IT Automation Engineer

Summary

Headquartered in sunny Los Angeles, Gray Matter Robotics is a well-capitalized AI robotics startup serving the manufacturing industry. We empower shop floor workers with our smart robots that assist with tedious and ergonomically challenging tasks, specifically in automated surface finishing. Our proprietary GMR-AI™ software is integrated with state-of-the-art industrial robots, sensors, and tools to create application-specific turnkey solutions for customers through a Robot-as-a-Service (RaaS) model.

We help manufacturers improve the quality of life for their workforce while increasing production capacity, and reducing scrap, repair, and rework costs. As our first IT Automation Engineer, you will join our Full Stack Software team onsite in our Carson, CA office to help scale and strengthen our IT and infrastructure operations. In this role, you’ll design and implement automation that reduces repetitive manual work, manage cloud and on-prem systems, and ensure our secure environments run reliably.

You’ll partner across Dev Ops, QA, and Customer Success to deliver fast, reliable IT support while building tools and processes that improve efficiency over the long term. This is a high-impact opportunity to shape how automation supports both our internal teams and our customers as we continue to grow.

• Design, build, and maintain internal IT and IT automation systems.
• Create programs to automate repetitive tasks such as data transfers, testing, deployments, and IT workflows (e.g., account provisioning, password resets, software installations, patching).
• Configure and provision computers for customer or internal deployment and develop lightweight automation or internal tools to reduce repetitive manual updates at customer sites.
• Automate cloud resource management (AWS, Azure, GCP) to spin up servers, manage storage, or scale apps automatically.
• Ensure disaster recovery and backup processes run on schedule without manual intervention.
• Configure and maintain specialized systems such as activation machines, license servers, and networked storage solutions (NAS) to support engineering development.
• Set up security automation for patch management, intrusion detection, and access control.
• Enforce cybersecurity and compliance standards (SOC 2, ISO 27001, export controls) by automating policies and audit trails.
• Support government enclave environments (e.g., maintenance, logging review, access management) to ensure continuous compliance.
• Assist with setup of new enclaves by configuring infrastructure, access, and monitoring tools.
• Collaborate with external contractors while retaining ownership of sensitive, time-critical IT tasks that cannot be outsourced.
• Automate monitoring, log collection, and alerting (e.g., Splunk, ELK, Prometheus) to maintain system reliability.
• Continuously measure performance, troubleshoot issues, and fine-tune automation solutions.
• Provide rapid on-site IT support for urgent issues (network configuration, login provisioning, access management) to minimize downtime.
• Serve as the primary IT escalation point, reducing reliance on Dev Ops, QA, or RSW engineers for routine IT requests.
• Document IT processes and create self-service resources to minimize ad hoc IT interruptions.

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, Information Security, or related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 3–5 years of hands‑on industry experience in IT systems administration, automation engineering, or Dev Ops.
• Proficiency in Linux and strong understanding of networking fundamentals.
• Familiarity with IT automation/configuration management tools (e.g., Ansible, Chef, Puppet).
• Experience with containerization technologies (Docker Compose, Kubernetes).
• Scripting ability in at least one language (Python, Shell, or Power Shell).
• Knowledge of system monitoring tools (e.g., Splunk, ELK, Prometheus).
• Proven ability to troubleshoot and resolve technical issues promptly by asking the right questions.
• Demonstrated ability to identify tasks and workflows that can be automated to improve efficiency.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills; able to provide…