Core Infrastructure Team Associate

Tuesday June 26, 2012

Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC) is seeking a high-energy, entry-level person to join its Core Infrastructure Team to help clients with their computing, network, email, phone, and other tech needs.

ABOUT CIC

Neighboring the MIT campus and steps away from the Red Line in Kendall Square, Cambridge Innovation Center is the World's largest flexible office facility for growing companies. CIC provides approximately 450 small companies award-wining facilities and state-of-the-art business and technical services. CIC is a leader in workplace design, having won several awards in this area.

We have re-envisioned the concept of "workplace,” seeking to create a fun, enjoyable, campus-like environment that provides many opportunities to meet and mix with other innovators. CIC offers our clients a range of environments from large, shared co-working areas to private, secured offices, all with access to extensive shared amenities, including fully stocked kitchens, conference rooms, copiers and printers, shower rooms, massage therapy, bike-share program, etc. Our goal is to let our clients focus on their innovations while we take care of everything else. CIC seeks to provide a warm, friendly environment where everything "just works" all the time. This requires a staff with good interpersonal skills and a high level of organization and attention to detail. In this way, CIC resembles a high-end hotel. Unlike a hotel, however, the companies at CIC usually stay with us for years, and our staff and clients develop relationships that transcend the service industry norm. The feel here is that of a "close-knit neighborhood,” where CIC staff are community leaders.

CIC has attracted some of the best-known startups in the Boston area, including half of the Google team that built the Android smart-phone operating system, Design that Matters, which was awarded Time Magazine’s Best Invention of 2010, and InVivo Therapeutics, a company working to cure paralysis. Since 2001, CIC client companies have raised over $1.1B in venture capital. Interested candidates may wish to watch the short videos at http://www.cictr.com.

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE

CIC seeks highly capable, self-directed individuals who employ a high level of autonomy in their work. If you are the kind of person who not only thinks critically about problems, but also likes to take the initiative to pursue new ideas, you would probably enjoy working here. This is a job for a balanced, self-confident individual. The ideal candidate will:

• Have a solid understanding and interest in technology.
• Appreciate what they don't know and when it's necessary to ask more experienced colleagues for help.
• Be well centered and happy to help others.
• Get a kick out of getting a virus out of a user's machine, without loss of data, and would have a knack for coming away having built a relationship with that user.
• Bring energy and gusto into a room, be it during an all-afternoon meeting on ways to reconstruct the network, or a marathon of cabling and configuration exercises to get an office for 15 people set-up and running in a day.
• Be comfortable working across a diverse range of technology disciplines, from helping a user who says "I can't print", to diagnosing a sick PC, to wiring office space for data and telephone lines or sorting through why a set of firewall rules are not letting the right kind of traffic through the network.
• Have a basic programing experience (Ruby on Rails, etc)
• Have good organizational skills and possess excellent analytical and problem solving techniques.

If you enjoy problem solving and building relationships with your clients by helping them with their technology questions, you would probably do well at CIC.

GENERAL OVERVIEW OF RESPONSIBILITIES

CIC is looking for an energetic Associate to become a part of our core infrastructure team. We are a customer-first organization focused on service. Technology plays a big role for us, hence we are always trying out new technologies and so this is fun work for someone who loves IT. Although your primary responsibilities focus around providing IT Level 2 support, there will be many opportunities to learn about our other infrastructure: e-mail, file, and backup servers, enterprise gigabit switches, firewalls, wireless systems, network monitoring tools, security systems, cameras, and even physical layer wiring. This keeps the work varied, and presents lots of opportunities to learn. We run mostly on Microsoft products (Active Directory), we have Cisco firewalls, Extreme Networks switches, and there are a few Linux boxes as well. We don't have night shifts, but some opportunities to learn will be after hours, and weekend work is occasional.

ATTRACTIONS OF THE JOB

• Dynamic atmosphere: Our employees like working at CIC, and we experience almost no voluntary departures.
• Energetic community: Our clients are some of the smartest individuals in the country, and take part in a wide range of industries, including bio-tech, venture capital, law, and philanthropy.
• Highly varied work: No day seems like the last, and each brings new opportunities to come up with creative solutions for clients' needs.
• Convenient location: CIC's entrance is about 100 yards from the east exit of the Kendall Square stop on the Red Line.
• Great team: Engaged and exciting co-workers in a staff-friendly environment.
• High visibility: Your work will be seen and noticed by the entire CIC team, as well as by hundreds of our clients.
• Personal growth: CIC provides a clearly defined career path with opportunities for salary growth and more learning for strong performers.

REQUIREMENTS

• This is an entry-level position, meaning we are looking for someone recently out of school who wants to learn and grow into this role. Nonetheless, this person will probably have been in technology-related helping roles or technology has been a life long passion.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience.
• Derives personal pleasure and satisfaction helping others.
• Have a natural interest in all things technical.
• Excellent verbal and interpersonal skills.

Starting compensation is $35K per year plus 100% of the cost of a premium healthcare and dental package, long and short-term disability, life insurance, and 2 weeks vacation from the start (more with seniority). Annual reviews with raises every year for those on track with strong performance.