Senior IT Operations Engineer

Profluent is the frontier AI lab for biology. Profluent builds powerful foundation models for all of life's molecules, unlocking solutions that transform medicine, agriculture, and beyond. Founded in 2022 and headquartered in Emeryville, CA, Profluent is backed by leading investors including Altimeter Capital, Bezos Expeditions, Spark Capital, Insight Partners, Air Street Capital, AIX Ventures, and Convergent Ventures and has raised over $150M to date.

The Senior IT Operations Engineer is responsible for the design, deployment, and day-to-day management of the company's entire IT infrastructure. This role owns everything from workstation provisioning and identity/access management to network architecture, cloud environments, backups, and end-user support. The ideal candidate is a hands-on generalist who can move fluidly between strategic infrastructure planning and hands-on troubleshooting, ensuring a secure, reliable, and well-documented technology environment across the organization.

This position is reporting to the Director of Security, Compliance & IT.

• Google Workspace & Productivity Applications
  • Administer and support Google Workspace (Gmail, Drive, Calendar, Admin Console) and other Google office applications.
  • Manage user accounts, groups, shared drives, permissions, and organizational units.
  • Configure security policies, DLP rules, and third-party app integrations within Workspace.
• Rippling Platform Administration
  • Manage employee onboarding and offboarding workflows end to end.
  • Configure and maintain rule sets, policies, and automation within Rippling.
  • Build and maintain deployment scripting for automated device and software provisioning.
• Administer Mobile Device Management (MDM) policies, compliance rules, and app deployment.
• Endpoint Security
  • Deploy, configure, and maintain Sentinel One (or equivalent) endpoint anti-virus/EDR across all devices.
  • Monitor threat alerts, investigate incidents, and coordinate remediation.
• Network Infrastructure (Meraki)
  • Plan, deploy, and optimize Meraki wireless, switching, and security appliances.
  • Design and maintain VLAN segmentation, Air-cabbed Lab network, firewall rules, and network security policies.
  • Monitor network performance and proactively resolve connectivity issues.
• Physical Access control, Remote Access & Identity Security
  • Plan, develop, implement, and maintain keycard access control to office and lab environments.
  • Configure and secure VPN solutions for remote access.
  • Implement and manage Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) across systems and applications.
• Collaboration & Cloud Platforms
  • Administer Slack workspace settings, integrations, and user access.
  • Manage and support cloud environments including GCP and Oracle Cloud infrastructure.
• Storage & Backup
  • Maintain Synology NAS systems for storage, file sharing, and backup.
  • Implement and test backup/disaster recovery procedures to ensure data integrity.
• Workstation & Device Lifecycle Management
  • Prepare, image, and deploy Mac and Windows workstations for new hires and refresh cycles.
  • Plan, oversee, and manage system inventory.
  • Provide troubleshooting and technical support for hardware and software issues.
  • Manage Microsoft WSUS for patch management and Microsoft Office application deployment.
• Conferencing & Collaboration Equipment
  • Set up, maintain, and troubleshoot audio/video conferencing equipment in meeting spaces.
• Software & License Management
  • Oversee procurement, deployment, and lifecycle of software applications and licensing.
  • Maintain an accurate inventory of software licenses and ensure compliance.

• Bachelor Degree in Information Technology
• 8+ years in a similar IT Operations role; at least 2-3 years in a high-growth startup or solo environment.
• Proven track record and experience in transitioning off an external MSP or managing a solo IT environment at a high-growth startup.
• Profound knowledge of Google Workspace and Google office applications.
• Experience in supporting SOC 2 Type 2 efforts, collecting and providing evidence and log records, review and reporting cadence.
• Hands-on experience with Rippling (or comparable HRIS/IT platform) for onboarding, rules, deployment scripting, and MDM.
• Experience with endpoint protection platforms such as Sentinel One.
• Strong knowledge of Meraki networking (wireless, VLAN, firewall/security).
• Experience configuring and securing VPN and MFA solutions.
• Familiarity with Slack and Jira administration.
• Working knowledge of cloud platforms, particularly GCP and Oracle Cloud.
• Experience…