IT Support Specialist

Vatn Systems; West of England; On-site; GBP 49,000 - 68,000; Full time

Job summary

Vatn Systems designs and manufactures attritable autonomous underwater vehicles for U.S. military and allied customers.

The IT Support Specialist II is the first point of contact for IT support across the Bristol and Tiverton facilities, owning day-to-day service desk operations, endpoint lifecycle, and IT asset inventory. This role requires independent action, sound judgment in a regulated setting, and awareness of ITAR/EAR/CMMC controls; higher-level team members should be involved for CUI or

Qualifications

• 2-3 years of experience in a help desk, desktop support, or technical support role.
• Must be a U.S. Person as defined by ITAR due to export-controlled systems.
• Working knowledge of Windows, Linux, and macOS, Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace, and basic networking.
• Experience with an MDM platform and ticketing systems.
• Strong written communication for documentation and stakeholder support.
• Ability to pass a background check appropriate to a defense contractor environment.

Responsibilities

• Serve as first point of contact for IT tickets; triage by urgency and impact.
• Resolve Tier 1/2 issues: accounts, OS, printers, network, VPN issues.
• Track queue against SLA targets; escalate as needed.
• Maintain and expand the internal knowledge base.
• Onboard/offboard: provisioning, imaging, Intune/Autopilot, Entra ID.
• Monitor MDM policy compliance and perform basic endpoint security checks.
• Own IT asset inventory end-to-end and reconcile with asset register.
• Coordinate hardware repairs and vendor RMAs.
• Maintain IT closets, cabling, and provide AV support.
• Write and maintain SOPs; keep change log for audits.

Skills

Help desk experience

Microsoft 365

Google Workspace

Networking basics

MDM administration

Ticketing systems

Strong written communication

Background check readiness

Education

Associate's degree in IT or related field

Tools

Intune

Jamf

Snipe-IT

Lansweeper

Job description

Position Summary

Vatn Systems designs and manufactures attritable autonomous underwater vehicles for U.S. military and allied customers. The IT Support Specialist II is the first point of contact for all IT support requests across the Bristol and Tiverton facilities and owns the day-to-day operation of the IT service desk, endpoint lifecycle, and IT asset inventory. This role requires the ability to act and resolve issues independently, as well as sound judgment in a regulated environment: the incumbent will routinely encounter systems and communications subject to ITAR, EAR, and CMMC/NIST SP 800-171 controls, and must recognize and involve higher-level team members on anything touching Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) or export-controlled technical data rather than attempt to resolve it independently.

Key Responsibilities

Service Desk & Ticketing

• Serve as first point of contact for all IT tickets submitted by phone, email, or ticketing system; triage and prioritize by urgency and business impact.
• Resolve Tier 1/2 issues directly: account and access issues, OS and application troubleshooting, printer/peripheral setup, network drop and Wi-Fi connectivity, VPN client issues.
• Track ticket queue against SLA targets; escalates unresolved or out-of-scope issues per the defined escalation path (see below).
• Maintain and expand the internal knowledge base for recurring issues.

Device & Identity Lifecycle

• Execute new hire onboarding: account provisioning (Entra ID / Google Workspace), device imaging and MDM enrollment (Intune/Autopilot), hardware issuance, employee badge creation.
• Execute employee offboarding: device wipe/decommission, account deprovisioning, and asset recovery, following documented sequencing across Intune, Autopilot, Entra ID, and endpoint security records.
• Apply and monitor MDM policy compliance; deploy routine patches and updates; perform basic endpoint security agent health checks (Defender/EDR) and elevate anomalies.

IT Asset & Inventory Management

• Own the IT hardware and software asset inventory end-to-end: tagging, lifecycle tracking from procurement through deployment to retirement, and warranty/license renewal tracking.
• Reconcile the operational asset inventory against the CMMC asset register on a defined cadence, flagging discrepancies to the Director of IT and Security.
• Manage the loaner equipment pool and coordinate hardware repairs/RMAs with vendors.

Procurement & Vendor Coordination

• Draft quote requests and purchase orders for standard hardware and consumables; route for approval per procurement policy.
• Coordinate with vendors on order tracking, delivery, defect returns, and RMAs.

Facilities & Workspace

• Maintain the organization, cleanliness, and labeling standards of IT closets, racks, and shared workspaces at multiple sites.
• Perform basic cable management and patch panel labeling; provide conference room and AV support.

Documentation

• Write and maintain SOPs for recurring tasks owned by this role (onboarding/offboarding checklists, inventory procedures, closet standards).
• Maintain a change log for network/system changes made at this level, for audit and continuity purposes.

Required Qualifications

• 2-3 years of experience in a help desk, desktop support, or technical support role
• Must be a U.S. Person as defined by ITAR (22 CFR 120.15) due to routine exposure to export-controlled systems and facilities
• Working knowledge of Windows, Linux, and macOS environments, Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace administration, and basic networking (DHCP, DNS, Wi-Fi troubleshooting)
• Experience with an MDM platform (Intune, Jamf, or similar) and ticketing systems
• Strong written communication for documentation and non-technical stakeholder support
• Ability to pass a background check appropriate to a defense contractor environment

Preferred Qualifications

• CompTIA A+, Network+, or Security+ certification
• Associate's degree in IT or related field, or equivalent hands-on experience
• Prior experience in a CMMC, ITAR, or other regulated/government contracting IT environment
• Experience with IT asset management tooling beyond spreadsheets (e.g., Snipe-IT, Lansweeper, or similar)

Work Environment & Physical Requirements

• On-site role requiring regular travel between Bristol and Tiverton, RI facilities
• Ability to lift/move IT equipment up to 40 lbs and work in server closets/rack environments
• Standard business hours with occasional after-hours support for critical outages

Compliance Notice

This position involves incidental access to Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) and export-controlled technical data in the course of normal duties (e.g., device imaging, screen-sharing during troubleshooting, file access during account support). The incumbent will complete CUI handling and insider threat awareness training during onboarding and is expected to involve higher-level team members, rather than independently resolve, any situation involving suspected CUI exposure or export control concerns.

Vatn is an equal opportunity employer.