Senior IT Support Specialist, End User Support, Central Tech

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative was founded in 2015 by Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg to harness the power of technology to pursue some of society’s most ambitious goals — from curing or preventing all disease to transforming how students learn.

At CZI, you’ll join a deeply collaborative, mission-driven community where your work helps drive breakthroughs across our flagship nonprofit organizations, Biohub and Learning Commons. Whether enabling scientific breakthroughs via open science and AI-powered biology or strengthening the tools teachers and students rely on every day, your contributions help turn bold ideas into real-world impact.

Our teams operate at the intersection of innovation and scale, building the infrastructure, partnerships, and capabilities that allow scientists, educators, and innovators to tackle some of the most complex challenges of our time — and to do so with urgency, integrity, and optimism.

We are seeking a Senior IT Support Specialist to act as the senior technical lead for end-user support across our Redwood City and San Francisco locations.

This role is designed for a senior, hands-on technical professional who can own complex issues end-to-end, act as the primary escalation point, and serve as a key bridge between end-user environments and Endpoint Engineering.

This role includes a significant focus on supporting investment and finance workflows in a Windows-heavy environment, while also supporting a technically sophisticated user base including scientists, researchers, and teams developing and using AI systems. You will help ensure that both business-critical and research-critical workflows are reliable, performant, and well supported.

What You'll Do

Serve as Senior Technical Escalation Point for End-User Support

• Act as the primary escalation point for complex issues across macOS, Windows, and Linux
• Lead root cause analysis and drive issues through resolution, coordinating with partner teams as needed
• Provide guidance and mentorship to support team members

Support High Impact User Workflows (Investment & Research)

• Provide high-touch support for investment professionals in Windows environments, including troubleshooting complex Excel workbooks and market research/trading tools
• Support scientists and researchers working with data-intensive and AI/ML workflows
• Troubleshoot high-performance workstations, development environments, and tools interacting with HPC or cloud systems

Partner on Endpoint Experience

• Partner with Endpoint Engineering on device management, standards, and software deployment
• Surface recurring issues and user friction to inform improvements
• Help maintain stable, secure, and performant endpoint environments

Execute Technical Projects

• Own delivery of small to medium-sized IT projects (e.g., office buildouts, device rollouts, system upgrades)
• Coordinate with partner teams and communicate progress, risks, and dependencies
• Identify and implement small-scale improvements

Deliver Onsite and Remote Support

• Provide hands-on support across hardware, software, and AV systems
• Handle critical issues, including occasional after-hours support

Maintain Local Systems and Operations

• • Support networking, AV, and office IT infrastructure
  • Maintain documentation and contribute to process improvements

What You'll Bring

• 5–7+ years of IT support experience in high-performance environments (e.g., finance, technology, research)
• Deep Windows expertise (required), including:
  • OS-level troubleshooting (BSOD, event logs, performance tuning)
  • BitLocker, driver/hardware issues, and power/thermal management 
• Strong macOS experience with comparable depth across hardware, OS, and application
• Experience supporting investment or financial workflows preferred, including:
  • Advanced Excel environments (add-ins, modeling performance)
  • Market data or trading platforms (e.g., Bloomberg or similar)
• Hands-on experience with MDM/UEM platforms (Intune, Workspace ONE, or equivalent), including:
  • Policy troubleshooting
  • Application deployment
• Strong understanding of networking fundamentals (Wi-Fi, VPN, LAN, firewalls)
• Experience serving as a technical escalation point or senior team member
• Proven ability to independently resolve complex, multi-factor technical issues
• Experience executing IT projects or initiatives, with the ability to manage scope, timelines, and dependencies
• Familiarity with modern AI tools and desktop workflows, including emerging AI clients and productivity tooling
• Experience supporting scientific computing, AI/ML, or research environments is a plus, including:
  • High-performance or GPU-enabled workstations
  • Development environments (e.g., Python, containers, remote compute workflows)
  • Interaction with HPC or cloud-based systems
• Strong communication skills and ability to support a diverse, high-expectation user base
• Relevant certifications (Microsoft, Apple, Cisco, CompTIA, etc.) are a plus

Compensation

The San Francisco, CA base pay range for a new hire in this role is $138,000 - $189,200. New hires are typically hired into the lower portion of the range, enabling employee growth in the range over time. Actual placement in range is based on job-related skills and experience, as evaluated throughout the interview process. 

This position may be eligible to participate in our discretionary annual performance bonus program. Bonus eligibility and targets are determined in accordance with our total rewards philosophy and may vary by role.

Better Together

As we grow, we’re excited to strengthen in-person connections and cultivate a collaborative, team-oriented environment. 

Benefits for the Whole You 

We’re thankful to have an incredible team behind our work. To honor their commitment, we offer a wide range of benefits to support the people who make all we do possible. 

• Provides a generous employer match on employee 401(k) contributions to support planning for the future.
• Paid time off to volunteer at an organization of your choice. 
• Funding for select family-forming benefits. 
• Relocation support for employees who need assistance moving

If you’re interested in a role but your previous experience doesn’t perfectly align with each qualification in the job description, we still encourage you to apply as you may be the perfect fit for this or another role.

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