IT Admin/Operations Specialist – Biotech Startup, Okta Implementation, Google Workspace & Slack

KORE1; Redwood City (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

KORE1 is recruiting an IT Operations Specialist to join a fast-paced biotech startup. You will be the sole on-site IT presence at HQ, supporting 40–50 users and driving end-to-end IT processes from onboarding to security and compliance.

The role emphasizes hands-on problem solving, scalable IT practices, and collaboration with IT/Engineering, People Ops, Finance, and Facilities. Occasional lab equipment support may be required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required or equivalent experience in related field.
• 3–7 years IT support, systems administration, or IT operations experience.
• Experience in startup or high-growth biotech/life sciences environment preferred.
• Strong experience supporting Mac and Windows environments (approx. 60% Mac, 40% Windows).
• Experience with Google Workspace, Slack, Zoom, and SaaS platforms.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary point of contact for day-to-day IT support requests.
• Troubleshoot hardware, software, networking, and application issues.
• Deliver exceptional customer service and timely resolution of employee requests.
• Provide AV support for board meetings and executive events, including setup, maintenance, and real-time troubleshooting of Logitech hardware and Zoom; must be polished and calm under pressure when supporting C-suite.
• Coordinate technology onboarding and offboarding processes.
• Provision and deprovision user accounts across business systems.
• Configure and deploy laptops, peripherals, and other equipment.
• Ensure a seamless employee experience throughout the lifecycle.
• Proactively monitor equipment inventory ahead of new hires and order or repurpose hardware as needed.
• Manage endpoint inventory, asset tracking, and equipment lifecycle management.
• Support administration of SaaS applications and user access management (Google Workspace, Slack, Zendesk, Salesforce).
• Assist with identity and access management processes.
• Maintain documentation, SOPs, and knowledge base resources.
• Own and lead the full end-to-end Okta implementation (SSO, MFA, provisioning, group policies).
• Manage Rippling MDM for zero-touch deployment, endpoint provisioning, and lifecycle management (Mac via Apple Business Manager).
• Manage on-site file and print server for the lab team (sharing, permissions).
• Support basic networking tasks: switches, access points, ports; Ubiquiti UniFi environment; SonicWall VPN.
• Support security initiatives, audits, and compliance activities.
• Assist with device management and access reviews.
• Partner with IT leadership to ensure policy adherence.
• Identify opportunities to improve workflows, automation, and scalability.
• Partner cross-functionally with IT/Engineering, People Ops, Finance, Facilities.

Skills

Mac & Windows

IT operations

Customer service

Executive presence

SSO & MFA

SaaS admin

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Okta

Rippling MDM

Google Workspace

Slack

Zoom

Salesforce

Unifi (Ubiquiti)

SonicWall

Job description

The company is currently located in Menlo Park and is moving its headquarters to Redwood Shores in October. This role will work onsite in Menlo Park initially and transition to the Redwood Shores location when the move is complete. This is a fully onsite position, Monday through Friday. The lab operates on Saturdays; occasional availability for rare onsite emergencies may be required.

About the Company

Our client is a commercial-stage precision medicine company focused on improving how complex neurological diseases are measured, monitored, and managed. The organization is growing and operates in a fast-paced life sciences environment.

Position Overview

The company is seeking an IT Operations Specialist to join its growing team and serve as a key partner to the Senior Director of IT. This is a highly hands-on role for someone who enjoys solving problems, building processes, and helping scale technology infrastructure in a fast-paced startup environment.

As the company continues to grow, this individual will play a critical role in supporting employees, managing day-to-day IT operations, and helping establish scalable systems and processes. We're looking for someone who is resourceful, proactive, and excited to roll up their sleeves to get things done.

This role is the sole on-site IT presence at headquarters, supporting approximately 40–50 on-site users and serving as the face of IT at HQ. The ideal candidate is self-sufficient, polished under pressure, and comfortable operating independently with minimal oversight.

Responsibilities

Employee IT Support

• Serve as the primary point of contact for day-to-day IT support requests
• Troubleshoot hardware, software, networking, and application issues
• Deliver exceptional customer service and timely resolution of employee requests
• Provide AV support for board meetings and executive-level events, including setup, maintenance, and real-time troubleshooting of Logitech hardware and Zoom; must be polished and calm under pressure when supporting C-suite

Onboarding & Offboarding

• Coordinate technology onboarding and offboarding processes
• Provision and deprovision user accounts across business systems
• Configure and deploy laptops, peripherals, and other equipment
• Ensure a seamless employee experience throughout the lifecycle
• Proactively monitor equipment inventory ahead of new hires and order or repurpose hardware as needed

IT Operations

• Manage endpoint inventory, asset tracking, and equipment lifecycle management
• Support administration of SaaS applications and user access management, including Google Workspace, Slack, Zendesk, and Salesforce
• Assist with identity and access management processes
• Maintain documentation, SOPs, and knowledge base resources
• Own and lead the full end-to-end Okta implementation, including connecting systems, creating group policies, configuring SAML 2.0 integrations, and building onboarding/offboarding workflows, provisioning rules, access rules, MFA, and SSO to lock access to systems behind the identity provider
• Manage Rippling MDM for zero-touch laptop deployment, endpoint provisioning, and user lifecycle management across Mac (via Apple Business Manager) and Windows environments
• Manage the on-site file and print server for the lab team, including updates, file sharing, and permissions
• Support basic networking tasks including troubleshooting switches, access points, and ports within the Ubiquiti UniFi environment; support SonicWall VPN

Security & Compliance

• Support security initiatives, audits, and compliance-related activities
• Assist with device management, security controls, and access reviews
• Partner with IT leadership to ensure adherence to company policies and procedures

Process Improvement & Scale

• Identify opportunities to improve workflows, automation, and operational efficiency
• Help build scalable IT processes to support company growth
• Partner cross-functionally with IT/Engineering, People Operations, Finance, and Facilities teams

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's degree; field of study is flexible
• 3–7 years of IT support, systems administration, or IT operations experience
• Experience working in a startup or high-growth environment preferred
• Experience supporting a biotech, life sciences, laboratory, or similar environment
• Strong experience supporting Mac and Windows environments (environment is approximately 60% Mac, 40% Windows)
• Experience with Google Workspace, Slack, Zoom, and SaaS platforms required
• Hands-on identity and access management experience, including SSO, MFA, user provisioning, and related identity-management concepts
• Experience implementing or administering Okta or a comparable identity/SSO platform; hands-on Okta implementation experience is strongly preferred
• Experience with MDM platforms for endpoint management and zero-touch deployment; Rippling MDM experience a plus
• Comfort working in a lab or biotech environment and supporting lab equipment and lab-specific software
• Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving skills
• Excellent communication and customer service orientation; must demonstrate strong interpersonal skills and executive presence
• Highly organized with strong attention to detail
• Ability to prioritize multiple competing requests in a fast-paced environment
• Proactive and self-managed — able to operate independently with minimal oversight
• Networking fundamentals including switches, access points, ports, and VPN; Ubiquiti UniFi and SonicWall experience a plus

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands-on Okta implementation experience, including SAML 2.0, SSO, MFA, IDP configuration, provisioning workflows, and group policy
• Experience in biotech, healthcare, life sciences, or other regulated industries
• Experience supporting compliance frameworks such as SOC 2, HIPAA, or ISO
• Experience with IT asset management and security best practices
• Familiarity with scripting or automation tools
• Salesforce administration or CRM support experience
• Experience with on-site file and print server management (basic file sharing and permissions)
• Familiarity with Zendesk or comparable ticketing platforms
• Familiarity with Slack
• Familiarity with Jira
• Familiarity with BarTender barcode labeling software

What Success Looks Like

• Employees receive timely and effective IT support
• Onboarding and offboarding processes are seamless and scalable
• IT systems and assets are well-managed and documented
• Operational processes continue to mature as the company grows
• The Senior Director of IT has a trusted operational partner who can independently own day-to-day execution