IT Operations Lead

Mind Robotics; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Mind Robotics is seeking its first dedicated IT hire to own end-to-end IT operations across lab hardware, compute environments, and office networks. You will troubleshoot Linux/macOS drivers, enable zero-touch provisioning for new hires, and build AI-powered workflows to automate IT intake, triage, provisioning, and reconciliation.

The role blends hands-on infrastructure with AI-enabled automation, requiring on-site work in active hardware labs and a passion for scalable, lean IT support.

Qualifications

• 6+ years in hands-on IT operations or IT engineering in startup/ robotics environments.
• Experience with AI coding tools and agents to automate IT workflows.
• Strong troubleshooting across macOS, Windows, and Linux (Ubuntu).
• Solid networking: VLANs, DNS/DHCP, VPN, and Wi‑Fi reliability.
• Experience deploying LLM agents or AI-native IT tooling.
• Hands-on identity management (Google Workspace/Okta) and modern MDM (Fleet, Jamf/Intune).
• Willingness to work on-site in a lab/office setting.
• Robotics labs or ML workstation support is a plus.
• Facility scaling through new buildouts or moves is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Own internal IT and support: primary technical contact for the team.
• Build agentic automations and workflows using AI/LLM tools and APIs.
• Manage identity, access, and endpoints across macOS, Windows, and Linux.
• Support robotics lab and compute infrastructure, ensuring reproducibility.
• Design and maintain office and lab networking, VLANs, and Wi‑Fi.
• Handle hardware procurement, inventory, and lab setup.

Skills

IT operations

AI tools

Multi-OS troubleshooting

Networking

LLM workflows

Identity management

MDM management

On-site readiness

Robotics labs support

Facility scaling

Tools

Google Workspace

Okta

Fleet

Jamf

Intune

VPN infrastructure

Job description

About the team and the role

Mind Robotics is building intelligent robotic systems. Our work happens on-site across active hardware labs, test floors, and compute environments where hardware and software iterate together daily.

As our first dedicated IT hire, you will build and own our IT operations end to end. You’ll be responsible for making sure our teams never lose momentum to tooling, identity, device, or network issues, whether that means troubleshooting a Linux/driver setup in the lab, setting up zero-touch laptop provisioning for new hires, or ensuring our test-floor Wi‑Fi can handle high‑throughput robot telemetry.

We believe modern IT should be built for extreme leverage. In this role, you will actively use AI agents and build agentic workflows (leveraging LLMs, MCP, and API integrations) to automate support intake, triage, provisioning, access approvals, and system reconciliation. You'll build an AI‑native IT foundation that keeps operations fast, lean, and scalable without scaling support headcount.

Responsibilities

• Own internal IT & support: Be the primary technical point of contact for the team. Establish a lightweight, responsive support workflow that unblocks engineers quickly without unnecessary red tape.

• Build agentic automations & workflows: Leverage AI coding agents and LLM‑driven workflows (via APIs, MCP, webhooks) to automate repetitive IT operations: such as intelligent ticket triage, access requests, onboarding/offboarding, and system reconciliation.

• Manage identity, access, and endpoints: Administer our core SaaS, identity, and access stack (Google Workspace / IdP) and deploy modern MDM (e.g., Fleet, Jamf) for zero‑touch provisioning and fleet visibility across macOS, Windows, and Linux machines.

• Support robotics lab & compute infrastructure: Help maintain our lab workstation fleet (Ubuntu boxes, test bench PCs), keeping configurations reliable and reproducible.

• Design and maintain office & lab networking: Manage local network infrastructure - VLAN segmentation (isolating robot telemetry, test benches, and corporate traffic), Wi‑Fi reliability in dense RF lab environments, managed switches, and ISP circuits.

• Manage hardware & procurement: Own hardware ordering, inventory tracking, vendor relationships, conference room AV, and hands‑on physical lab IT setup (racking, cabling, and workstation rollouts).

Requirements

• Experience: 6+ years of hands‑on IT operations, systems administration, or IT engineering experience, ideally in a fast‑paced startup, hardware, or robotics environment.

• AI & Agentic fluency: Active user of AI coding tools and agents (Cursor, Claude Code, LLM APIs) to accelerate development, with experience or strong interest in building agentic/LLM‑assisted workflows for operations.

• Multi-OS troubleshooting: Strong troubleshooting skills across macOS, Windows, and Linux (Ubuntu) at the OS, driver, and application layers.

• Networking fundamentals: Practical hands‑on experience configuring managed switches, subnets, VLANs, DNS/DHCP, VPN, and robust Wi‑Fi networks.

• AI & MCP integrations: Experience deploying LLM agents, MCP servers, or AI‑native internal tools useing Python, JS, Git, or Bash for IT/Ops automation.

• Identity & MDM: Hands‑on experience administering enterprise identity (Google Workspace, Okta) and modern MDM platforms (Fleet, Jamf, Intune, or equivalent).

• Hands‑on facility readiness: Willingness to work on‑site and handle physical infrastructure: racking equipment, running and terminating cable, and supporting all types of hardware in an active lab and office environment.

• Robotics & ML: Experience supporting robotics environments, ROS, or GPU/CUDA machine learning workstations (is a plus).

• Facility scaling: Experience managing IT infrastructure through a new facility buildout or office/lab move (is a plus).