IT & Operations Analyst
PGS Gold & Coin — Palatine, IL (with travel to our 5 Chicago-area stores)
About the Role
PGS Gold & Coin is one of the Chicago area's leading precious metals, coin, and collectibles dealers, with five retail locations plus roadshow and e-commerce operations. We're growing fast, and we're modernizing how we run — and we want a sharp, curious, tech-forward person to grow with us.
This is not a "keep the lights on" IT job. It's two things at once. First, you'll own the day-to-day technology that keeps our stores running: Google Workspace, networking, hardware, user accounts, and frontline support. Second — and this is what makes the role special — you'll become a true student of our business, learn how we actually operate, and translate those operations into clear technical requirements for our IT Director and ERP developer to build.
You won't be writing the ERP or deploying production AI models yourself. You'll be the bridge: the person who understands both the showroom floor and the tech stack, who can sit with a store manager, understand a problem, and articulate it in a way our development team can act on. If you love technology, you're excited about where AI is heading, and you want to learn a real business from the inside, this role is built for you.
You'll report to our CIO.
What You'll Do
Day-to-Day IT & Support
- Provide frontline (tier 1–2) technical support to staff across all locations — troubleshooting hardware, software, printers, point-of-sale, and connectivity issues.
- Install, configure, and maintain computer hardware, servers, peripherals, and software across our store locations.
- Administer our Google Workspace environment: user accounts, groups, permissions, shared drives, and email.
- Maintain and monitor our networks (LAN/WAN/remote access) and store hardware; flag larger issues to the IT Director.
- Own routine data backup, archiving, and disaster-recovery procedures so the business is protected and recoverable.
- Handle IT onboarding and offboarding in coordination with HR — setting up and securing accounts and equipment.
- Help maintain good security hygiene: phishing awareness, account access, antivirus, and following our security procedures.
- Keep clear documentation of configurations, IT policies, and standard operating procedures.
- Track equipment, software licenses, and vendor relationships.
Business-to-Tech Bridge (the part that sets this role apart)
- Get genuinely familiar with how PGS operates across buying, sales, roadshow, and e-commerce.
- Sit with users in every department, gather feedback, and identify where technology and automation can make us faster and more accurate.
- Translate operational needs into clear, well-structured requirements and hand them to our IT Director and ERP developer.
- Support our ongoing ERP (Odoo) work by documenting current processes and articulating what users need — not by developing it yourself.
- Identify where AI and automation can streamline our operations — then build and deploy practical AI tools, agents, and workflows (chatbots, internal assistants, scripted automations) that save the team real time.
- Stay current on AI tools and capabilities and bring forward ideas for where they can give PGS an edge — helping shape how AI fits into the way we run the business.
Who You Are
You might be a recent Computer Science grad — maybe with a concentration in networking or AI — who's been doing helpdesk, break-fix, or retail tech support, and you know you're capable of more. You're ready to take your career to the next level, somewhere you'll have real ownership instead of closing the same ticket a hundred times. That's exactly who we're looking for.
- Strong networking fundamentals. You understand why a network behaves the way it does, not just how to reboot it. Our systems have some age and quirks — you should be the kind of person who can dig into TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, and routing and actually reason about what's happening.
- Real helpdesk experience. You've supported everyday employees with everyday problems, and you're patient, clear, and good at it.
- Real enthusiasm for AI and a working grasp of how to apply it. You don't need to have trained a model, but you should already be using AI tools, understand where they genuinely help a business, and be eager to build with them.
- A strong communicator who can talk to a non-technical store manager and a developer in the same afternoon and make sense to both.
- Eager to learn our business deeply — hunger and curiosity matter as much as the résumé.
- Comfortable being hands-on across five locations and willing to travel locally as needed.
Requirements
- Strong networking fundamentals — TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, routing, Wi-Fi, VPN — and the ability to troubleshoot and reason about networks, including older systems with their own quirks.
- Hands-on helpdesk / technical support experience — you've supported real employees with hardware, software, and connectivity issues.
- Working knowledge of Google Workspace (or comparable cloud environment), Windows, and common business software.
- Hands-on familiarity with AI tools and a working understanding of practical AI use cases — you actively use AI and can speak to where it adds real value in a business.
- Understanding of data backup, archiving, and disaster-recovery basics.
- Awareness of IT security best practices: secure account/access management, network segmentation, DNS security, phishing prevention, and SSO.
- Strong writing, documentation, and communication skills, and the ability to juggle multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
- A degree in Computer Science, IT, or a related field — or equivalent hands-on experience.
- Located within 15 miles of our Palatine store, or willing to relocate. Reliable transportation and willingness to travel to all 5 stores as needed.
- A networking or AI concentration/coursework, or a year or two of IT support experience under your belt.
Strong Considerations
- Hands-on experience building with AI tools or automations (chatbots, agents, scripts, no-code/low-code workflows).
- Experience with a helpdesk ticketing or IT asset-management system (e.g., Lansweeper or similar).
- Exposure to ERP systems or business process mapping.
- Scripting (PowerShell, bash), GitHub, or cloud platform familiarity (AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud).
- Relevant certifications (CompTIA A+/Network+/Security+, Google Workspace Admin, CCNA)
Why PGS
You'll have real ownership and a direct line to leadership, work that spans technology and the business itself, and the chance to grow as we modernize a thriving, expanding company. If you want to be the person who connects what the business needs with what technology can do, we'd love to meet you.
Pay: $65,000.00 - $80,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Retirement plan
Experience:
- ERP systems: 4 years (Preferred)
- Hands On IT: 4 years (Required)
- Computer networking: 4 years (Required)
- Google Workspace: 2 years (Preferred)
Language:
Location:
- Palatine, IL 60067 (Preferred)
Ability to Commute:
- Palatine, IL 60067 (Required)
Work Location: In person
