System Administrator at Metr · Berkeley

About this System Administrator role at Metr

Metr · Onsite · Berkeley

About METR

We are a nonprofit research organization that develops scientific methods to assess AI capabilities, risks, and mitigations, with a specific focus on threats related to AI R&D automation and misalignment.

METR has consistently set precedents for catastrophic AI risk evaluations, including the first independent safety evaluations (working informally with Anthropic and OpenAI in 2022), the first loss-of-control evaluations and first agentic dangerous capability evaluations, the first evaluations using finetuning (mentioned briefly here), the first independent evaluations using internal information about training, the first review partnership for company risk analysis, the first embedded redteaming, and the first evaluations of internal deployments.

We’ve been consulted and/or favorably referenced by groups on opposite ends of various spectra, including a16z, Khosla, Gary Marcus, Obama, and Dean Ball, and are known for producing one of the most positive results on AI capabilities (the time horizon trend) and the most negative (our downlift study). We’re generally referenced as the canonical third party assessor, e.g. as the obvious candidate to verify conditional pause agreements, and are trusted with AI incident investigations by frontier labs and governments.

We believe it is robustly good for policymakers and civil society to have a clear understanding of risks from AI systems, and we are extremely excited to build a team of ambitious, excellent people to tackle one of the most important challenges of our time.

Summary

We're looking for a skilled SysAdmin to own and optimize our technical operations and user support processes. In this role, you'll be instrumental in maintaining our systems, improving our internal processes, and ensuring smooth operations for our technical teams. It is a great fit for anyone who enjoys creating efficient systems, clearing roadblocks from users, and working in a dynamic, technical environment.

Key Responsibilities

Manage user access and permissions across multiple platforms (Okta, Google Workspace, Slack, GitHub, Tailscale, AWS), including integration of SCIM/SSO via Okta

Manage physical IT inventory (macbooks), MDM (iru)

Oversee and optimize SaaS platforms, including user administration, cost management, and integration improvements

Streamline new hire onboarding and provisioning processes

Serve as the primary point of contact for technical support, building playbooks to resolve common issues, and escalating to other internal teams or external support where needed.

Develop and maintain comprehensive documentation for systems, processes, and troubleshooting procedures

Own and enhance IT security infrastructure, including monitoring and periodic audits.

Required Skills

Proven experience in systems administration, with strong knowledge of user administration on Linux systems (user creation, SSH access, etc.)

Experience managing and integrating various SaaS platforms and identity management systems

Strong problem-solving skills and ability to design efficient processes and workflows in collaboration with users

Excellent communication skills and ability to support technical users effectively

Experience with Linux server administration: software updates, network troubleshooting, etc.

Knowledge of IT security monitoring best practices

Demonstrated expertise with AWS services, especially IAM and simple EC2 use cases

Nice-to-Haves

Background in process automation and integration between different platforms

Experience supporting development teams and understanding their unique needs

Experience implementing SOC-2

Experience with other AWS services such as RDS, S3, and more complex VPC topologies

Experience with infrastructure-as-code tools and practices

Deep understanding of model provider platforms, models, access controls (e.g. Claude Platform administration)

Our Culture

METR is a mission-driven organization. We believe our work can meaningfully shape humanity's future for the better, and we want to be the best people in the world doing this work. We have a tight-knit, collaborative research culture rooted in truth-seeking and integrity. We're fiercely committed to producing high-quality, trustworthy science. We're honest and transparent about our results, especially when they may go against the grain. We've earned trust as reliable partners who handle confidential information with care. We maintain a low-ego, drama-free environment focused on what matters.

Hybrid Preferred: Our technical team members are in our office in Berkeley 3-5 days/week. We would ideally like for you to be in person too, but we are happy to be flexible here. If you lack US work authorization and would like to work in-person, we can likely sponsor a cap-exempt H-1B visa for this role.

We encourage you to apply even if your background may not seem like the perfect fit! We would rather review a larger pool of applications than risk missing out on a promising candidate for the position.

We are committed to diversity and equal opportunity in all aspects of our hiring process. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We welcome and encourage all qualified candidates to apply for our open positions.

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