Head of IT at Retool – San Francisco, California

ABOUT RETOOLNearly every company in the world runs on custom software for critical operations like tracking performance metrics, handling customer support workflows, building admin dashboards, and countless other processes you might not have even thought of. But most companies don't have adequate resources to properly invest in these tools, leading to a lot of old and clunky internal software or, even worse, users still stuck in manual and spreadsheet flows.
At Retool, we’re building the first enterprise AppGen platform: software that transforms natural language into production-ready code, integrates directly with business data, and meets the highest standards of security and governance. AI is redefining what it means to build software—and who gets to build it. The definition of “developer” now includes analysts, operators, and domain experts creating solutions directly. As the pool of builders widens, so does the complexity of what they need to build. The opportunity is enormous, but so is the challenge of enabling this larger community to build production-grade software safely. That means AI that understands real business data, enforces enterprise policies automatically, and empowers teams to create once and reuse everywhere with shared, trusted components.
Over 100 million hours of work has been automated by developers and domain experts using our platform, freeing them to focus on creative problem-solving and strategic initiatives that drive real business value. The people closest to knowing what needs to be built can now safely create custom solutions within enterprise guardrails. And that's a mission worth striving for.
Let's build the future together!
WHY WE’RE LOOKING FOR YOUOur Trust Team is seeking a Head of IT to own and evolve the technology foundation that powers Retool as a company. In this role, you’ll be responsible for the full lifecycle of corporate IT, from endpoint management and identity infrastructure to SaaS governance and internal support, ensuring that everyone has the tools, access, and support they need to do their best work.
This is a leadership role with real program ownership: you’ll define and execute the IT strategy for a company that is building the tools of tomorrow. Our internal infrastructure should reflect that same standard of quality and innovation that we imbue in our product. You’ll partner closely with the Trust, Engineering, and People teams to ensure our IT environment is secure, efficient, and scales with the business.
At Retool, we believe IT should be a force multiplier. If you’re someone who thinks about IT as a product, with internal personnel as your customers, and you’re energized by building systems that are elegant, automated, and secure by default, we’d love to hear from you.
IN THIS ROLE, YOU WILL

• Own and operate Retool’s corporate IT environment end-to-end, including endpoint management (Kandji/Iru), identity and access management (Okta, 1Password), and SaaS administration (Google Workspace, Confluence, Slack, and many more)
• Define and execute IT strategy aligned to business goals, ensuring our corporate infrastructure scales with headcount growth, supports compliance requirements, and enables productivity across all teams
• Build and mature our SaaS governance program, including license optimization, shadow IT discovery, and vendor lifecycle management
• Own the employee IT experience from onboarding through offboarding, from managing device provisioning, access workflows, to internal support via Risotto and direct engagement
• Establish and enforce endpoint compliance and device trust policies using Kolide, ensuring fleet health and security posture across macOS and Windows environments
• Develop and govern IT policies, standards, and runbooks that balance security requirements with developer productivity, particularly around device management, access controls, and acceptable use
• Ensure IT operations align with SOC 2, ISO 27001, and other compliance frameworks, owning controls where IT is the operator
• Drive automation and tooling improvements to reduce toil, improve mean time to resolution, and deliver self-service capabilities wherever possible
• Establish and govern the responsible use of AI tools across the organization, including administration and policy enforcement for platforms that we rely on every day like Claude and ChatGPT
• Define IT metrics and reporting that demonstrate operational health, service quality, and program maturity to leadership

THE SKILLSET YOU'LL BRING

• 5+ years of experience managing IT teams, with a track record of building and scaling IT capabilities, not just maintaining something you inherited
• Deep hands-on experience with modern SaaS-first IT stacks, including identity providers (Okta), endpoint management (Kandji, Jamf, or similar), and collaboration platforms (Google Workspace, Slack, Confluence)
• Strong understanding of zero-trust principles and how they apply to endpoint compliance, device trust, and access management
• Experience operating IT in a compliant environment (SOC 2, ISO 27001) with comfort owning controls and producing audit evidence
• A product-minded approach to IT: you think about employee experience, measure satisfaction, and iterate on service delivery the way a product team would
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to translate technical infrastructure decisions into business impact for leadership
• Comfort with ambiguity and the ability to prioritize ruthlessly in a fast-moving environment where not everything is well-defined
• A builder’s mindset: you think about automation, self-service, and scalability before adding headcount or manual processes

NICE TO HAVE

• Experience with SaaS management platforms (Trelica, Zylo, Productiv, or similar) for license governance and shadow IT discovery
• Familiarity with endpoint compliance tooling like Kolide for device trust enforcement
• Experience administering, governing, and using AI/LLM tools (Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, Cursor) in an enterprise setting
• Background in or strong partnership with security teams: you understand the intersection of IT operations and security posture
• Experience at a developer tools company or in an environment with a highly technical employee base that expects high-quality internal tooling
• Hands-on scripting or automation skills (Retool, Python, Bash, Terraform, or similar) for building IT workflows and integrations

For candidates based in the United States, the pay range(s) for this role is listed below and represents base salary range for non-commissionable roles or on-target earnings (OTE) for commissionable roles. This salary range may be inclusive of several career levels at Retool and will be narrowed during the interview process based on a number of factors such as (but not limited to), scope and responsibilities, the candidate’s experience and qualifications, and location. Additional compensation in the form(s) of equity and/or commission are dependent on the position offered. Retool provides a comprehensive benefit plan, including medical, dental, vision, and 401(k). Pay and benefits are subject to change at any time, consistent with the terms of any applicable compensation or benefit plans.
The base pay range for this role is $148,500 – $235,000 per year.
Retool offers generous benefits to all employees and hybrid work location. For more information, please visit the benefits and perks section of our careers page!
Retool is currently set up to employ all roles in the US and specific roles in the UK. To find roles that can be employed in the UK, please refer to our careers page and review the indicated locations.