Role: Chief of Staff

Location: Mountain View, CA (In-Office)

Our client is a fast-growing AI / deep tech company (~30 employees) building proprietary foundation models in the trust, safety, and deepfake detection space. Backed by a recent Series A, the company partners with enterprises, government agencies, and public sector institutions to address one of the most critical challenges created by generative AI: authenticity.

Following rapid growth and an internal leadership transition, the company is at an inflection point. Founders are increasingly pulled into meetings, follow-ups, and ad hoc strategic work that slows execution on core revenue and product priorities. This role exists to absorb that load and keep high-impact initiatives moving forward.

Position Overview:

The Strategic Operations & Special Projects Lead is a hybrid operator role that blends strategic execution, founder support, and early-stage business development. Reporting directly to the CEO and working closely with technical leadership, this person acts as an extension of the founders across enterprise, public sector, and strategic partnership efforts.

This is not a traditional Chief of Staff role. It is execution-heavy, externally facing, and highly autonomous—designed for someone who thrives on turning vague direction into polished, founder-level output.

Key Responsibilities:

• Create sophisticated, customized decks for enterprise customers, partners, and investors
• Manage RFI and RFP processes for public sector and government opportunities
• Attend meetings as a proxy for the CEO and provide detailed briefings and follow-ups
• Drive follow-up on strategic partnership and enterprise conversations
• Support early-stage enterprise sales discussions that are not yet ready for a dedicated salesperson
• Own high-impact, cross-functional projects that do not justify dedicated hires
• Act as “eyes and ears” for meetings and initiatives founders cannot attend

Qualifications:

✅ You likely fit if you:

• Have 3–4 years of post-undergraduate experience in a structured environment
• Are highly skilled at building polished, sophisticated presentation materials
• Have a background in consulting (MBB preferred), investment banking, or similar roles
• Can operate with high autonomy and execute from vague or incomplete direction
• Communicate clearly and professionally in enterprise and government-facing settings
• Can manage multiple concurrent initiatives without dropping details
• Thrive in fast-moving, ambiguous startup environments

❌ This role is not for you if:

• You need heavy structure, process, or constant guidance
• You’re looking for a finance-heavy or modeling-driven role
• You prefer internal operations or administrative work over external execution
• You struggle with ambiguity or fast-changing priorities
• You avoid ownership of mistakes or outcomes

What they offer:

• Competitive compensation
• Direct collaboration with company founders
• High-impact role at a frontier AI company addressing real-world trust and safety challenges
• Broad exposure across enterprise partnerships, public sector initiatives, and strategy
• Clear opportunity to grow into ownership of a vertical or initiative as the company scales

Interested?

If you’re reading this thinking “this is exactly me”, please DM me on LinkedIn!🔗