IT Lead

About Distyl AI

Distyl is an applied AI technology company partnering with the world’s most ambitious institutions to rearchitect critical operations for the frontier of AI. Our customers include the largest companies in telecom, healthcare, insurance, manufacturing, consumer goods, and global social organizations. We research and deploy technologies that power AI-native operations — both for our partners and for Distyl itself. Our work spans research into self-constructing systems, the development of the most reliable execution of AI systems, and products that transform mission-critical workflows. As a result, Distyl's technologies affect some of the world's largest operations — from hundreds of millions of consumer interactions to tens of millions of supply chain transactions and millions of patient journeys. Distyl is backed by leading investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, Coatue, DST Global, and the board-members of 20+ F500s. The results reflect this approach: a 100% production deployment success rate for our customers and one of the few enterprise AI companies to run a profitable business.

What We Are Looking For

As Head of IT, you will build and lead Distyl's global IT organization during a period of rapid growth. Reporting to executive leadership, you will own the strategy, systems, security controls, compliance programs, and operational processes that enable Distyl to scale from approximately 180 employees today to 500+ employees globally. This is a highly hands-on leadership role. You will lead a small but growing team, personally execute critical initiatives, and establish the foundations of a world-class IT organization capable of supporting enterprise customers, international expansion, and increasingly sophisticated security and compliance requirements.

Key Responsibilities

• IT Leadership & Organizational Development
• Build and lead Distyl's IT organization, including hiring, coaching, and developing a high-performing team
• Establish a culture of operational excellence, accountability, responsiveness, and attention to detail across the IT organization
• Define the long-term IT strategy, operating model, budget, and roadmap
• Build an IT organization capable of supporting a global workforce of 500+ employees
• Develop strong relationships with stakeholders across Engineering, Security, Legal, Finance, People, and Operations
• Security & Risk Management
• Establish and maintain strong controls across identity, devices, networks, SaaS platforms, emerging AI technologies, and corporate infrastructure
• Lead initiatives to improve endpoint security, access governance, device compliance, and network security
• Develop and maintain business continuity, disaster recovery, and incident response capabilities for corporate technology systems and employee operations
• Own corporate compliance programs, including SOC 2, ISO 27001, ISO 42001, GDPR, HIPAA, and future certifications required to support US and international markets
• Support customer security assessments, vendor reviews, due diligence requests, audits, and enterprise compliance requirements
• SaaS, Identity & Employee Technology
• Deliver a world-class employee technology experience across office and remote environments
• Establish and continuously improve self-service employee support, knowledge management, and ITSM processes to reduce friction and improve responsiveness
• Drive automation of employee lifecycle management and access governance
• Establish standards and controls that balance security, employee productivity, and operational efficiency
• Infrastructure & Global Operations
• Oversee office technology, networking, AV systems, and employee support across NYC, SF, remote, and international locations
• Support the expansion and operation of Distyl's international offices and global workforce
• Hands-On Execution
• Personally lead critical technical and operational initiatives while the team scales
• Identify and eliminate manual operational work through automation, self-service tooling, and AI-powered workflows, building an IT organization that scales efficiently
• Serve as the escalation point for complex IT, security, and compliance issues
• Maintain deep familiarity with the systems and controls underpinning Distyl's IT environment
• Balance strategic planning and leadership responsibilities with hands-on execution of high-priority projects

Who You Are

• 7+ years of experience leading IT, corporate technology, or security operations as a company scales from 100-1000 employees
• Demonstrated track record of successfully prioritizing and executing competing initiatives in fast-growing environments with limited resources
• Exceptional communication skills and ability to partner effectively with executives, customers, and cross-functional stakeholders
• Proven experience hiring, developing, and leading high-performing IT, security operations, or corporate technology teams
• Deep expertise in identity and access management, endpoint management, SaaS governance, networking, and corporate security
• Experience leading compliance programs such as SOC 2, ISO 27001, ISO 42001, GDPR, HIPAA, and other modern compliance frameworks
• Demonstrated ability to balance strategic planning with hands-on execution

What We Prefer

• Experience building IT organizations from an early-stage or growth-stage startup environment
• Experience supporting globally distributed teams and international office expansion
• Experience operating in highly regulated environments or serving Fortune 500 customers
• Hands-on experience with Okta, Kandji, Google Workspace, Tailscale, endpoint security tooling, and modern SaaS governance platforms
• Experience supporting AI, software, cloud-native, or enterprise technology companies

What We Offer

• The base salary range for this role is $170K – $220K depending on experience, location, and level.
• In addition to base compensation, this role is eligible for meaningful equity, along with a comprehensive benefits package:
• 100% covered medical, dental, and vision for employees and dependents
• 401(k) with additional perks (e.g., commuter benefits, in-office lunch)
• Access to state-of-the-art models, generous usage of modern AI tools, and real-world business problems
• Ownership of high-impact projects across top enterprises
• A mission-driven, fast-moving culture that prizes curiosity, pragmatism, and excellence

Location

This role requires in-office collaboration 5 days a week. We have offices in San Francisco, CA and New York, NY. This role is available in San Francisco, CA only.

EEO Statement

We are an equal opportunity employer and evaluate all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristic. We encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply.