Chief of Staff to the CEO

Coastal Wave Recruiting•San Francisco, CA

About The Position

Our client is a YC-backed AI startup transforming the $1T+ equipment industry. They are seeking a Chief of Staff to scale the CEO's impact across customer acquisition, retention, and strategic initiatives — working directly with the founder on the highest-priority areas of the business with a clear path to a leadership role. This is an intense, high-growth role for a high-agency generalist who can represent the company in any room — from small business owners to billion-dollar enterprise CEOs — and move fast without a playbook.

Requirements

2–6 years in tier 1.5 consulting (Strategy&, Oliver Wyman, Kearney, Monitor Deloitte, LEK) or MBB, PE, or IB
STEM undergraduate degree — engineering, math, physics, or CS
Early-stage startup experience — must have worked at or built an early-stage company
Generalist or operational role (Chief of Staff, BizOps, strategy) at a startup preferred
Customer-facing experience — sales, CS, account management, or client-facing consulting
Polished and personable enough to represent the CEO at customer dinners and investor meetings
High agency and resourcefulness — figures things out without a playbook and moves fast
US work authorization required (no H-1B/O-1 sponsorship; TN/OPT okay)

Nice To Haves

Experience with GTM, partnerships, or customer onboarding preferred

Responsibilities

Support pre-sales and post-sales efforts — taking customer calls, representing the company at events, and building relationships with equipment dealers
Own strategic projects including OEM partnerships and marketing agency partnerships
Build and execute customer onboarding plans to ensure successful implementations
Manage and experiment with go-to-market channels — BDRs, ads, events, and outbound
Act as a trusted extension of the CEO in customer-facing meetings and investor conversations