket routing - Own the employee onboarding and offboarding experience, including account setup, device readiness, access coordination, and operational hygiene - Run office, lab, and remote connectivity, including Wi-Fi, VPN or Tailscale, conference rooms, printers, and lab-adjacent device connectivity - Partner with lab and infra teams on network topology that supports physical devices and critical internal systems while remaining reliable and easy to operate - Build documentation, playbooks, and operating rhythms that make internal IT support fast, consistent, and trusted across the company YOU WILL THRIVE IN THIS ROLE IF YOU HAVE - Experience with identity and SSO platforms such as Okta or Entra, including SAML, OIDC, SCIM, RBAC, and lifecycle automation - End-to-end endpoint management at scale across macOS, Windows, and Linux - Experience with MDM and device management tooling such as Jamf, Intune, Kandji, or similar systems - Experience running endpoint security controls including EDR, disk encryption, patching, device compliance baselines, and app policy enforcement - Experience administering Google Workspace, Slack, GitHub, and other core internal SaaS systems with strong directory hygiene and low permissions sprawl - Familiarity with GitOps, infrastructure as code, and automation with Python, Bash, Terraform, or similar tools - Experience with coding agents such as Codex or Claude Code - Experience operating office and lab networks, remote access systems, and device connectivity in environments that mix software, hardware, and physical operations - Strong judgment about standardization versus flexibility, and a habit of building systems that are easy for other people to use and support - Clear communication and the ability to work directly with researchers, operators, and engineers of all levels MECHANICS Minimum education: Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and training or experience Location: Our lab is located in Menlo Park and we prefer folks to be located in Menlo Park or San Francisco but can be flexible based on role Compensation: The annual base compensation range for this role is $200,000–$250,000, commensurate with experience Visa sponsorship: Yes, we sponsor visas and will do everything we can to assist in this process with our legal support. We’re building a team of the world’s best — the scientists, engineers, and problem-solvers who don’t just follow the frontier, they define it. If you’re driven to bring AI to life in the physical world and make discoveries that have never been made before, you belong here.