IT Infrastructure & Operations Lead

IT Operations | Full-Time | Bengaluru

Gnani.ai is a frontier Voice AI company building proprietary speech and language models for enterprise deployments across 40+ languages. We serve 200+ enterprises in banking, insurance, healthcare, and government, processing over 30 million voice interactions daily. Our platform includes voice biometric authentication, making trust, privacy, and regulatory compliance central to everything we build - not an afterthought bolted on top.

This is a senior individual contributor role that combines leading the IT practice with direct delivery of end-user and endpoint support. You will define the processes, standards, and documentation that keep IT reliable and audit-ready, drive their adoption across the IT team, and work the IT ticket queue yourself alongside the team.

The right person is equally comfortable designing an ITSM process, resolving a difficult escalation with composure, and configuring a laptop for a new joiner. You will partner with the CISO on access governance and endpoint security.

• Define, document, and maintain core IT SOPs and standards: onboarding/offboarding, access provisioning and deprovisioning, change management, incident escalation, backup and recovery, vendor management

• Run IT service management: ticketing, request and incident workflows, SLAs, and response-time and resolution KPIs reported regularly to leadership

• Own the asset and access inventory: devices, software licences, firewall rules, server room access, admin credentials, and vendor contracts and contacts

• Maintain a rolling IT roadmap with weekly action plans, tracked to completion

• Lead the IT practice: set the standards, ways of working, and best practices the IT team follows, and drive adoption through example and collaboration (individual contributor role, not a people manager)

• Handle escalations from employees, leadership, and vendors with a calm, firm, and courteous approach: set expectations clearly, communicate status proactively, and close the loop

• Ensure no process or system depends on a single person: document, cross-train, and share knowledge across the team

• Manage IT vendors, AMCs, and contracts, including renewals, SLAs, and escalation contacts

• Partner with the CISO on access governance, endpoint security, and IT control evidence for ISO 27001, SOC 2, and client audits

• Provide L2/L3 support and handle escalations for Windows, macOS, and Linux desktops and laptops, including operating system, application, hardware, printer, and peripheral issues

• Provision, configure, and secure endpoints for new joiners; manage devices end to end through MDM (Jamf, Scalefusion, JumpCloud, or Intune)

• Administer user accounts, groups, permissions, and access controls through Active Directory and Microsoft Entra ID, including Microsoft 365 administration

• Manage endpoint security tooling: antivirus/EDR, DLP, operating system updates, security patching, and software upgrades

• Troubleshoot and administer LAN, Wi-Fi, VPN, DNS, DHCP, and firewall configuration

• Own and work the IT ticket queue alongside the team: triage, resolve, and manage tickets and incidents end to end, accountable for response times and quality

• Maintain the health of the server room, backups, and core infrastructure

• 6-9 years of hands-on experience across IT infrastructure, systems administration, and end-user/endpoint support, with meaningful time in a structured, process-driven organization (MNC, GCC, or large IT services environment)

• Demonstrated experience building or enforcing ITSM-style processes (incident, change, request, and asset management) using a ticketing tool such as Jira Service Management, Freshservice, or ServiceNow

• Strong hands-on skills in Windows, macOS, and Linux desktop and laptop support

• Working experience with Active Directory, Microsoft Entra ID, Group Policy, and Microsoft 365 administration

• Experience with MDM platforms (Jamf, Scalefusion, JumpCloud, or Intune) and endpoint security tooling (antivirus/EDR, DLP)

• Solid networking fundamentals (TCP/IP, LAN, Wi-Fi, VPN, DNS, DHCP) and hands-on firewall administration

• Experience with patch management, backup, and IT asset and licence management

• Strong written documentation habits - SOPs, runbooks, and inventories that others can follow

• Experience as a senior individual contributor who set up processes and practices that a team adopted, influencing without formal authority

• Strong, polite communication: able to handle escalations calmly and firmly, set expectations diplomatically, and keep employees, vendors, and leadership informed

• Ownership and follow-through on your own ticket queue and commitments

Preferred (relevant combination for the stack above):

• ITIL 4 Foundation or higher

• Microsoft MD-102 (Endpoint Administrator), MS-102 (Microsoft 365 Administrator), or SC-300 (Identity and Access Administrator)

• CCNA or CompTIA Network+

• Firewall vendor certification (for example Fortinet NSE 4 or Palo Alto PCNSA)

• Jamf Certified Tech or an equivalent MDM certification

• CompTIA A+ or Security+

• Prior experience in a regulated industry (BFSI, healthcare, insurance) and in supporting ISO 27001 or SOC 2 audits

• Scripting for automation (PowerShell, Bash, or Python)

• Exposure to Google Workspace and remote support tools

• You will set the practice for the IT function while staying close to the work, with direct impact on every employee.

• Direct, high-visibility work with the CTO and CISO - decisions you make will be felt company-wide within your first quarter.

• A rare chance to shape IT operations at a fast-scaling company, without enterprise bureaucracy.