SambaNova SystemsSenior Director of IT
SambaNova Systems is hiring a Senior Director of IT in Austin and San Jose, United States. It pays $1000k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on SambaNova Systems.
Level's read on this job
- Level rates this role Little AI ●○○○: aI is not part of the work.
- The posting mentions Terraform, Ansible and Kubernetes among its tools and skills.
- Level classes it as an executive role.
- SambaNova Systems has 71 other open roles on Level.
- Posted in the last few days.
AI in this role
Lead IT infrastructure, security operations, and DevOps support for an AI chip and infrastructure company.
SambaNova is a leader in next-generation AI infrastructure, delivering a full-stack inference platform for customers worldwide. At the core of SambaNova's technology is the RDU (Reconfigurable Dataflow Unit) — a chip built on a dataflow architecture rather than the traditional GPU model. Its decode performance is especially strong for agentic workloads like multi-turn agents, code generation, and long-running applications. RDUs are packaged into SambaRack, rack-scale hardware that lets customers deploy state-of-the-art models with better performance, greater energy efficiency, and faster time to value.
About the team
The IT team supports SambaNova’s employees and infrastructure. We manage the servers, networks, and cloud accounts our engineering teams use to build and test AI chips and systems. We also handle employee laptops, accounts, and software, and we run security across the company. The team is small and works closely with engineering and DevOps.
About the role
As Director of IT on the IT team, you will lead infrastructure, end-user IT, security operations, and DevOps support across the company. You will set the direction for the function and grow the team, and you will also do hands-on work when the team needs it. This role can be leveled at Director or Senior Director depending on experience.
Responsibilities
- Lead server and backend infrastructure, including on-prem and cloud systems, networking, storage, and identity
- Run desktop and end-user IT, including laptop provisioning, SaaS tools, help desk, and onboarding and off boarding
- Build and run the security program and security operations, including endpoint protection, access control, monitoring, and incident response
- Partner with engineering on DevOps tooling, CI/CD infrastructure, and automation
- Hire and manage the IT team, and set its roadmap and budget
- Manage vendors and contracts for IT and security tools
- Configure systems, troubleshoot outages, and write automation yourself when needed
Required qualifications
- B.S. in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field
- 10+ years of experience in IT infrastructure and operations
- 5+ years of experience leading IT teams
- Experience running both backend infrastructure and end-user IT
- Experience building or running a security operations program
- Experience with DevOps tools such as Terraform, Ansible, Kubernetes, and CI/CD pipelines
- Hands-on experience with Linux, Windows, and macOS administration, identity management such as Okta or Entra ID, and MDM
- Able to work onsite at our Bay Area office on a regular basis
Preferred qualifications
- Experience at a startup or high-growth company
- Experience supporting hardware or semiconductor engineering teams, including HPC or lab environments
- Experience with SOC 2, ISO 27001, or similar compliance programs
- Experience scaling an IT team through rapid headcount growth
Base Salary Range:
Base Pay Range$1—$999,999 USDSubmission Guidelines
Please note that in order to be considered an applicant for any position at SambaNova Systems, you must submit an application form for each position for which you believe you are qualified.
EEO Policy
SambaNova Systems is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard basis of age (40 and over), color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, military or veteran status, national origin/ancestry, race, religion, creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding), sexual orientation, and any other applicable status protected by federal, state, or local laws.
Benefits Summary for US-Based, Full-Time Employment Positions
SambaNova offers a competitive total rewards package, including the base salary, plus equity and benefits. We cover 95% premium coverage for employee medical insurance, and 77% premium coverage for dependents and offer a Health Savings Account (HSA) with employer contribution. We also offer Dental, Vision, Short/Long term Disability, Basic Life, Voluntary Life, and AD&D insurance plans in addition to Flexible Spending Account (FSA) options like Health Care, Limited Purpose, and Dependent Care. Our library of well-being benefits available to you and your dependents includes a full subscription to Headspace, Gympass+ membership with access to physical gyms, One Medical membership, counseling services with an Employee Assistance Program, and much more.
How we rate this
Senior Director of IT at SambaNova Systems rates 30 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Little AI (AI Level 1 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.
Little AI. AI is not part of the work.
- ●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
- ●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
- ●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
- ●○○○ Little AI0 to 39
Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.
Prepare for this job
Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.
Skills and AI tools this role asks for
Questions you could be asked
- Tell me about a project where it infrastructure was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where security operations was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where devops was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where team management was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where cloud computing was part of your work. What did you do?
Adapt your resume
- List these exact terms on your resume: It Infrastructure, Security Operations, DevOps, Team Management, and Cloud Computing. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
- Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.
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