Chief of Staff & Business Operations Lead

About the Role

We're looking for a Chief of Staff & Founding Business Operations Lead to be the backbone of how Gradient Robotics runs day-to-day. This is intentionally a broad founding role. You'll own the company's operational backbone while partnering closely with the founders on whatever is highest leverage at any given moment.

This is a role for someone who loves turning chaos into process: you'll see a recurring headache, build a system to fix it, and document it so it never needs to be solved twice. You'll touch nearly every part of the business, which means real ownership and room to grow quickly.

The impact is significant- you'll free up the founders' time and attention for the highest-leverage work, while making sure nothing operational falls through the cracks.

Responsibilities

• Own finance operations: payments, billing and renewals, monthly reporting, and expense management
• Own company metrics and operating cadence: dashboards, KPIs, and the reporting rhythm for founders
• Own vendor and supplier management: quotes, purchase orders, delivery timelines, and ongoing supplier relationships, including international suppliers
• Own people operations: payroll, benefits, onboarding, equity paperwork, and HR compliance
• Own facilities and office operations: leases, insurance, buildout projects, utilities, food, and day-to-day upkeep
• Be an extension of the founders: drive meeting follow-through, maintain key relationships, coordinate team offsites and customer/investor visits, and support the leadership team on legal, fundraising, and other high-priority operational initiatives alongside investors and outside counsel.
• Coordinate with recruiters: managing the applicant pipeline, scheduling, and fast candidate feedback
• Build automated systems so recurring work runs without a human chasing it, and document everything you build

Minimum Qualifications

• 5+ years in business operations, chief of staff, or operations management roles, ideally as the operational number two at a fast-moving startup
• Track record of owning multiple operational functions at once (finance, people, facilities, or vendor management) and running them without oversight
• Relentless closer: nothing you own goes delinquent, no thread goes dark, no commitment gets missed
• Systems-minded: your instinct after doing something twice is to automate or document it
• Trusted with sensitive information (payroll, equity, banking) and comfortable holding full internal access with discretion
• Able to work on-site in San Francisco 5 days/week (6 days/week if needed during crunch time), embedded in the team

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience at a hardware, robotics, or manufacturing company
• Experience with import/supply chain logistics
• Comfort using AI tools to multiply your own output
• Fluent in written and spoken Mandarin to communicate directly with manufacturing partners and review supplier documentation.