Director, Enterprise IT Infrastructure

QuantumScape is on a mission to transform energy storage with solid-state lithium-metal battery technology. The company’s next-generation batteries are designed to enable greater energy density, faster charging and enhanced safety to support the transition away from legacy energy sources toward a lower carbon future.

About the team:

secure the technology backbone that powers our mission to revolutionize energy storage. You will own the strategy and day-to-day operations of our enterprise infrastructure -- networks, identity, endpoints, service desk, on-prem systems, and the hybrid connectivity that ties our R&D labs, pilot manufacturing lines, and corporate offices together. You will serve as the primary enterprise IT leader and a key strategic partner to the GCP Platform Engineering team, ensuring cloud and Kubernetes capabilities integrate seamlessly with the enterprise environment. Above all, you believe that great infrastructure is invisible and that every interaction with IT -- from a helpdesk ticket to a network outage -- is an opportunity to earn trust and delight the people we serve. This is a builder's role for a leader who wants to modernize a hybrid on-prem footprint, drive automation, and partner directly with the scientists and engineers shaping the future of solid-state batteries.

What we need :

QuantumScape is seeking a hands-on, execution-focused Director of Enterprise IT Infrastructure to architect, scale, and secure the technology backbone that powers our mission to revolutionize energy storage. You will own the strategy and day-to-day operations of our enterprise infrastructure - cloud platforms, networks, identity, endpoints, and the systems that connect our R&D labs, pilot manufacturing lines, and corporate offices. This is a builder's role for a leader who wants to modernize a hybrid cloud/on-prem footprint, drive automation, and partner directly with the scientists and engineers shaping the future of solid-state batteries.

What you'll work on:

• Enterprise networking -- multi-site LAN/WAN, Wi-Fi, SD-WAN, Palo Alto firewalls, network segmentation, and zero-trust access across corporate, R&D, and manufacturing sites.
• Identity and endpoint -- SSO/MFA, MDM, EDR, ThreatLocker, device lifecycle for office, lab, and shop-floor users.
• Service desk and customer delight -- lead a service desk organization that resolves issues with speed, empathy, and consistency; set and exceed SLA targets, build self-service capabilities, and create an IT experience that earns genuine praise from the scientists, engineers, and operators we support.
• Collaboration and productivity -- MS 365, Atlassian suite, ManageEngine, corporate business systems, and the tools R&D and engineering live in every day.
• Lab and manufacturing IT -- instrumentation networks, OT/IT integration, and infrastructure that supports pilot lines moving toward commercial production.
• Automation and observability -- infrastructure-as-code, monitoring, alerting, and SRE practices that move the team from reactive to proactive.
• Cloud platform partnership -- serve as the enterprise IT strategic partner to the GCP Platform Engineering team; own hybrid connectivity, IAM integration, on-prem to cloud network architecture, and cross-environment governance to ensure the enterprise and cloud estates operate as one coherent infrastructure.
• Kubernetes partnership -- collaborate with the GCP Platform Engineering team on Kubernetes strategy, contributing enterprise IT context to network policy design, RBAC governance, and CI/CD pipeline integration. Co-develop an overarching hybrid IT infrastructure strategy that future-proofs the environment and supports organizational growth.

Key Responsibilities

What you’ll do:

• Own the strategy, roadmap, and day-to-day operations of QuantumScape's enterprise infrastructure -- networking, identity, endpoints, service desk, collaboration, and on-prem systems -- aligning multi-year investment to business growth.
• Lead enterprise networking modernization across LAN/WAN, Wi-Fi, SD-WAN, Palo Alto firewalls, and zero-trust architecture spanning offices, R&D labs, and pilot manufacturing, while serving as the strategic integration point with the GCP Platform Engineering team for hybrid cloud connectivity and Kubernetes workload alignment.
• Build and operate a service desk organization that delivers exceptional end-user experiences -- rapid resolution, proactive communication, and a culture of customer delight -- measured through CSAT, MTTR, first-contact resolution, and ticket deflection rates.
• Champion self-service and AI-driven ticket deflection so that employees can resolve common issues on their own, freeing the team to focus on higher-complexity work and deeper customer engagement.
• Partner with InfoSec to govern identity, endpoint, and zero-trust controls (SSO/MFA, MDM/EDR, ThreatLocker), and ensure compliance with data protection, export control, and BC/DR requirements.
• Establish infrastructure-as-code, observability, and SRE practices that raise uptime, cut MTTR, and turn operations from reactive to proactive.
• Champion the responsible adoption of AI across IT -- AIOps, ticket deflection, anomaly detection, capacity forecasting, and self-service -- to materially raise team productivity and end-user experience.
• Drive an AI-driven infrastructure operating model: use agentic workflows to continuously validate configurations, detect drift, enforce policy-as-code, and self-heal systems so the estate stays correct, compliant, and secure by default.
• Partner with InfoSec, Legal, and the business to set guardrails, data-handling standards, and acceptable-use policies for enterprise AI (copilots, agentic workflows, LLM automation), and safely scale them to the workforce.
• Partner closely with R&D, engineering, and manufacturing operations to deliver infrastructure that scales with lab instrumentation, OT/IT convergence, and the move from pilot to commercial production.
• Run IT service delivery end-to-end -- helpdesk, endpoint lifecycle, collaboration (Google Workspace, MS 365), and network operations -- against measurable SLAs (uptime, MTTR, change success rate, CSAT), with strong vendor, license, and budget stewardship.
• Build and retain a high-performing, diverse infrastructure team through servant leadership: clear blockers, create psychological safety, invest in coaching and career paths, and grow the first-line managers who will lead the next wave of work.

Skills you’ll need:

• Bachelor's in CS, IT, Engineering, or related field (Master's preferred); 15+ years of progressive IT experience, including 5+ years leading enterprise infrastructure or IT operations teams.
• Deep hands-on expertise across enterprise networking (LAN/WAN, Wi-Fi, firewalls, SD-WAN, segmentation), identity (SSO/MFA/SAML/OIDC), endpoint management, and on-prem and hybrid infrastructure operations.
• Demonstrated track record leading service desk or IT support organizations with a measurable focus on customer satisfaction, SLA performance, and continuous improvement of the end-user experience.
• Proven track record modernizing hybrid on-prem environments without disrupting the business, with a strong systems administration foundation that keeps you credible with senior engineers.
• Working knowledge of cloud networking, hybrid connectivity, and Kubernetes concepts sufficient to serve as a strategic partner and integration point with a dedicated GCP Platform Engineering team; direct GCP or GKE administration experience is a plus.
• Experience supporting R&D, lab, and/or manufacturing environments -- instrumentation networks, OT/IT integration, pilot or production lines -- highly preferred.
• Working knowledge of cybersecurity frameworks (NIST CSF, ISO 27001, SOC 2) and tools; experience partnering with InfoSec on zero-trust, EDR, and vulnerability management.
• Demonstrated use of AI, automation, and data to drive measurable efficiency, cost, and productivity gains -- including practical experience deploying AI copilots, agentic workflows, or AIOps in an enterprise environment.
• Track record of leading complex cross-functional programs and managing significant budgets, with the executive presence and communication skills to align technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• People leader at heart -- proven ability to hire, develop, and retain technical talent and grow first-line managers. Hands-on familiarity with tools such as MS 365, Google Workspace, JIRA, ManageEngine, Palo Alto, Cisco, and ThreatLocker; certifications such as CISSP, CCNP, ITIL, or PMP are a strong plus.\

Nice to have:

• Experience with Google Cloud Platform (GCP) -- Compute Engine, Cloud Storage, IAM, VPC, hybrid connectivity -- and Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE); Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect or CKA certification.
• A genuine passion for customer experience -- someone who reads CSAT comments, walks the floor to understand friction firsthand, and treats every support interaction as an opportunity to build trust.
• Passionate about enabling scientific innovation in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment.
• Hands-on practitioner equally comfortable in a config file, an architecture review, and a boardroom budget conversation.
• Experience scaling IT for a pre-commercial or growth-stage manufacturing and R&D organization, including the transition from pilot to commercial production.
• Familiarity with OT/ICS environments and the constraints of lab equipment, MES, and production-line connectivity.
• Strong opinions about automation, observability, and operational excellence -- and the discipline to make them real, including mature ITIL/SRE, change management, and incident response practices.
• Personal fluency with modern AI tooling and a bias toward experimentation -- measures success by the careers built and trust earned, not the tickets closed.

ONSITE:

This position is required to work onsite 5 days per week to meet the minimum essential duties and requirements of this position. As an on-site R&D and manufacturing operations organization, in-person face to face interaction is essential to building authentic relationships, trust, teamwork, and collaboration.

Compensation & Benefits:

Expected salary range for this role is from $190,800 to $280,000, and a final salary will be determined by the candidate's experience and educational background. QuantumScape also offers an annual bonus and a generous RSU/Equity package as part of its compensation plan. In addition, we do offer a tremendous benefits plan including employee paid health care, Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP), and other benefits.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request an accommodation.