Chief of Staff

Our client is an early-stage AI security and safety company building runtime guardrails, red-teaming frameworks, interpretability, observability, and related tools that help organizations identify model failure modes and deploy advanced AI systems more safely. Founded in 2024, the company has raised $10M from leading venture investors. The five-person team works in person from San Francisco. This is the company's first Chief of Staff and a high-agency operating role with direct access to the founders. You will build context quickly, identify bottlenecks before they are assigned, and own strategic and operational work across customer communication, contracts, compliance, sales, market research, partnerships, and company operations. What you will do • Manage customer communications and help the founders move important relationships forward. • Coordinate contract negotiations, legal work, vendors, and business operations. • Drive compliance initiatives such as SOC 2 and keep evidence, owners, and deadlines on track. • Conduct market research and write clear strategic documents for internal and external audiences. • Support sales outreach, partnership development, and customer-facing communications. • Represent the company at conferences and with industry partners. • Identify bottlenecks across finance, business development, recruiting, and company building. • Turn ambiguous founder priorities into organized projects with clear owners and measurable progress. • Help shape the company's narrative and build coalitions around responsible AI deployment. • 1 to 3 years of experience in management consulting, investment banking, finance, startup operations, or another demanding generalist environment. • Experience at a top-tier consulting firm, investment bank, high-growth startup, or similarly rigorous organization. • Bachelor's degree from a highly selective university, ideally in economics, politics, computer science, or another analytical field. • Excellent written and verbal English communication. • High agency, discipline, energy, and a consistent record of solving problems without waiting for direction. • Strong judgment in ambiguous situations and the ability to build context quickly. • Comfort handling customer communications, contracts, compliance, vendor coordination, or adjacent operational work. • Ability to work on-site five days per week in San Francisco or willingness to relocate. • Valid U.S. work authorization. New visa sponsorship is not available; an existing transferable visa may be considered for an exceptional candidate. • $150,000 to $250,000 base salary, based on qualifications and experience. • Competitive early-stage equity. • Relocation support may be available. • Direct founder access and broad responsibility at the intersection of AI security, policy, and business development.