Your opportunity Our client is a well-funded, seed-stage AI startup that builds agents for the factory floor. They develop and distribute a software-first agent layer that plugs into the cameras and machines factories already have. Their models run and act at the edge so agents can see, decide, and act in real time. Events and metrics flow into a dashboard that provides plant teams immediate visibility. They're approaching a large (~$14B) and underserved market with a disruptive, asset-light alternative to hardware-heavy robotics and batch analytics and they've already found early traction with clients in the food & beverage, pharma/cosmetics, and materials processing verticals.
As the Head of IT & Information Security, you will build the security and operational foundation for a company at the forefront of the AI revolution. You will own internal infrastructure, cybersecurity posture, and compliance frameworks. Your mission is to stay ahead of the curve, proactively eliminating operational friction before it becomes a fire, while building a security program that can stand up to enterprise scrutiny (SOC 2, ISO 27001). Your work will directly impact the quality of life of the entire team, facilitate a culture of high autonomy, and be a key tailwind to the growth of a rapidly growing venture.
You'll be joining a flat, dynamic environment in the midst of its scale-up phase that's led by an accomplished ex-Deepmind researcher with specialization in reinforcement learning, deep learning and robotics. The company closed a $13.9M CAD seed round in March of 2025 and are scaling R&D and delivery to meet accelerating demand, with headcount tracking to double by year-end.
Please note that this role may involve participation in an on-call rotation that includes evenings and weekends.
Key responsibilities - Proactive operational strategy: Design and continuously improve internal systems and workflows so the company stays organized, secure, and productive as it scales; rationalize the tooling stack to reduce redundancy, tighten security, and keep costs controlled
- Cybersecurity & compliance leadership: Own the security program end to end, keeping the company audit-ready through strong policies, testing, monitoring, and incident response; partner with go-to-market to handle enterprise security diligence and questionnaires in a way that builds customer trust and maintains sales velocity
- IT operations & management: Run day-to-day IT like a product, including MSP/vendor management, IAM, and the device and software lifecycle; build a secure, low-friction environment for teams, with extra rigor around sensitive R&D access and data
- Cross-team collaboration: Partner closely with leaders across Engineering, Product, and Go-to-Market to align priorities, remove blockers, and drive execution against the company's highest-impact initiatives
Tech stack - Cloud providers: AWS, Azure, GCP
- Operating system: Linux
- Backend: Python (Flask, FastAPI), TypeScript/Node.js
- Orchestration & compute: Kubernetes, on-prem bare metal, VMs
- Containers: Docker
- Monitoring, observability & logging: Prometheus, Grafana, ELK
- Databases & storage: SQL, InfluxDB, MongoDB
- Messaging & IoT: MQTT, HTTP/REST, RabbitMQ, Apache Kafka
- Edge platforms: NVIDIA Jetson, Raspberry Pi (ARM)
- GPU/acceleration: CUDA, TensorRT, ONNX, OpenVINO
- ML/DL frameworks: PyTorch, TensorFlow, Keras, scikit-learn
- Scientific computing: NumPy, Pandas
- Computer vision: OpenCV
- Cameras & vision I/O: GenICam, GigE Vision, USB3 Vision
- Industrial automation: PLC integration; protocols: Ethernet/IP, Modbus, Profinet, OPC UA
Your know-how - You have 5+ years of experience scaling the IT operations and/or information security practice of growth-stage businesses
- You have experience supporting the growth of a rapidly scaling early-stage venture (seed to series B)
- You have experience successfully navigating the SOC II Type 2 and/or ISO 27001 certification process
- You have significant experience with cloud-native environments (AWS, GCP, Azure), endpoint/device management (MDM) solutions (Jamf, Kandji, Vanta, etc), Google Workspace and/or Microsoft 365 administration and identity/access controls
- You have a fantastic, customer-facing command of English and are able to translate complex security requirements into broadly understood processes for non-technical stakeholders
- You are comfortable leading vendors/MSPs and holding them to measurable outcomes
- You are a contagiously curious person with entrenched learning habits
It's a bonus if - You have experience with scaled production environments for manufacturing, robotics, IoT and/or industrial automation applications
- You hold CISSP, CISM, or a comparable security certification
- You are predisposed to mentorship and crafting a culture of continuous improvement
- You have experience scaling an AI and/or B2B SaaS venture
