IT Lead

About the role

ABOUT US: AI NEEDS A NEW INFRASTRUCTURE LAYER. WE'RE BUILDING IT AT MODAL. Every era of computing brought new workloads that previous infrastructure couldn't support: mainframes, databases, and the cloud. Each time, the company that rebuilt the layer underneath defined the decade. AI is no different, except it touches everything instead of one slice, and the window to build the layer underneath it is open right now. Our customers include category-defining companies like Ramp https://modal.com/blog/how-ramp-built-a-full-context-background-coding-agent-on-modal, Cognition, DoorDash, and Suno. They rely on Modal for instant GPU access, sub-second container starts, and native storage, so it's simple to serve low-latency inference, fine-tune models, and access production-ready sandboxes at scale. We've passed $1B in annualized run rate, up 15x from a year ago. In October 2026 we raised a $750M Series D led by Accel at a $15.75B valuation. Our team includes creators of popular open-source projects (e.g.,Seaborn https://github.com/mwaskom/seaborn,Luigi https://github.com/spotify/luigi), academic researchers, international olympiad medalists, and experienced engineering and product leaders with decades of experience. ABOUT THE ROLE: We’re looking for our first IT Lead to build and own the systems that enable everyone at Modal to work effectively and securely. You’ll own our employee technology environment end-to-end, including identity and access, devices, internal systems, SaaS applications, and day-to-day IT operations. You’ll work closely with Security and Engineering to build an environment that is secure by default, easy to operate, and scales with the company. This is initially a hands-on role. You’ll build systems, automate workflows, and solve problems directly. As Modal grows, you’ll define how the IT function should scale and eventually build a team around it. WHAT YOU’LL WORK ON: Identity & Access - Own employee identity and access across internal systems and SaaS applications - Build scalable onboarding, offboarding, and access lifecycle workflows - Improve SSO, MFA, least privilege, and access management in partnership with Security Devices & Endpoints - Own the lifecycle and security of employee devices - Build and maintain device management, configuration, patching, and endpoint security - Automate provisioning and make onboarding as close to zero-touch as possible Internal Systems & Automation - Own and improve the SaaS applications and internal systems we depend on - Build integrations and automate workflows across identity, HR, finance, and other business systems - Evaluate and deploy new internal capabilities, including AI tools and integrations - Use APIs, scripting, and internal tooling to solve problems that don’t fit neatly into off-the-shelf products IT Operations - Own employee support, hardware, asset management, procurement, and relevant vendor relationships - Build reliable, maintainable processes rather than scaling through manual work - Identify recurring problems and solve them at the system level Build the IT Function - Define the technical direction and operating model for IT at Modal - Establish the systems and processes we’ll need as the company grows - Determine when and where additional IT capacity is needed, and build the team over time WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR: - Experience owning IT or corporate technology in a fast-growing technology company - Strong understanding of identity, device management, SaaS administration, and endpoint security - Strong technical skills and comfort working with APIs, scripting, automation, and system integrations - Experience designing and automating employee lifecycle and access-management workflows - Good security judgment and experience working closely with Security and Engineering - Ability to independently identify problems, make pragmatic technical decisions, and drive them through implementation - Comfortable being hands-on today while building the systems and team needed as the company grows