Information Technology Engineer

About Urban Sky: 

Urban Sky is a venture-backed aerospace startup on a mission to pioneer humanity’s routine, easy access to the stratosphere and the value locked within it. We design, build, operate, and sell stratospheric balloon systems. The data we collect supports a wide range of applications, from real-time wildfire monitoring to urban mapping. Our technology is also employed by government customers including the Department of Defense (DoD), NASA, and others. Urban Sky sends flight vehicles to the stratosphere on a weekly basis. 

Our team consists of engineers, makers, developers, and doers who believe in the power of human potential when passion meets utility within a small, supportive team. At Urban Sky we strive to create a team culture grounded in candor, inclusion, respect and empowerment. 

We aim to build the next chapter of stratospheric history in Denver and are seeking self-starting, open-minded, and hard-working team members. 

About The Role: 

As Urban Sky rapidly scales, our information technology systems are being formalized and we are looking for an ambitious and energetic IT Engineer to take on everything from managing our on-site network to building servers and infrastructure to serve Petabytes of aerial data and weather information. The networks you maintain will directly support vehicles in the stratosphere and critical aerial missions around the world flying weekly.  

In this role, you will be the first member of a team we expect to grow with the company. You will be responsible for keeping our network secure, managing a suite of physical machines including fixed infrastructure on site and employee computers, and keeping multiple networks up and running smoothly including our high speed internet, mission control infrastructure and a computing cluster where things like image processing, AI training and weather data distribution are occurring on a scheduler.   

You will be working to create an IT infrastructure that passes muster with organizations that require robust IT security including multiple branches of the US Military and major multinational corporations dealing with sensitive data. A key initiative in 2025 will be to bring our IT infrastructure to a state where it is compliant with industry standards including NIST 800-171 and others.  

This is not a role for those seeking a well-trodden path—our work involves solving problems with no clear precedent, designing novel solutions, and iterating rapidly in ambiguous and fast-paced environments. You should be comfortable in a start-up environment where things change daily and every week comes with new unexpected problems to solve. 

Key Responsibilities: 

• Build, manage and document on-site networks 

• Manage the primary and backup on-site high-speed internet 

• Manage servers that run on-site at Urban Sky 

• Document our IT policies around local and remote networks 

• Manage Urban Sky IT assets 

• Manage the distribution and security of employee computers 

• Manage on-site machines like shared parallel-processing towers and servers 

• Document the correct usage of shared assets and manage the configuration of these machines for security and usability.  

• Setup and manage secure authentication across internal and external services 

• Manage the building security system 

• Door-lock and security camera systems 

• Remote alarm and monitoring systems 

• Manage the conference rooms 

• Room scheduling 

• Video conferencing 

• Implement a NIST 800-171 Compliance program 

• Develop the necessary documentation, system configurations and compliance checks required for us to pass a NIST 800-171 audit, and operate in a secure way in accordance with that standard 

Qualifications: 

• 7+ years as an IT specialist  

• Certificate, degree (such as CS) or equivalent work experience 

• Strong technical expertise in IT infrastructure, networking, security, and cloud-based applications (Office365, AWS, Slack, Zoom, VPNs) 

• Positive, can-do attitude and a willingness to take on projects that would typically be done by larger teams 

• Exposure to high-security networks, risk management and cybersecurity practices typical for secured networks 

Nice-to-Haves/Preferred Skills: 

• Specific experience developing IT infrastructure for the US government 

• Certifications related to cybersecurity and risk management 

• CISSP, CISM etc. 

Requirements: 

• Must be US Citizen 

• Must be located near Denver, CO or willing to relocate to Denver, CO
  • Our office is at 4800 Race St. In Denver, CO and this role is on-site 

Benefits: 

• Salary $110,000 - $140,000 per year  

  • We are required to post this salary range per Colorado law. Your salary will be determined based on your abilities and experience. 

• Stock Options 

• Medical, Vision and Dental 

• Unlimited Vacation Days 

• Cell Phone Bill Stipend 

NOTE: Research suggests that women and BIPOC individuals may self-select out of opportunities if they don’t meet 100% of the job requirements. We encourage anyone who believes that they have the skills and the passion necessary to succeed here to apply for this role. 

This position may require the candidate to deal with commodities, software, technology, defense articles, and/or technical data which are subject to the Export Administration Regulations and/or the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Additional information may be requested so as to determine whether export authorization is required from the Bureau of Industry and Security and/or the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls. If authorization is required, employment will be contingent upon the Company successfully obtaining such authorization from the relevant government agency. 

Urban Sky is an equal opportunity employer, and we value diversity. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need.