IT Lead, Distyl

• The ideal candidate combines strong technical depth, exceptional operational discipline, proven experience building IT organizations in high-growth technology companies, and the ability to balance strategic leadership with hands-on execution
• 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

Desirable

• 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
• Distyl operates a highly customer-facing, forward-deployed model, partnering directly with Fortune 50 enterprises to deploy AI systems in complex and highly regulated environments
• Our employees regularly work within customer environments and handle sensitive enterprise data, creating unique challenges around endpoint security, compliance, access governance, secure collaboration, and customer security requirements
• You will oversee employee technology, identity and access management, endpoint security, corporate networking, SaaS governance, office technology, compliance programs, and corporate security operations across the United States and international markets
• You will play a critical role in supporting our NYC and San Francisco hubs while helping establish and scale Distyl's international footprint
• 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
• Establish governance around corporate and customer data, including data handling standards, secure transfer mechanisms, retention policies, and access controls
• 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
• Establish and continuously improve processes for software procurement, vendor management, license optimization, and lifecycle management. In particular for a growing collection of AI tools and emerging technologies
• 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