IT Manager 

Parallel Systems is seeking an experienced, hands-on IT Manager to own and scale the company’s internal IT function. This role is responsible for both strategy and execution. You will design, implement, and operate the IT systems that support a fast-growing engineering and operations organization.  

You will report into the engineering organization and work primarily on-site at our California offices. This is not a helpdesk-only role. You will be the primary owner of corporate IT, expected to make decisions, drive improvements, and personally execute where needed. 

Responsibilities 

• Own the end-to-end IT strategy and operating model, ensuring infrastructure, tooling, and security scale with company growth and business priorities 
• Act as the primary IT owner for the company, serving as the main technical partner to leadership and department heads 
• Design, maintain, and continuously improve corporate IT infrastructure, including networking, conference room systems, end-user devices, and cloud-based assets 
• Lead network architecture and long-term infrastructure improvement projects across offices and facilities 
• Manage IT budget, forecast spend, and drive cost efficiency across hardware, SaaS tools, and managed service providers 
• Own vendor relationships and contract negotiations, including SaaS renewals, hardware procurement, and external IT services 
• Execute hands-on, on-site technical work as needed, including installing, configuring, repairing, and replacing devices, network equipment, and software 
• Serve as the escalation point for technical issues and ensure timely resolution of IT requests received via Slack, email, or other support channels 
• Design and own IT automation and workflows, including onboarding, offboarding, access provisioning, and device lifecycle management 
• Own device management and internal MDM services across all endpoints 
• Establish, document, and enforce IT policies and standards, including device management, access controls, data protection, and acceptable use 
• Define, track, and report IT performance metrics such as uptime, ticket SLAs, security incidents, and cost efficiency 
• Track IT tickets through JIRA to completion and communicate status updates clearly and consistently 

What Success Looks Like 

• After 30 days: You understand Parallel’s network architecture, device fleet, security posture, and software stack. You have identified gaps, risks, and inefficiencies across IT processes, tools, and infrastructure. You have built relationships with leadership and key stakeholders and aligned with them on business priorities. You have inventoried all IT assets and recorded their condition and location. 
• After 60 days: You have a clear, approved roadmap for IT improvements with defined metrics. You have completed at least one meaningful infrastructure or process improvement. You have visibility into IT costs, contracts, and renewal timelines and have established working relationships with key vendors. 
• After 90 days: IT operations are more reliable, secure, and scalable. Leadership has confidence in IT execution and decision-making. You are actively delivering against the roadmap and have optimized at least two areas of IT spend or operational efficiency. 

Basic Qualifications 

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or a related field, or 5+ years of full-time professional IT experience 
• Experience owning and administering corporate IT environments, including Active Directory or equivalent identity systems and MDM platforms such as Kandji or Intune 
• Hands-on experience designing, maintaining, and improving office and enterprise network infrastructure using Unifi or comparable solutions 
• Experience managing IT budgets, forecasting spend, and driving cost efficiency across tools and infrastructure 
• Experience managing IT vendors, contracts, and SaaS licensing 
• Experience defining, tracking, and reporting IT performance metrics and KPIs 
• Strong understanding of IT security best practices, including endpoint security, access controls, data protection, and incident response 
• Ability to perform on-site physical tasks, including standing, bending, lifting, and carrying equipment up to 50 lbs 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Experience acting as the primary IT owner or lead in a startup or high-growth environment 
• Experience building or improving IT automation and operational workflows 
• Working knowledge of authentication and identity protocols such as Kerberos, SAML, OAuth, or similar technologies 
• Strong understanding of wireless networking technologies, network planning, and security configurations 
• Experience supporting engineering-heavy or hardware-focused organizations 

We're looking for a driven DevOps Engineer to join our infrastructure team. You'll help build, maintain, and improve the infrastructure that keeps our systems running reliably at scale. Working alongside senior engineers, you'll gain hands-on experience with modern cloud-native tooling -  from provisioning infrastructure with Terraform to deploying applications via ArgoCD on Kubernetes. 

What You’ll Work On 

• Write and maintain Terraform modules to provision and manage cloud infrastructure (mostly AWS) in a consistent, repeatable way 
• Package and manage application deployments using Helm charts, including templating, versioning, and chart repository management 
• Automate configuration management and application provisioning tasks using Ansible playbooks and roles 
• Support the operation of Kubernetes clusters — deploying workloads, debugging pod failures, managing namespaces, RBAC, and resource quotas 
• Contribute to GitOps workflows using ArgoCD, maintaining application sync policies and managing rollouts and rollbacks 
• Collaborate with development teams to improve CI/CD pipelines and reduce deployment friction 
• Maintain and expand our secrets management systems and workflows built on HashiCorp Vault 
• Improve and support our cybersecurity posture by applying cybersecurity standards and best practices 
• Optimize our network infrastructure to handle additional workloads and applications 

What Success Looks Like 

• After 30 Days: You understand the fundamentals of Parallel's existing Terraform modules, Helm charts, and Ansible playbooks, and have familiarized yourself with our current architecture and conventions. You have submitted your first pull request. 
• After 60 Days: Own and ship at least one significant Terraform, Helm, or Ansible change end-to-end, from writing to code review to production merge. Understand how platform work impacts product delivery. 
• After 90 Days: Take ownership of Parallel's infrastructure (a service, a cluster, or a pipeline) and be the go-to person for it. You have contributed a measurable improvement to Parallel's infrastructure and are actively supporting deployment and product testing efforts. 

Basic Qualifications 

• 3–5 years of experience in a DevOps, Platform Engineering, or Site Reliability Engineering role. 
• Minimum 1 year experience with Terraform, Ansible, Chef or other Infrastructure as Code (IaC) or Configuration Management (CM) tools 
• Hands-on Kubernetes administration experience: networking (CNI, ingress), storage (PVCs, StorageClasses), workload management (Deployments, StatefulSets, Jobs, CronJobs), and troubleshooting 
• Comfort with Linux CLI, shell scripting, and Git workflows 
• Minimum 1 year experience with at least one major cloud provider (AWS, GCP, or Azure) 
• Familiarity with CI/CD concepts and pipeline tooling (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, etc.) 
• Experience writing Helm charts from scratch or building on upstream charts 
• Strong understanding of core internet technologies like DNS, TCP/IP and the OSI model, HTTP, and TLS. 
• Familiarity with observability tooling (Prometheus, Grafana, Loki, OpenTelemetry) 
• Experience with scripting in at least one language (Shell, Python, etc.) 
• Strong understanding of security concepts (least privilege, CIA triad, defense in depth) 
• Hands-on experience with ArgoCD or another GitOps tool (Flux, etc.) 
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, and good documentation habits 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Familiarity with secrets management, especially with HashiCorp Vault or External Secrets Operator 
• Understanding of authentication and authorization schemes (SAML, OIDC) 
• Relevant certifications: CKA, Terraform Associate, AWS SAA, etc. 

Senior Mechanical Engineer

Parallel Systems is seeking a Senior Mechanical Engineer with expertise in dynamics, simulation, and CAD design to help us design the next generation of our self-propelled rail vehicles. This role will focus on designing and analyzing mechanical systems for performance, safety, and durability. Ideal candidates will have experience in vehicle dynamics and structural analysis, with a preference for those who have worked in railway or road vehicle applications. 

Responsibilities: 

• Design and analyze vehicle structures, mechanisms, and actuated systems with a focus on dynamics, kinematics, and structural integrity. 
• Develop, optimize, and maintain CAD models for mechanical components and assemblies. 
• Conduct multibody dynamics simulations to assess system performance under real-world conditions. 
• Perform finite element analysis (FEA) for structural, fatigue, and modal performance.  
• Investigate and resolve mechanical failures to improve system reliability.  
• Support prototype development, testing, and validation of vehicle components as part of a multi-disciplinary team.  

Requirements: 

• 5+ years of experience in mechanical engineering with a focus on structures, dynamics, simulation, and machine design.  
• Strong proficiency in CAD software (SolidWorks, CATIA, Siemens NX, or similar). 
• Experience with multibody dynamics (MBD) simulation tools (Simpack, Adams, or equivalent). 
• Expertise in finite element analysis (FEA) and computational simulation. 
• Strong understanding of mechanical vibrations, fatigue analysis, and structural mechanics. 
• Experience working with mechanical systems in transportation, automotive, or railway applications. 
• Ability to interpret and apply engineering standards and safety regulations. 

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Experience in railway vehicle dynamics, bogie design, or track interaction. 
• Knowledge of railway industry standards (EN, UIC, APTA, FRA, or similar). 
• Experience with prototyping, manufacturing processes, and design for manufacturability (DFM). 
• Proficiency in Python, MATLAB, or similar scripting tools for simulation automation. 

Mechanical Engineer 

Parallel Systems is building autonomous, battery-electric rail vehicles to modernize freight transportation. We are seeking a Mechanical Engineer to help design and build the next generation of our vehicles. This is a hands-on role for an early-career engineer who wants to work on real hardware, solve practical mechanical problems, and stay close to the build. 

We are looking for people from top engineering programs who have already designed and built meaningful hardware through internships, Formula SAE, Baja SAE, Design/Build/Fly, rocket club, robotics, senior design, or similar technical programs. The right person is not just strong in theory, but knows how to turn ideas into physical parts, work through manufacturing constraints, and improve designs through testing and iteration. 

Responsibilities: 

• Design mechanical components, assemblies, and mechanisms for vehicle systems with a focus on performance, manufacturability, reliability, and integration. 
• Create and maintain CAD models, engineering drawings, and release packages for fabricated and purchased parts. 
• Own mechanical design problems from concept through build, test, and iteration. 
• Work closely with manufacturing, supply chain, test, and other engineering teams to move designs from CAD into hardware quickly and effectively. 
• Support prototype builds, fit checks, hardware bring-up, root cause investigations, and design revisions. 
• Participate in testing and validation of mechanical systems, review results, identify failure modes, and drive practical design improvements. 
• Perform engineering analysis as needed to support design decisions, including tolerance stack-ups, hand calculations, and other first-principles work. 
• Help troubleshoot mechanical issues on prototypes and vehicles, and contribute to fixes that improve robustness and field performance. 

What Success Looks Like: 

• Within 30 days: you have ramped on our vehicle architecture, tools, and engineering workflows, and are contributing to CAD work, design updates, and prototype support. 
• Within 60 days: you are independently owning straightforward mechanical parts and assemblies, producing release-ready drawings, and supporting those designs through fabrication and build. 
• Within 90 days: you are making meaningful contributions to vehicle hardware, helping solve real integration and reliability issues, and showing that you can move from design to build to iteration with a high level of ownership. 

Requirements: 

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related field. 
• 1 to 3 years of mechanical engineering experience through full-time work, internships, co-ops, or highly relevant project experience. 
• Strong CAD skills in SolidWorks, CATIA, Siemens NX, or similar. 
• Experience designing and manufacturing real mechanical hardware through internships, student teams, or personal technical projects. 
• Strong mechanical engineering fundamentals, including statics, dynamics, materials, tolerancing, and machine design. 
• Ability to create clear engineering drawings and communicate design intent effectively with machinists, fabricators, suppliers, and cross-functional teammates. 
• Comfort working in a fast-paced hardware environment where engineering decisions need to become physical hardware quickly. 
• Hands-on mindset with a willingness to spend significant time in the shop, lab, or build environment supporting hardware directly. 

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Leadership experience with Formula SAE, Baja SAE, Design/Build/Fly, rocket club, solar car, robotics, or similar hands-on engineering programs. 
• Experience designing parts for machining, sheet metal, weldments, composites, castings, or additive manufacturing. 
• Experience building and assembling mechanical systems, not just designing them. 
• Exposure to prototype development, design iteration, and debugging in a real hardware environment. 
• Familiarity with FEA, MATLAB, Python, or similar tools, with the judgment to use them in support of practical engineering decisions. 
• Interest in transportation, automotive, aerospace, robotics, or railway systems. 

Enterprise Account Executive

Parallel Systems is seeking a commercially driven, hands-on sales leader to own revenue generation and customer expansion across freight railroads, intermodal operators, and logistics partners. This is not a transactional sales role. You will operate at the intersection of freight economics, operations, and technology, positioning Parallel’s autonomous rail system to unlock new revenue, improve lane performance, and modernize how railroads compete with trucking.

You will act as a trusted commercial partner to customers, combining sales execution with a deep understanding of freight flows, lane economics, and customer value creation. This role is ideal for someone who has sold complex freight or logistics solutions, understands how shippers and brokers think about lanes, pricing, and service levels, and can translate that knowledge into durable rail partnerships.

You will collaborate closely with product, engineering, operations, and executive leadership to ensure commercial strategy, customer commitments, and deployments are aligned and scalable.

Responsibilities:

• Own end-to-end sales execution across a defined universe of freight rail, intermodal, and logistics customers, from prospecting through close and expansion.
• Lead customer discovery focused on freight lanes, shipper needs, service reliability, and revenue opportunities enabled by Parallel’s system.
• Position Parallel’s vehicle and software platform as a revenue and network optimization solution, not just a technology deployment.
• Develop commercial proposals, pilot structures, pricing models, and long-term agreements tied to customer ROI and lane performance.
• Build strong relationships with customer commercial, operations, and executive teams to drive internal alignment and deal momentum.
• Translate market and customer insights into go-to-market strategy, sales messaging, and product priorities.
• Create repeatable sales playbooks for outbound strategy, deal qualification, pipeline management, and post-sale expansion.
• Represent Parallel at industry events, customer meetings, and strategic forums with credibility across both commercial and operational audiences.
• Partner with legal, regulatory, and policy teams to ensure commercial structures align with rail and transportation requirements.

What Success Looks Like:

• After 30 days: You understand Parallel’s system, target customer segments, and freight use cases well enough to engage credibly in commercial conversations and advance early-stage deals.
• After 60 days: You independently run customer engagements end to end, including deal strategy, internal alignment, customer follow-ups, and executive-level discussions.
• After 90 days: You are actively running outbound and inbound sales campaigns across your target accounts, building pipeline, advancing opportunities, and managing early customer relationships. Ideally, you have closed an initial deal and built a healthy pipeline across multiple stages, with clear line of sight to future revenue growth and expansion.

Basic Requirements:

• 3+ years in sales, business development, or customer-facing commercial roles selling complex technology platforms. 
• Demonstrated experience selling complex B2B solutions tied to disruptive technology.
• Ability and desire to operate as a high-impact individual contributor with ownership of revenue outcomes.
• Experience working in startups, new business lines, or early-stage commercial environments.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Background in freight brokerage, third-party logistics, or shipper-facing sales.
• Strong understanding of how shippers, brokers, and carriers evaluate service, cost, and reliability.
• Comfort engaging deeply on lane economics, network design, and operational tradeoffs.
• Strong systems thinking with the ability to connect customer pain points to scalable commercial solutions.
• Clear, confident communication style that builds trust across operational, commercial, and executive stakeholders.

Compensation:

• The expected salary for this role is between $120,000-$140,000 plus commission/incentive pay, with an on-target expectation of $250,000-$300,000. 

Vehicle Integration Test Engineer 

Parallel Systems is building autonomous, battery-electric rail vehicles to modernize freight transportation. We are looking for a hands-on Vehicle Integration Test Engineer to own vehicle validation at our contract manufacturer and in the field, ensuring every system meets performance, safety, and regulatory requirements before release. 

This role sits at the intersection of systems engineering, hardware validation, and factory operations. You will work closely with internal Responsible Engineers and our Contract Manufacturer to define how vehicles are tested, execute validation campaigns, and maintain rigorous traceability from top-level requirements through subsystem and vehicle verification. 

This position requires up to 50% travel to our contract manufacturer and customer sites. 

Responsibilities:

• Own vehicle-level and subsystem validation activities, including factory vehicle checkouts, subsystem acceptance testing, site acceptance testing, and manufacturing support 
• Plan and execute system integration and validation campaigns across mechanical, electrical, controls, and embedded software systems 
• Work with Responsible Engineers to decompose top-level system requirements into actionable test requirements and verification plans 
• Manage and maintain requirements traceability from system requirements through validation evidence using a structured requirements database 
• Develop end-of-line factory test processes, tooling requirements, and documentation in partnership with Contract Manufacturer engineers 
• Design, build, and maintain test stands and related validation infrastructure 
• Define and document test procedures, test reports, and compliance artifacts with a high level of rigor and attention to detail 
• Ensure hardware systems, including firmware and software interfaces, are tested correctly prior to vehicle release from the Contract Manufacturer 
• Translate engineering and integration efforts into clear regulatory and safety documentation aligned with governing standards 
• Collect, organize, and review vendor and manufacturing quality documentation 
• Provide feedback across the design lifecycle to improve testability, reliability, and system robustness 

What Success Looks Like:

• After 30 Days: You have developed a strong understanding of the vehicle architecture, subsystem interfaces, and system requirements. You have reviewed existing validation processes and identified key gaps in tooling, traceability, and documentation rigor. 
• After 60 Days: You are actively partnering with the Contract Manufacturer to refine test tooling and factory workflows. You have executed subsystem validation activities and understand the hardware, firmware, and software interactions across the vehicle. 
• After 90 Days: You have led or co-led a vehicle end-of-line validation campaign at the factory. You have produced detailed test plans and reports with clear traceability from system requirements to validation evidence, and you have implemented measurable improvements in how vehicles are verified prior to release. 

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, Controls, Aerospace, Computer Science, or related field 
• 5+ years of experience working on complex hardware systems 
• Direct experience testing electromechanical systems that integrate hardware, firmware, and software interfaces 
• Strong foundation in electromechanical fundamentals and system integration 
• Experience with system and subsystem validation such as acceptance testing, environmental validation, integration testing, and deployment testing 
• Experience working in a hardware lab, fabrication, maintenance, or factory environment 
• Demonstrated ability to create structured, audit-ready documentation for safety and compliance purposes 
• Willingness to travel up to 50% 

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with production end-of-line testing in a factory setting 
• Experience with classical systems engineering practices including requirements management, functional architecture, and DFMEA 
• Experience managing or administering a requirements database and maintaining verification traceability 
• Experience integrating hardware and software systems in a regulated or safety-critical environment 
• Track record of implementing process improvements across engineering or manufacturing systems 
• Experience with Python or similar programming languages 
• Familiarity with CAD tools such as SolidWorks