Chief of Staff

Arc Institute•Palo Alto, CA

16d•$135,000 - $212,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Chief of Staff serves as a scientific and strategic partner, proxy, and "shared brain" to the Institute's Executive Director and Core Investigator. This is a technical, full-time role for someone who can engage substantively with the science, from CRISPR-based transcriptome engineering and functional genomics to computational modeling and disease biology, and translate that engagement into sharp decision-making, program execution, and cross-disciplinary coordination. On a given day you might pressure-test the experimental design or interpretation of a scientific project, distill complex inputs into clear decision frameworks and meeting agendas, scope and foster cross-lab collaboration, prepare a scientifically rigorous external deliverable, and protect the Executive Director's time for deep work by optimizing her schedule. You will create leverage for the Executive Director's highest-priority scientific and organizational work by owning her operating rhythm, helping drive technical initiatives to completion, and connecting the right people, data, and resources to unblock science. You will be trusted with confidential scientific and organizational information and empowered to act on her behalf, so scientific judgment, discretion, and follow-through are essential. The Executive Director is a Core Investigator and Assistant Professor of Biochemistry at Stanford whose laboratory studies the molecular pathways driving neurodegenerative disease with the goal of developing rationally targeted therapeutics. Her group develops CRISPR-based technologies to directly perturb the transcriptomic landscape of the cell, including engineered type VI RNA-targeting CRISPR-Cas systems, and applies them across functional genomic screens and disease models. She operates as a biologist and PI, scientific leader for our Institute Initiatives, and overall institutional leader, and needs a Chief of Staff who can deeply understand and support all three.

Requirements

A Ph.D. (or equivalent research training) with a demonstrated scientific track record, or comparable technical depth from a consulting or founder path, plus 5-12+ years of experience, sufficient to serve as a genuine scientific thought partner. This role spans multiple levels; final leveling and compensation will be determined based on the candidate's experience, scope of prior responsibility, and demonstrated impact.
Background in one or more relevant biology areas (e.g., genome or transcriptome engineering, functional genomics, neuroscience, molecular/cell biology, multi-omics, or computational biology).
Demonstrated strength in technical information gathering, stakeholder and dependency mapping and management, and synthesizing complex scientific information into clear options and actionable recommendations for decision makers.
Track record of managing complex, cross-functional projects in a research environment from inception through execution, balancing competing priorities while maintaining focus on strategic objectives.
Evidence of translating technical or scientific work for non-specialist audiences (e.g., institutional or public-facing writing and presentations, not academic papers).
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with proven ability to engage credibly with research scientists, experimentalists, computational teams, and senior leadership.
Experience designing and facilitating highly effective meeting pre-reads, agendas and followups
Solution-oriented and adept at navigating shifting priorities and rapid change; unflappable, proactive, and discreet.

Nice To Haves

Ph.D. in the life sciences or a closely related field; open to candidates from academic, consulting, or founder backgrounds and not limited to a traditional academic path.
Hands-on experience with CRISPR/gene- or RNA-editing technologies, functional genomic screens, or high-throughput experimental platforms.
Experience with computational biology, machine learning, or large-scale genomic data, or a demonstrated ability to partner closely with teams that do.
Experience organizing scientific collaborations or programs, within an institution and with external partners, from inception through execution.
Experience supporting board preparation, scientific offsites, and executive or scientific communications.
Demonstrated staying power and increasing scope of responsibility over a career (people-management experience is not a prerequisite)

Responsibilities

Serve as a scientific and strategic daily thought partner to the Executive Director, engaging critically with scientific work across the lab, institute and external partnerships, providing structure for the work and representing her priorities internally and externally.
Own the operating rhythm of the Executive Director’s office, including a complex, shifting schedule and the prioritization of conflicting technical and organizational demands. This includes a small amount of administrative work for the Executive director.
Gather and synthesize technical information and open decisions from across the Institute into clearly framed options, trade-offs, and recommendations, so the Executive Director can make well-informed scientific and strategic decisions quickly.
Design strategic and effective meeting and offsite pre-reads, meeting agendas and meeting followup for Arc’s leadership team as well as scientific teams
Drive high-priority scientific programs, collaborations and special projects from inception through execution, anticipating experimental, computational, and organizational bottlenecks before they arise in close collaboration with the Scientific Program Management function at Arc which runs ongoing OKR planning and project management for our technology centers.
Partner with the Executive Director and leadership team on defining annual and longer term strategic goals for the institute
Unblock science by organizing and stewarding scientific collaborations, within the Institute and with external partners, and by making the right connections between people, data, platforms, and reagents.
Translate complex technical work for varied audiences, from expert scientific staff to institutional leadership, funders, and public-facing communications, without losing rigor.
Handle confidential scientific and organizational information with care, thoughtfulness, and discretion at all times.