IT Support Specialist at USA Rare Earth

Job Summary:

The IT Support Specialist plays a key role in building and supporting the information technology infrastructure that powers our fast-growing magnet manufacturing and R&D operations. This position oversees the planning, implementation, and administration of IT systems that span office, laboratory, and production environments. The ideal candidate thrives in a hands-on, start-up setting—balancing day-to-day support with long-term system development to enable operational efficiency, data integrity, and scalability.

Key Responsibilities

• Respond to and resolve day-to-day IT support tickets in a timely manner, ensuring minimal disruption to operations.
• Plan, implement, and maintain IT systems supporting production, engineering, and business functions across the organization.
• Collaborate with end users, including operations, engineering, and administrative teams, to diagnose and resolve hardware, software, and network issues.
• Analyze business needs and recommend cost-effective IT solutions that align with start-up growth and manufacturing requirements.
• Install, configure, and maintain network infrastructure, including LANs, WANs, wireless networks, and secure remote access for plant and office connectivity.
• Monitor and optimize network performance to ensure high availability across manufacturing systems and ERP/MES platforms.
• Implement and maintain cybersecurity and data protection measures, including endpoint management, access control, and backups.
• Assist in IT compliance audits, including SOX controls, by maintaining documentation and supporting evidence collection.
• Support system setups for new equipment, production lines, and new hire onboarding.
• Maintain clear documentation of IT configurations, standard operating procedures, and system specifications.
• Assist with IT project planning and scheduling, including system upgrades, integrations, and automation initiatives.
• Partner with vendors and internal stakeholders to evaluate and deploy new hardware, software, and network technologies.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or related field preferred.
• 4–7 years of IT experience, preferably in a manufacturing, industrial, or engineering-driven environment.
• Strong understanding of network administration, system integration, and hardware/software troubleshooting.
• Experience supporting production or laboratory systems (e.g., PLCs, data collection, ERP, MES) is highly desirable.
• Familiarity with cloud environments (e.g., Azure, or equivalent).
• Hands-on experience with Microsoft 365 administration, including user provisioning, licensing, and security policies.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) for identity and access management, including user/group management and conditional access policies.
• Experience administering Microsoft Teams, including channel management, permissions, and integration with business workflows.
• Proficiency in SharePoint Online administration, including site creation, permissions management, document libraries, and collaboration tools.
• Understanding of SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley) compliance requirements and IT general controls, including access management, change management, and audit trail documentation.
• Strong documentation and organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills—comfortable supporting users at all levels in a fast-paced, hands-on environment.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and distance vision. While performing the duties of this Job, the employee is regularly required to walk, stand, move, sit, carry, bend, kneel, reach, push, pull, lift, use hands and fingers, handle, or feel and talk and hear. May be required to lift and move boxes or packages not exceeding 20 pounds in weight. Some work stress inherent to the position and extended work hours may be required. 

Work Environment:
The work environment will be a mix of a typical office environment, laboratory space, manufacturing floor and construction site.  

Noise level:

Exposure will vary and include normal office noise, typical laboratory sounds (e.g., ventilation systems, equipment operation), manufacturing floor noise (e.g., machinery, forklifts), and construction site noise depending on project phase and location.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this job. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, skills required of personnel so classified. The reporting relationship may not reflect the most recent changes to the corporate reporting structure.

USA Rare Earth proudly supports Equal Employment Opportunities

USA Rare Earth's policy is to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and will provide reasonable accommodations according to applicable federal, state, and/or local laws.

For assistance applying for employment through this site due to disability, please contact Human Resources, [email protected], to discuss reasonable accommodations.