IT Manager

Avante is the enterprise AI platform for benefits teams. Benefits is one of the most complex, high-stakes functions in any company, and Avante’s purpose-built agents take on end-to-end benefits work, from checking vendor contracts against claims to preparing leadership reports to helping employees use and understand their benefits. Samsung Semiconductor, Real Chemistry, Zscaler and News Corp use Avante today to keep costs in check, support employees across the globe, and get more from their benefits investment. The Role We are looking for an experienced, hands-on IT Manager to own Avante’s internal IT function as we grow. As our first and only IT hire, you will report to our CTO in a senior individual contributor role and run our device fleet, identity and access systems, employee technology lifecycle, and IT vendor relationships, while improving the automation behind everyday operations. Within your first few months, you will lead the technology buildout of our new Seattle headquarters, including meeting-room AV, office networking, Wi-Fi, and supporting equipment. You may have already run IT independently, or you may be ready to take that ownership after helping build and operate a strong IT program. What You Will Own • Own the employee technology lifecycle. Partner with People and hiring managers on onboarding, role changes, and departures. Operate and improve our existing automation, monitor failures, and handle exceptions so devices, access, recovery, and handoffs are dependable. • Run our device fleet. Define hardware standards and manage inventory, enrollment, configuration, updates, repairs, and replacement in a primarily Mac environment. Own IT vendor relationships and hardware and software procurement, partnering with office operations on purchasing logistics. • Administer identity and workplace systems. Manage accounts, groups, licenses, and access across our collaboration and business tools. Improve SSO and MFA coverage, keep permissions appropriate to each role, and make recurring administration repeatable. • Lead the headquarters technology buildout. Plan and deliver meeting-room AV, office networking, Wi-Fi, and supporting server equipment. Coordinate vendors, installation, and readiness testing, then keep office technology dependable through hands-on support. • Build a support operation that scales. Give employees a clear way to get help, prioritize requests, communicate progress, and close the loop. Create useful documentation and self-service paths, and automate repeated tasks with scripts, integrations, and AI tools. • Strengthen endpoint security with our security partners. Operate device controls and help roll out endpoint detection and access policies based on device health. Own deployment and employee support, coordinate security escalations with SecOps, and partner with our GRC team on IT controls and evidence for access reviews and compliance audits such as SOC 2. What We Are Looking For • Broad internal IT experience, typically around seven years, with the judgment to own the function independently. You may have led IT already or be ready to step up after helping run a strong program. Experience in a startup or a midsize company is equally relevant; what matters most is that you have owned IT without a large IT organization behind you. • Strong hands-on skills with macOS, device management, laptop provisioning, troubleshooting, and the full joiner, mover, and leaver lifecycle. • Experience administering Google Workspace or a similar collaboration suite, SaaS accounts, SSO, MFA, groups, and licenses. You understand the security implications of routine access decisions. • Confidence solving practical office problems involving conference-room AV, networking, and connectivity, including coordinating outside vendors when needed. • A service mindset and clear communication with people of different technical backgrounds. You make it easy to ask for help and keep people informed while you work. • The ability to balance interruptions with longer projects, document what you build, and use automation to reduce recurring work. • Availability to work on-site in Seattle and take hands-on responsibility for employee devices and office technology. Nice to have • Experience with Mosyle, 1Password, Slack, Entra ID, or Tailscale • Endpoint detection or device-based access policies • Previous experience supporting SOC 2 or similar compliance audits office buildouts; or supporting an organization of roughly 200 people through a mature IT program • Scripting or API integrations What to Expect from Us: Interview Process: • Initial screen with our recruiters • Video Interview with our CTO • On-site interview loop consisting of 3, 45-minute interviews with various of your potential collaborators, including a face-to-face with the CTO. The base salary for this role is $130,000–$165,000. Where you land in that range depends on your experience, your skills, and how well your background fits what the role needs. We also offer: • Equity: Stock options, so you share in what we’re building • Health coverage: Medical, dental, and vision, with employee premiums covered by Avante • Unlimited PTO: Take the time you need to rest and recharge, plus paid company holidays • Retirement: 401(k) • Commuter benefit: $150/month toward however you prefer to get to work Avante is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We’re building a diverse, inclusive team and welcome candidates of all backgrounds. How We Work Our four values aren't aspirational. They translate into concrete operating tenets that shape how we make decisions every day. Beat Yesterday. We re-evaluate our own toolkit every quarter, because the workflows that made you effective three months ago may already be outdated. We act on 70% of the information rather than waiting for certainty. We timebox, execute, and iterate, getting work in front of real people quickly instead of polishing in isolation. And we own our output regardless of how we produced it. AI can get you 80% of the way there. Everything that goes out with your name on it is your responsibility to review, refine, and stand behind. Embrace Type 2 Fun. We take on hard problems and find meaning in the work, even when it's uncomfortable. We assume good intent and follow up directly rather than venting in side channels. We celebrate wins loudly and specifically, naming the actual behavior so the whole team learns what great looks like. We are on by default, because we owe it to each other and to our customers to be available beyond what a regular corporate job would demand. And we do unscalable things today that build scalable advantages tomorrow: every hand-built account play and late-night proposal turnaround earns us the right to scale later. Stay Hungry, Stay Curious. We expect everyone to be the expert on AI in their function before anyone asks them to be. The landscape changes weekly. When you learn something, teach it. Learn enough about adjacent functions to ask good questions. Ask the question you think is too basic, because in complex domains like benefits, the cost of a wrong assumption can be a lost account. And remember: curiosity without urgency is a hobby. Learning has to translate into action on a timeline that matches the opportunity. Act Like an Owner. We say the uncomfortable thing early, raising missed commitments or quality gaps directly with the person within 48 hours. We surface problems when they're small, not the week they become a crisis. Customer-facing work gets priority, always. And we close the loop every time, because over-communication is a feature at our stage, not a bug.