Head of IT

Location: Byron, California, United States. Hybrid work is required, with close collaboration across engineering and lab environments.

Company

Develops aerospace and logistics technology while scaling the Chaparral aircraft from flight testing into full-rate production.

What you will do

• Own corporate IT infrastructure, including networking, endpoints, SaaS, and internal systems.
• Design secure environments with access controls, data segregation, auditability, and least-privilege IAM.
• Establish device management, endpoint detection and response, and fleet lifecycle processes.
• Architect networks across office, laboratory, and production environments while supporting cloud computing and specialized systems.
• Lead vendor management, monitoring, logging, incident response, business continuity, and disaster recovery planning.
• Partner with engineering, security, legal, and leadership on audits, compliance readiness, onboarding, offboarding, and website security.

Requirements

• 8+ years of experience in IT infrastructure, IT operations, or IT systems engineering.
• Deep experience with enterprise IT systems, networking, and cloud infrastructure such as AWS, GCP, or Azure.
• Experience implementing and automating identity systems such as Okta or Azure AD.
• Strong knowledge of network architecture, VPNs, firewalls, routing, and segmentation.
• Proven experience integrating enterprise IT systems in a fast-paced environment.
• Must be eligible to work in the United States and able to receive and maintain access to export-controlled ITAR/EAR information.

Nice to have

• Experience with ITAR, EAR, NIST 800-171, CMMC, or similar compliance frameworks.
• Background in aerospace, defense, energy, or deep-tech startups.
• Experience supporting hardware laboratories, manufacturing environments, or secure facilities.
• Experience scaling IT from an early-stage to a growth-stage company.

Culture & Benefits

• Equity ownership in a rapidly growing aerospace company.
• Comprehensive medical benefits and a 401(k) with company contribution plus Roth IRA.
• Daily onsite lunch, flexible time off, and three months of paid parental leave.
• Employee assistance program with 24/7 support.
• High-impact startup environment with ownership, autonomy, and opportunities for career growth.