Engineering roles at ALCO

Two openings, both on-site in Caldwell, Idaho.

We are not a break/fix shop and this is not a ticket treadmill. Our model is to
automate the recurring work and spend the time we get back on engineering that
stops problems recurring. That only works if the people doing the work are
capable of both halves, which is what this role is.

What the work actually looks like

You will be the engineer on a portfolio of client estates: Windows and Linux
servers, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace tenants, firewalls and networks,
backup and recovery, and the endpoints people actually use. Some days that is a
user who cannot print; other days it is designing the migration that removes a
whole class of tickets.

- Diagnose and resolve escalations that Level 1 could not close
- Patch, monitor and harden managed servers and endpoints
- Build and test backup and recovery, and prove the restore works
- Take small projects end to end: a migration, a network change, a new tenant
- Write the runbook afterwards, so the next person does not start from nothing

What we are looking for

We care more about how you think than which certifications you hold. If you can
explain why DNS is broken rather than reciting that it usually is, we should
talk.

- One to four years in IT support, MSP, or internal infrastructure
- Confident with Windows Server and Active Directory; comfortable in a Linux shell
- Real understanding of networking — DHCP, DNS, VLANs, VPN, routing
- Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace administration
- Scripting in PowerShell, Bash or Python, or a genuine willingness to learn
- A driving license and the ability to be at a client site when it matters

Nice to have, not required: Azure or AWS exposure, Level 1 certifications
(CompTIA, Microsoft, Cisco), virtualisation, and any experience of being on call.

Level 1 versus Level 2

We hire at the level you are at and say so plainly. Level 1 is supported work
with an escalation path and a named mentor; Level 2 owns client outcomes and
runs projects. If you are between the two, apply anyway and we will place you
honestly rather than under-title you to save money.

Why on-site

Our clients here have physical infrastructure that needs hands on it, and
engineers early in their careers learn faster sitting near people who have done
the job. This is not a preference we intend to quietly convert into hybrid — if
that is a dealbreaker for you, better we both know now.

What we offer

- A team small enough that your work is visible and your judgement is trusted
- Time budgeted for automation and documentation, not just billable hours
- Certification costs covered when the certification is relevant to the work
- Paid on-call rotation, compensated properly rather than treated as goodwill
- The chance to build practices from scratch as the company grows

How to apply

Use the form below. A CV is fine; a short note about something you fixed that
you were proud of is better. We read everything and we reply either way.

The help desk is the part of ALCO most clients experience most often. It is
staffed twenty-four hours a day, every day of the year. This role owns it.

This is a working manager role. If you want a purely administrative position
where you never touch a ticket, this is not it — and if you want to stay purely
hands-on, this is not it either.

What you would own

- The queue: triage quality, assignment, ageing work, and the tickets that
quietly stall because nobody owned them
- Response and resolution against the targets we publish, and an honest account
of the ones we miss
- The 24/7 rota — building it, staffing it, and making sure being on call is
sustainable rather than something people burn out of
- Escalation into engineering, and knowing when a recurring ticket is really an
infrastructure problem that needs a project
- Coaching Level 1 and 2 engineers: reviewing their work, closing knowledge
gaps, and growing the ones who want to grow
- The knowledge base, so the same answer is not rewritten fifty times

What we are looking for

- Experience running a support desk or leading a support team, ideally at an MSP
- Enough technical depth to judge whether a resolution was actually correct
- Comfort with a ticketing and RMM stack, and with the reporting that comes off it
- The judgement to know when to fix a process and when to fix a person's day
- Directness. We would rather hear a problem early than a reassurance late.

What success looks like after six months

Ageing work is visibly down. Escalations arrive with the diagnostic work already
done. The on-call rota is staffed without heroics. Clients stop asking for status
updates because they already have them. Your engineers are measurably more
capable than when you arrived.

Why this role exists now

We have grown past the point where the queue manages itself, and the honest
answer is that standards are currently held by individual effort rather than by
system. We want someone to build the system — with the authority to change how
the desk works, not just to report on it.

How to apply

Use the form below. Tell us about a desk you improved and what the numbers did.
If you have ever inherited a queue in a bad state, we would especially like to
hear how that went.