Position: The Chief of Staff will serve as a strategic thought partner, operator, and extension of the CEO, helping translate company priorities into action, driving cross-functional initiatives, improving information flow and decision-making, and stepping into high-priority projects that do not fit neatly within a single function. This position will work directly with Coreshell's CEO to build and operate an effective Office of the CEO and dramatically increase the CEO's and leadership team's ability to execute.
The ideal candidate combines strong strategic judgment with exceptional execution. You should be equally comfortable developing a recommendation for the CEO, building a financial or strategic analysis, running an executive meeting, coordinating multiple functional leaders, preparing a Board presentation, and personally driving an ambiguous project to completion.
Core Responsibilities:
- Increase the CEO's effectiveness by helping determine where CEO attention is most valuable and ensuring important issues are surfaced, prepared, decided, and followed through.
- Maintain a clear view of the CEO's and company's highest-priority initiatives, identify conflicts or execution gaps, and help keep leadership focused on what matters most.
- Represent the CEO in selected internal and external discussions, advance work on the CEO's behalf, and serve as a trusted extension of the CEO when appropriate.
- Lead high-priority strategic initiatives on behalf of the CEO, particularly projects that span multiple functions or lack a natural organizational owner. Work across departments to resolve bottlenecks and accelerate company priorities.
- Support development and execution of company strategy, including commercialization, strategic partnerships, manufacturing scale-up, capital strategy, new market opportunities, and organizational growth.
- Partner with the CEO and executive team to develop Board meeting materials, strategic updates, operating reviews, and follow-up actions.
- Help translate complex technical, commercial, and strategic topics into clear narratives for investors, customers, partners, government stakeholders, and employees.
- Support fundraising, investor updates, diligence, strategic investor discussions, and other capital-related initiatives.
Core Objectives:
- Leadership Team Cadence: Help design and run Coreshell's executive operating rhythm, including leadership meetings, company priority reviews, quarterly planning, and strategic planning processes.
- Execution & Accountability: Establish simple mechanisms for tracking major company commitments, decisions, milestones, and ownership without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.
- Cross-Functional Visibility: Create an accurate, real-time view of the most important initiatives across the company and proactively identify risks, dependencies, or decisions requiring executive attention.
- Decision Follow-Through: Maintain accountability for major executive decisions and ensure commitments do not get lost between functions or meetings.
- Information Flow: Improve how information moves between the CEO, executive leadership team, Board, and broader organization so leaders have the context required to make effective decisions.
Example Day to Day Objectives:
- Oversee strategic business initiatives, from development through successful execution, under the guidance of the CEO, senior leadership, and department heads.
- Improve current processes and optimize organizational procedures for efficiency and productivity.
- Support with the CEO and executive staff in maintaining a detailed financial and operating plan.
- Support the CEO and other executives in facilitating strategic commercial and product development including market analysis, competitive analysis, and forward thinking strategy.
- Develop and build on relationships with all employees for increased efficiency and responsiveness of existing operations, and help define new operational strategies by working with CEO and other executives on special projects.
- Serve as liaison with staff, executives, senior leaders, and CEO regarding company climate, employee well-being, project updates, proposals, and planning.
- Serve as a subject-matter expert, handling inquiries, developing action plans, and assisting with preparation and dissemination of communications.
Required skills and qualifications
- 7+ years of professional experience with increasing responsibility in roles such as startup operations, business operations, strategy, management consulting, investing, investment banking, corporate development, program leadership, or similar environments.
- Bachelor's degree in a technical field (Sciences/Engineering), Business Administration or other related fields required; MBA or other relevant advanced degree is a plus but not required.
- Demonstrated ability to work closely with CEOs, founders, senior executives, or executive leadership teams on high-priority strategic and operational issues.
- Track record of independently leading complex, cross-functional projects from ambiguous starting points through successful execution.
- Strong financial and business acumen and comfort working with financial models, operating metrics, strategic analyses, and presentations.
- Demonstrated ability to manage multiple high-priority initiatives simultaneously in a fast-moving environment.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to distill complex topics into concise executive-level materials.
Preferred skills and qualifications
- Experience at a rapidly growing startup or growth-stage technology company; experience in battery, EV or other related industries (energy, climate technology, advanced manufacturing, automotive, defense, hardware, or another technically complex industry) preferred.
- Experience supporting fundraising, Board processes, major strategic partnerships, or corporate strategy.
- Experience in financial and budget management, project coordination.
Benefits & Location
San Leandro, CA. Full-time, onsite. Salary range of $150,000-$225,000 based on experience with stock incentives. Dental, vision, healthcare, and 401(k) benefits are included. Applications will be screened as received.
