Head of IT & Infrastructure

CultureMill Recruiting; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

CultureMill Recruiting in Los Angeles is seeking a Head of IT to own the company’s technology infrastructure, from corporate IT to high‑performance factory systems. You’ll architect the next generation infrastructure, set strategy, and lead the IT function from day one.

This role requires hands‑on leadership with 12+ years in enterprise IT, strong Linux and Windows skills, Kubernetes experience, and a proven budget/vendor management track record.

Qualifications

• 12+ years in enterprise IT and infrastructure leadership.
• 2+ years leading teams or organizations.
• Deep Linux and Kubernetes skills across on‑prem and cloud environments.
• Experience managing budgets, vendors, and executive reporting.

Responsibilities

• Set IT strategy, roadmap, and budget as the company scales.
• Design and build core infrastructure from ground up (power, cooling, compute, storage, network).
• Own hybrid storage, compute, Kubernetes, and virtualization for petabyte-scale data, on‑prem and cloud.
• Own network architecture, security, and compliance (NIST 800-171, CMMC, ITAR).
• Ensure high availability and disaster recovery for production systems.
• Run corporate IT and make build-vs-buy decisions; avoid unnecessary off-the-shelf solutions.
• Hire, build, and lead the IT team while staying hands-on.

Skills

Executive leadership

Budget ownership

Hands-on IT

On-site availability

Linux/Kubernetes

Data center experience

Education

Bachelor's in CS/CE/IS

Tools

Kubernetes

Windows Server

Linux

Job description

The most advanced hardware in the world is being held back by how it gets made. Our client is fixing that. From their facility at the heart of LA's hard-tech corridor, they're building AI-driven factories that produce precision components for rockets, defense systems, and the next generation of frontier hardware. Their platform combines proprietary production hardware with real-time sensing, machine learning, and on-site GPU compute, so the factory sees, learns, and corrects as every part is built. Backed by top-tier investors including NVIDIA, the company is past proof-of-concept: demand outpaces capacity, and the team is scaling fast.

As the Head of IT you'll own the company's technology infrastructure, from corporate IT to the high-performance systems the factory runs on. IT here is part of the product: the factory generates petabytes of sensor data, written straight to on-prem storage. You’ll architect the company’s next-generation infrastructure from the ground up and set the standard as operations scale globally. You’ll also build the IT function and team from day one, owning strategy and architecture while staying hands-on.

What You'll Do

• Set the IT and infrastructure strategy, roadmap, and budget as the company scales
• Design and build core infrastructure from the ground up, from power and cooling to compute, storage, and network
• Own hybrid storage, compute, Kubernetes, and virtualization for petabyte-scale data, on-prem and in the cloud
• Own network architecture and security across all sites, including NIST 800-171, CMMC, and ITAR compliance
• Ensure high availability and disaster recovery for the systems that drive production
• Run corporate IT, making pragmatic build-vs-buy calls rather than defaulting to expensive off-the-shelf systems
• Stay hands-on while you hire, build, and lead the IT team

Who You Are

• 12+ years in enterprise IT and infrastructure, including 2+ years leading teams
• Deep, hands-on experience with both on-prem and cloud infrastructure (cloud-only backgrounds won't be a fit)
• Experience across Windows and Linux environments, with deep Linux and Kubernetes skills
• Data center experience across compute, storage, and networking
• An engineer at heart who has owned budgets and vendors and reported to executives, and who would rather solve the problem than buy a seven-figure system to paper over it
• Able to work on-site in Los Angeles five days a week

Nice to Have

• Experience as the first IT leader at a startup, ideally alongside large-scale experience
• Data center build or commissioning, including edge compute for manufacturing
• OT/ICS security and high-bandwidth interconnects such as InfiniBand
• Experience leading NIST 800-171, CMMC, or ITAR compliance, and a degree in CS, CE, or IS