Manager, Cloud IT Operations & Administration

Company Overview: Headquartered in El Segundo, Podium is North America’s fastest growing digital publisher, driven by its mission is to change the lives of trendsetting storytellers by discovering, developing, and amplifying their work.

Why Work at Podium: We offer a world-class, competitive benefits package that includes 100% employer-paid health benefits, paid parking, paid parental leave, flexible PTO, paid holidays, a free Class Pass membership, a paid Audible subscription, and a flexible hybrid work environment.

Job Overview:

Podium is hiring its first Manager, Cloud IT Operations & Administration, a founding role responsible for building and leading our internal IT function. This position blends cloud systems administration, SaaS ecosystem management, operational leadership, and hands-on user support to ensure Podium’s technology foundation is secure, efficient, and scalable for our next phase of growth. You will establish the systems, processes, and standards that define how IT operates at Podium—while managing our systems infrastructure, overseeing day-to-day support (in partnership with a third-party IT provider), and driving key technology initiatives across the business. The ideal candidate brings strong technical acumen, a service-oriented mindset, and experience supporting a cloud-first environment in media, publishing, or creative production.

Responsibilities

Cloud Systems Administration & IT Leadership

• Lead major technology initiatives from concept to deployment, including enterprise AI strategy, internal tool evaluation & consolidation, SaaS permissioning, domain migration, and data security enhancements. Execute projects that bring efficiency, cost savings, and support operational excellence at Podium.
• Administer and optimize key cloud and SaaS platforms (e.g., Google Workspace, Atlassian Confluence/Jira, Airtable, AWS, Box, Slack, Tableau, 1Password, Microsoft), including governance, monitoring, and lifecycle planning in collaboration with our IT vendor and development team
• Partner with Operations to identify opportunities for automation, integration, and workflow optimization across core internal systems
• Collaborate with Operations, Engineering, and Audio Production to ensure technical infrastructure meets workflow, tooling and security requirements
• Manage relationships with SaaS vendors, integrators, consultants, and technology consultants
• Build and maintain our tech stack & software database
• Develop and manage the IT budget, including spend optimization and license management
• Build and maintain Podium’s long-term IT strategy, roadmap, and operational standards

Hardware Management & User Support

In partnership with our external IT vendor:

• Oversee daily onsite IT operations at our El Segundo HQ, ensuring timely and high-quality support
• Define and implement IT service intake, ticketing, response guidelines, and performance metrics
• Maintain hardware inventory and lifecycle management for laptops and workstations in coordination with HR
• Coordinate IT onboarding/offboarding processes, provisioning and access control
• Build Confluence documentation and provide user trainings and IT highlights to improve adoption of tools and best practices, and reduce support requests
• Implement and enforce security policies, MFA, SSO
• Support data retention policies & backup solutions
• Partner with Finance and leadership to maintain compliance standards

Qualifications

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field (or equivalent experience)
• 5 years of IT management or systems administration experience
• Strong knowledge of both macOS and Windows environments
• Hands-on experience administrating Google Workspace, Atlassian Suite, Airtable, Box, Slack and cloud storage systems
• Experience managing SaaS ecosystems and SSO/MFA solutions
• Excellent communication skills, follow-through, and a proactive, collaborative approach

Preferred:

• Experience in media, audio production, or publishing environments
• Familiarity with production tools (e.g., Pro Tools, Adobe Audition, or similar)
• Experience with change management strategies

Physical Requirements

• Primarily office-based work setting.
• Must be able to work onsite Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays from our office in El Segundo.
• Work hours are from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM with some after-hours support required around platform launches and deployments.
• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Ability to walk, stand, and move around the office as needed.