Junior IT Engineer
Valar Atomics
IT
hawthorne, ca, usa
Posted on Oct 23, 2025
About the role
You’ll be the second member of a small, high-impact IT team. This will be a fully on-site role and will require occasional travel as needed. The job splits between (1) day-to-day corporate IT support and (2) working on IT/OT at our test reactor site. You’ll own well-scoped projects end-to-end, partner closely with our MSP, keep our users productive, and our infrastructure tight / well documented.
This is a junior role and has tasks appropriate to that but in a very rapidly growing startup company growth opportunities are very likely if you can show your ability to fulfill requirements and deliver effective solutions efficiently.
What you’ll do
- Handle Tier 1/2 help desk intake/triage/resolve; escalate smartly to MSP and track SLAs.
- Documentation and SOP creation, this will be a critical part of the role: formalizing, improving, and documenting existing process
- Assist with server rack buildouts: power budgeting, labeling, cabling standards, and clean documentation (rack elevations, diagrams).
- Support security systems (badging/access control, cameras, NVRs) with basic install/maintenance and vendor coordination.
- Setup, management, and maintenance of Windows, MacOS, and Linux (Debain/Ubuntu) endpoints (servers and workstations)
- Maintain O365/Microsoft 365 and Active Directory (users, groups, policy, device join, basic MDM).
- Stage and configure network switches (VLANs, trunk/access ports, PoE), document port maps, and validate with basic packet capture.
- Implement and manage firewalls (rules, NAT, VPN, segmentation; change control and logging).
What you bring
- Hands-on experience with:
- Help Desk and user interaction (retail and corporate preferred)
- Windows, MacOS, and Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)
- Switch deployment/config
- Firewall config/management
- Rack/cabling + documentation
- Customer/user support (retail or corporate)
- Security systems (access control/cameras)
- O365 / AD administration
- Strong troubleshooting: methodical, data-driven, and comfortable with deep diving into OS settings and network traffic analysis.
- Ability to plan, communicate, prioritize, and deliver scoped projects.
- Excellent written documentation skills including but not limited to:
- Standard operating procedures (SOP)
- Change requests and logging
- Visual diagrams (Cable maps / Network Topology)
Who you are
- Passionate about technology/servers/networking/digital infrastructure.
- Constant learner, tell us about your homelab or side projects.
- Self-starter who knows when to ask for help.
- Level-headed, data-driven, solution-focused.
- Have relevant work experience (certifications/college degrees are not a substitute)
- Interest in nuclear power and the power grid is a big plus.
Nice-to-haves
- Basic scripting (PowerShell/Python/Bash) for automation.
- MDM/Endpoint: Intune and macOS management.
- Monitoring/observability: Syslog, SNMP, NMS, SIEM, etc.
- OT awareness: Purdue model/segmentation basics, PLCs, Rockwell Automation software stack, etc
- Compliance/controls familiarity (asset inventories, least privilege, backups, change control).
Working with us
- Small team, real ownership, direct impact on safety-critical operations.
- Close collaboration with an experienced MSP; you’ll learn fast and ship real systems.
- Catered lunches
- Competitive pay