IT/OT Specialist

Parallel Bio; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Parallel Bio seeks an IT/OT Specialist to build and maintain lab and corporate tech, ensuring reliable, secure connectivity between instruments, networks, and the data platform. The role blends IT operations with OT hardware and lab automation, requiring on-site presence in San Francisco and Brisbane, CA.

You will own connectivity for lab devices, coordinate with cloud and automation teams, and uphold security practices across sensitive data environments.

Qualifications

• 3 to 6 years in IT infrastructure or systems administration, including OT in lab environments.
• Solid grounding in networking, identity and access management, and endpoint management.
• Experience with lab instrumentation, instrument networks, or hardware integration.

Responsibilities

• Maintain day-to-day IT operations: user accounts, IAM, endpoints, and helpdesk support across sites.
• Support core infrastructure: networking, servers, cloud accounts, backups, and security tooling.
• Enforce IT security practices and privacy requirements, in coordination with Legal/Compliance.
• On-call support for critical IT/OT issues and lab-impacting outages outside business hours.
• Assist evaluation, deployment, and maintenance of software tools used company-wide.

Skills

Networking

Identity and access management

Endpoint management

Lab device networking

OT experience

Security practices

Troubleshooting

Tools

LIMS-adjacent systems

Job description

The Mission

Drug discovery has a translation problem: more than 95% of drugs that succeed in animal models fail in humans. We're building the alternative: human-first drug discovery, powered by organoids and AI, running on real human biology from the very first experiment. Our platform is 87% concordant with clinical patient data - a vast improvement over the 3% translational success rate of animals. We've demonstrated the ability to model immunotoxicology, immunogen stimulation, and two autoimmune diseases with more on the way. Numerous pharma partners including 3 Fortune 500 companies are already using the platform. We've raised ~$30M from AIX Ventures, Marc Benioff, Jeff Dean, and Y Combinator. With the FDA Modernization Act 3.0 and the FDA's March 2026 validation framework, the regulatory tailwinds only continue to get stronger.

The opportunity ahead of the company is generational: build the first scaled engine for generating real human biological data, and use it to fundamentally change how medicines are discovered.

The Role

We are looking for an IT/OT Specialist to build and maintain the systems that keep our lab and corporate technology running reliably, securely, and connected. The role spans information technology and operational technology in roughly equal measure. On the IT side, that is network, endpoint, identity and infrastructure. On the OT side, it is the instruments and automation equipment that generate our data, the networks those devices sit on, and the path their data takes into our platform. You are the person who makes sure a scientist's laptop, the lab's instrument network, and the data pipeline between them all just work. You will work alongside our cloud and infrastructure function, handling on-the-ground IT/OT execution while coordinating on cloud architecture decisions and how lab systems connect into our broader data platform.

Two things to know before applying: This is a full‑time on‑site role at our labs in San Francisco and Brisbane, CA. Because this position involves hands‑on work with lab instrumentation, network hardware, and physical infrastructure, we need this person on‑site, not remote or hybrid.

The role carries on‑call responsibility for critical IT/OT issues, including lab‑impacting outages outside normal business hours.

What You'll Own

OT

• Support the network and connectivity needs of lab instrumentation and automation equipment (integrating devices onto secure, segmented networks)
• Partner with the Platform/Automation team, and with our Cloud Architect, to troubleshoot connectivity and data‑flow issues between instruments, automation systems, and the cloud data platform
• Maintain an inventory of connected lab devices, their configurations, and their support/service status
• Help define and implement basic OT security practices (network segmentation, access control for instrument systems) in coordination with IT security
• Support integration of new instrumentation as the platform scales, working alongside automation engineers and platform leadership
• Own and maintain the equipment register: tracking owner, location, readiness, and service/calibration status for connected lab devices, and keep it current as new equipment comes online
• Follow lab safety and access protocols (including badge access and any PPE requirements) when working in or near BSL-2+ lab areas; you won't own EHS, but you'll need to operate safely within it

IT

• Support day-to-day IT operations: user accounts, identity and access management, endpoint provisioning, and helpdesk support across our sites
• Support maintenance of core infrastructure: networking, servers, cloud accounts, backups, and security tooling, in close coordination with our Cloud Architect on architecture and cloud‑side decisions
• Support implementation and enforcement IT security practices (access controls, patching, monitoring) appropriate for a company handling sensitive biological and customer data, working with Legal/Compliance to meet our infosec and data privacy requirements as they're established
• Support onboarding/offboarding for a growing, multi‑site team
• Support evaluation, deployment, and maintenance of software tools used across the company (collaboration tools, LIMS‑adjacent systems, etc.)
• Maintain documentation for IT systems, configurations, and processes
• Provide on‑call support for critical IT/OT issues, including lab‑impacting outages outside normal business hours

Qualifications

• Experience: 3 to 6 years in IT infrastructure, systems administration or a related role, including OT experience with industrial or lab device networking, or hardware integration.
• Technical Fundamentals: Solid grounding in networking, identity and access management, and endpoint management.
• Builder's Instinct: You have worked somewhere the processes were still being built rather than followed, and you are comfortable operating that way.
• Troubleshooting: You are at your best when something breaks, and you are comfortable being t