Helpdesk Lead

Kodiak; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Flexible PTO

Dog-friendly office

Free catered lunch

Fully stocked kitchen

Free EV charging

Job summary

A leading autonomous technology firm in Mountain View, CA, is seeking an IT Helpdesk Lead to build and manage the IT support function. This role includes establishing processes, managing the helpdesk and ticketing systems, and mentoring a team. Candidates should have 5+ years of experience in IT support, with a focus on SaaS environments and MDM solutions. The company values automation and offers a competitive compensation package, including equity and benefits.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in IT support, at least 2-3 in a lead role.
• Deep expertise in SaaS environments like Google Workspace and Slack.
• Strong knowledge of MDM solutions like Jamf.

Responsibilities

• Build and manage the Helpdesk function.
• Establish processes for IT Service Management workflows.
• Configure and manage the ticketing system and asset management tools.

Skills

IT support experience

SaaS administration

MDM solutions

Leadership and mentoring

Empathy in communication

Tools

Jira

Google Workspace

Zoom

Slack

Job description

Kodiak Robotics, Inc. was founded in 2018 and has become a leader in autonomous ground transportation committed to a safer and more efficient future for all. The company has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) powered technology stack purpose-built for commercial trucking and the public sector. The company delivers freight daily for its customers across the southern United States using its autonomous technology. In 2024, Kodiak became the first known company to publicly announce delivering a driverless semi‑truck to a customer. Kodiak is also leveraging its commercial self‑driving software to develop, test and deploy autonomous capabilities for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Kodiak AI is looking for an experienced and proactive IT Helpdesk Lead to scale out our IT support function. In this role, you will be the primary owner of the employee technology experience. You will start as a hands‑on "department of one," establishing core processes and tools, with the explicit goal of hiring, training, and managing a team of 2‑3 IT Analysts as we scale.

This is a unique opportunity to help further define the culture of IT at Kodiak AI. We are looking for someone who champions a "Shift Left" mentality—moving knowledge closer to the user through automation and self‑service—while ensuring high‑touch support for complex issues.

In this role, you will:

• Build and Manage the Helpdesk Function
• Establish Processes: Design and implement scalable IT Service Management (ITSM) workflows, including ticket prioritization matrices, Service Level Agreements (SLAs), and escalation paths.
• Tool Implementation: Configure and manage the ticketing system (e.g., Jira) and asset management tools (Snipe‑IT) to ensure data‑driven decision‑making.
• Team Growth: Define the roadmap for the IT support team. You will be responsible for helping to hire and mentor future analysts, fostering a culture of empathy and technical excellence.
• Hands‑On Support & Operations
• Access Management: Manage Identity and Access Management (IAM) for internal tools. A key focus will be automating "low‑effort" tickets (such as password resets or simple access requests) to prevent bottlenecks for our engineering and DevOps teams.
• Incident Management: Serve as the primary point of contact for technical issues, troubleshooting hardware (Mac/Windows PC/Linux PC), software, and network connectivity problems.
• Management of 35+ Zoom conference rooms across multiple locations.
• Collaboration and support of Events Team with the following audio/visual equipment and events: Live and recorded podcasts, industry interviews, and talks featuring leadership; All‑hands meetings, and other events utilizing the All‑hands AV and spaces; General support and troubleshooting of all audio‑visual systems.
• Employee Lifecycle Management: Onboarding – create a "zero‑day" start experience by ensuring new hires have fully configured hardware and access to all necessary SaaS platforms on their first day; Offboarding – Securely manage the retrieval of assets and revocation of access for departing employees, ensuring data security and compliance; Collaborate with People Ops, Legal and IT Infrastructure team to evolve employee life cycle workflows as needed.
• Documentation & "Shift Left" Strategy: Knowledge Base – Build a robust internal knowledge base (FAQs, wikis) to empower employees to solve common issues themselves (Tier 0 support); Automation – Work with Engineering/DevOps to identify repetitive requests and implement self‑service tools (e.g., Slackbots or automated provisioning workflows) to reduce manual toil.

What you’ll bring:

• Experience: 5+ years in IT support, with at least 2‑3 years in a Lead, Senior, or Supervisory role.
• Deep expertise in administering SaaS environments (Google Workspace, Slack, Zoom, Okta, etc.).
• Strong knowledge of MDM solutions (Jamf, Kandji, or Intune) for automated device provisioning.
• Familiarity with CrowdStrike is a strong plus.
• Familiarity with Jira/Atlassian suites is a strong plus.
• Familiarity with building out studio setups and running audio and visual equipment – a strong plus.
• Leadership Potential: Proven ability to mentor junior staff and manage vendor relationships. You must be ready to transition from being a sole contributor to a player/coach, participating and leading the helpdesk.
• Empathy: You understand that a broken laptop isn’t just a ticket; it’s a blocker to someone’s livelihood.
• Communication: Ability to translate technical jargon into clear language for non‑technical stakeholders.

Why Kodiak AI?

• Ownership: You’re not just joining a helpdesk; you will help define it. You will collaborate with the IT Infrastructure team to define the metrics and chart the success of the Kodiak Helpdesk.
• Culture: We value efficiency and automation. We want you to spend less time resetting passwords and more time building systems that prevent passwords from needing resets.

What we offer:

• Competitive compensation package including equity and annual bonuses.
• Excellent Medical, Dental, and Vision plans through Kaiser Permanente, Cigna, and MetLife (including a medical plan with infertility benefits).
• MetLife Legal Services, Identity & Fraud Protection, Hospital Indemnity Insurance, Accident Insurance, & Critical Illness Insurance.
• Flexible PTO, 10 paid holidays, and generous parental leave policies.
• Our office is centrally located in Mountain View, CA.
• Office perks: dog‑friendly, free catered lunch, a fully stocked kitchen, and free EV charging.
• Well‑being Benefits – Headspace through Cigna, Calm through Kaiser, One Medical, Gympass, Spring Health through Cigna, Rula (mental health navigation).
• Fidelity 401(k).
• Commuter, FSA, Dependent Care FSA, HSA.

The pay range listed below reflects the base salary in our SF/Silicon Valley location, across several internal levels. Actual starting pay will be based on job‑related factors including work location, experience, relevant training, education, skill level, and performance during interview. Total compensation at Kodiak includes base pay, equity, bonus, and a competitive benefits package.

$140,000 - $190,000 USD

At Kodiak, we strive to build a diverse community working towards our common company goals in a safe and collaborative environment where harassment of any kind is strictly prohibited. Kodiak is committed to equal opportunity employment regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, or veteran status, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

In alignment with its business operations, Kodiak adheres to all relevant statutes, regulations, and administrative prerequisites. Accordingly, roles that carry more sensitive requirements may be limited to candidates that can satisfy additional scrutiny and eligibility for such positions may hinge on verification of a candidate’s residence, U.S. person status, and/or citizenship status. Should the position require, and Kodiak determines that a candidate’s residence, U.S. person status, and/or citizenship status necessitate an export license, bar the candidate from the position, or otherwise fall under national security‑related restrictions, Kodiak will consider the candidate for alternative positions unaffected by such restrictions, under terms and conditions set forth at Kodiak’s sole discretion, or, as an alternative, opt not to proceed with the candidate’s application. If applicable, Kodiak may provide visa sponsorship for eligible candidates.