Information Technology Manager

Lumai is redefining how the world computes. We are an ambitious, venture-backed UK startup pioneering a breakthrough AI accelerator for data centres which uses 3D optical compute. Our radical technology uses light to perform computation at orders of magnitude faster speeds and at far greater scales than ever before, all whilst consuming far less energy than traditional approaches.

Lumai is unlocking performance and efficiency gains that could transform the economics of AI and compute infrastructure and reshape how intelligence scales globally.

If you are passionate about bringing groundbreaking technology to market, and want to be part of a team pushing the boundaries of what is physically possible, Lumai is where you can make it happen.

ABOUT LUMAI

THE OPPORTUNITY

Lumai is redefining how the world computes. We are an ambitious, venture-backed UK startup pioneering a breakthrough AI accelerator for data centres which uses 3D optical compute. Our radical technology uses light to perform computation at orders of magnitude faster speeds and at far greater scales than ever before, all whilst consuming far less energy than traditional approaches.

Lumai is unlocking performance and efficiency gains that could transform the economics of AI and compute infrastructure and reshape how intelligence scales globally.

If you are passionate about bringing groundbreaking technology to market, and want to be part of a team pushing the boundaries of what is physically possible, Lumai is where you can make it happen.

ABOUT LUMAI

Lumai is a University of Oxford spinout founded in 2022, using optical processing to accelerate large language models (LLMs) and other transformer-based AI systems. The team combines expertise in optical computing, machine learning, and physics.

We have raised over $15 million from deep-tech investors including Constructor Capital, IP Group, PhotonVentures and government grants, and we are growing the team that takes our optical compute platform to customers.

THE ROLE

We are looking for an IT Infrastructure Manager to establish and lead the internal platform that powers all of Lumai. In this role, you will take ownership of the compute, storage, networking and CI/CD environments that our optics, hardware, firmware and software engineers rely on every day.

This is a high-impact position where you will shape our engineering infrastructure, technical operations and security standards from the ground up. You will help us replace manual setups with automated, reliable and secure workflows, whilst also overseeing core IT operations as our team grows. If you enjoy building dependable platforms, keeping engineering teams moving fast and leading technical projects, there is a lot of meaningful work to do here.

What makes it hard is the tension at the centre of the job: the simulation data, designs and repositories you are protecting are the company's crown jewels, and the engineers who use them are trying to move faster than they ever have. Getting both right, rather than trading one for the other, is the work.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Set up the automated provisioning and CI/CD pipelines that our optics, hardware, firmware and software engineers build on
• Own the internal developer tooling - the things that turn a new machine, a new lab rig or a new cloud account into a working environment
• Run the lab and cloud networking and monitoring that simulation and hardware bring-up depend on
• Keep engineers unblocked on build, network and access problems, and hold to the response times you have promised them
• Manage core IT across a growing team: identity and access management, laptops and devices, and the software tools people rely on daily
• Build security into the default setup from the start - across servers, code repositories, sensitive simulation data and devices - without slowing development down
• Work closely with our optics, hardware and software leads to understand what their workflows actually need, and make sure the platform scales cleanly as the business grows

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

• Experience managing or mentoring engineers across infrastructure, platform, DevOps or IT, with a clear focus on getting things shipped
• Hands-on experience with cloud and on-premise compute, storage and networking - comfortable setting technical direction and talking through architecture, without needing to write code all day
• Experience running build systems, CI/CD pipelines and test automation
• A practical, working grasp of access management, network security and device security, and the judgement to keep systems protected without getting in engineers' way
• Experience overseeing core IT in a fast-growing team: device fleets, identity, and user onboarding
• A strong communicator - able to listen to engineers across different disciplines, understand what is slowing them down, and turn it into a simple, practical technical solution

That is six must-haves, one over the template's usual five. The communicator line earns its place on a role whose whole job is unblocking people in three other disciplines. If you want it back to five, cut the CI/CD bullet and fold test automation into the platform bullet.

Strong Preference for:

• Experience working with hardware, simulation or embedded software teams - the people whose workflows you would be building for
• A builder mindset: comfortable in an early-stage, fast-moving environment where you are setting up new processes and platforms rather than maintaining inherited ones
• Experience in an IP-sensitive environment - semiconductor, defence, or comparable - because the design and simulation data here is genuinely sensitive, and someone who has handled that before will be useful sooner

WHERE AND HOW YOU'D WORK

Based at our Wood Centre for Innovation office in Headington, Oxford, hybrid 3 days in the office and the rest wherever you work best.

We move fast on people we are excited about, and we will not run a long process to look thorough.

Lumai is an equal opportunity employer. We make hiring decisions on merit, scope-fit, and the strength of the working relationship we expect to build with each hire. Applications welcome from candidates of any background. If you are not sure whether you are a fit, send a note anyway.

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