IT Systems & Operations Engineer

Overview Inferact's mission is to grow vLLM as the world's AI inference engine and accelerate AI progress by making inference cheaper and faster. Founded by the creators and core maintainers of vLLM, we sit at the intersection of models and hardware, a position that took years to build. About the Role We are looking for an IT Systems & Operations Engineer to become the primary owner of the internal technology environment that keeps Inferact employees productive and secure. We have grown to north of 50 people since late January 2026 and plan to reach 75-80 employees by the end of 2026, with approximately 30% of the team based in APAC. As we scale, this person will own day-to-day IT support, employee onboarding and offboarding, application and account provisioning, endpoint management, identity and access, SaaS administration, office technology, and the ongoing cleanup and improvement of internal systems across our growing global team. This is not a traditional help desk role, and it is not a CISO-level security position. We are looking for a hands-on operator who can own everything IT-related in our San Francisco office, including networking, meeting rooms, speakers, and other workplace technology, while also managing company-wide systems and security infrastructure. You will oversee remote device management and security patching across Mac, Windows, and Linux devices, administer VPN and access infrastructure including Cloudflare, Tailscale, and Axis, manage company software and tooling such as Notion, Okta, Vanta, Linear, and Vercel, and drive our SOC 2 compliance progress through Vanta in coordination with security firms and audit partners. The right person will combine strong service instincts with practical systems and security judgment, and will build automation and repeatable processes so Inferact can scale without unnecessary operational friction. 30-60-90 Day Milestones - 30 Days: Take ownership of Inferact’s core IT operations, including employee support, San Francisco office technology, device management, application provisioning, onboarding, and access. Audit the current environment across networking, meeting rooms, employee devices, SaaS applications, VPNs, identity, permissions, endpoints, and security controls. Establish a clear view of the company’s current SOC 2 / Vanta status and open workstreams with security firms and audit partners. - 60 Days: Standardize onboarding, offboarding, identity, access, endpoint security, remote device management, and patching workflows across Mac, Windows, and Linux devices. Clean up stale accounts, inconsistent permissions, unmanaged devices, and software ownership. Establish clear administration and operating standards for core tools including Notion, Okta, Vanta, Linear, Vercel, Cloudflare, Tailscale, and Axis, while beginning to automate repetitive IT processes and advancing priority SOC 2 controls. - 90 Days: Build a scalable IT operations foundation with clear standards for office technology, devices, access, SaaS administration, VPN infrastructure, endpoint security, and employee security across the US and Singapore. Create repeatable monitoring, patching, compliance, and vendor-management processes, and establish a reliable operating cadence with security firms and audit partners so Inferact can continue scaling without unnecessary operational or security risk. Skills and Qualifications Minimum qualifications: - Hands-on experience owning application and systems provisioning, including onboarding new employees, managing ongoing access changes, and deprovisioning users cleanly when access is no longer needed. - Strong understanding of identity, access, endpoint security, VPN infrastructure, and remote device management, with hands-on experience managing and monitoring Mac, Windows, and Linux devices, security patches, and access controls. - Experience owning or materially supporting SOC 2 compliance programs, including coordinating evidence collection, remediation work, and communication with external security firms and audit partners. - Hands-on experience administering company-wide SaaS and productivity systems such as Okta, Notion, Linear, Vanta, Vercel, or similar tools, with strong judgment around permissions, lifecycle management, and system ownership. - Experience supporting office IT and workplace technology, including networking, meeting rooms, conferencing systems, speakers, and employee hardware, combined with excellent communication skills and the ability to operate independently across a fast-growing, highly technical organization. Preferred qualifications: - Experience operating as a senior or early IT hire at a startup or rapidly growing technology company, ideally supporting a distributed or international team. - Prior experience supporting engineering-heavy or technically sophisticated organizations, including environments using modern identity, VPN, endpoint-management, cloud, and developer-tooling stacks. - Experience supporting employees and offices outside the US, including international hardware procurement and shipping (customs, duties, regional warranties), zero-touch device enrollment across regions, device retrieval from remote employees, and working with device-lifecycle or employer-of-record vendors to equip a distributed team. Logistics Location: San Francisco, CA (On-site). Compensation: $125,000 – $170,000 base salary based on experience and background, plus meaningful startup equity. Benefits: Inferact offers generous health, dental, and vision benefits as well as 401(k) company match.