Chief of Staff

Array Labs•Palo Alto, CA 94301, US• Full Time

Posted 6 hours ago• Business & Finance

Compensation

$180,000–$240,000/year

Job Description

At Array Labs, we’re building the world’s most advanced radar imaging satellites to generate an accurate, continuously updated 3D map of the Earth—giving governments and commercial organizations critical insight into the physical world. We design and build the system end-to-end, from on-orbit hardware to ground software and data processing, which lets us directly control performance, reliability, and the speed at which we ship improvements.

The Chief of Staff to the CEO is a high-velocity execution role. Reporting directly to the CEO, you’ll work day-to-day with Engineering leadership and R&D to drive CEO-priority development efforts from “what are we building?” to “it shipped.” You’ll run a tight weekly operating cadence—setting clear owners and milestones, surfacing risks and dependencies early, and driving decisions to closure—so execution stays unblocked and leadership has a crisp view of what’s moving, what’s stuck, and what needs attention next. You’ll also synthesize progress into clear, executive-level updates for leadership and the company. This role is ideal for a high-trajectory operator with exceptional judgment, strong communication, and a track record of rapidly expanding scope and responsibility. It’s a hands-on individual contributor role with high ownership and high exposure.

This role is not an Executive Assistant function (calendar/inbox/travel) and not a PMO-style process role centered on ceremony. Clear thinking and strong materials matter, but this is not a “decks and frameworks” job—the core value is driving real execution, decision closure, and shipped outcomes.

Responsibilities

Drive execution of CEO-priority development efforts by partnering directly with Engineering to define scope, milestones, owners, and timelines; run weekly execution rhythms; surface risks and unblock decisions.

Create clarity from ambiguity: translate company priorities into concrete workstreams, decision points, and measurable outcomes; maintain lightweight plans and decision records.

Operate as the CEO’s execution engine: ensure leadership decisions turn into clear next steps, accountable owners, and follow-through across teams.

Own bottleneck triage and tradeoffs: identify the constraint, drive resourcing/sequencing decisions (start/stop/sequence/what slips), and push decision points to crisp closure.

Hiring enablement: help the CEO and functional leads hire the right people at the right time by translating priorities into a rolling headcount plan, defining high-signal interview loops/scorecards, coordinating interviewer execution, synthesizing feedback into clear recommendations, and driving timely decisions and close plans for top candidates.

Communicate with precision and brevity: write concise weekly updates, leadership summaries, and All-Hands-ready narratives that synthesize technical and business context without losing accuracy.

Coordinate cross-functional delivery across engineering, operations, and go-to-market when programs require it (e.g., customer commitments, government program execution, partner integrations).

Support customer/investor/government engagements by ensuring narrative matches reality: synthesize inputs, structure decision-ready materials when needed, and drive follow-through on commitments and action items.

Partner closely with the CEO’s Executive Business Partner (EBP) so the CEO’s time, meetings, and external commitments stay aligned with top priorities (without duplicating logistics/administrative work).

Basic Qualifications

Typically 6–12 years of experience (or equivalent) in roles such as TPM/Program Lead, Product Ops, BizOps/Strategy & Ops with delivery ownership, early PM, or engineering with cross-functional execution ownership. Exceptional candidates outside this range will be considered if slope and ownership are extraordinary.

Direct experience partnering with Engineering on a development project (software, hardware, or systems) from definition through delivery—owning execution mechanics (plans, milestones, dependencies, risks, status).

Exceptional written and verbal communication: able to produce crisp, well-structured updates and decision memos; can synthesize complex technical topics for mixed technical/non-technical audiences.

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills; comfort with tradeoffs, metrics, and pragmatic prioritization.

Demonstrated business judgment in ambiguous environments: repeatedly made and communicated tradeoffs across scope, timeline, resourcing, and risk to drive outcomes.

High ownership, discretion, and integrity in handling sensitive information.

Ability to operate at a fast cadence with evolving priorities; energized by a hands-on, execution-heavy role.

Genuine interest in deeply technical products and working closely with engineering and scientific teams.

Comfort working with government and national-security customers/programs and handling sensitive program context with discretion and maturity.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience in a high-growth, venture-backed startup, ideally in deep tech, aerospace, defense, or complex B2B environments.

Prior experience as a Chief of Staff or as a strategy/ops partner to a CEO, founder, or R&D lead.

Experience supporting or interfacing with investors, board members, or government/enterprise customers.

Comfort working with geographically distributed teams and coordinating across multiple stakeholders.

Demonstrated ability to build trust quickly, give and receive direct feedback, and influence without formal authority.

Experience with government stakeholders or regulated programs where details are sensitive and timelines/commitments matter.

Compensation & Benefits

Our hiring and compensation strategy is simple: find uncommonly good people and pay them uncommonly well.

We offer high flexibility between salary and equity-based compensation. Candidates who make it through the full interview process can choose from three compensation mixes: low, medium, or high equity. Equity is a significant component of total compensation, and we aim to provide meaningful ownership for this role.

Full-time employees also enjoy a comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, vision, a 401(k) with company match, commuter benefits, and more.

Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors including experience and expertise, and may vary from the amounts listed above.

Location & Work Model

This role is based at our HQ in Redwood City with expectations of 3-4 days/week on-site.
Travel amount: low to moderate.

Interview Process

We conduct our interviews via Google Meet with the potential for an onsite visit. We aim to make the experience as smooth and transparent as possible, and you can typically expect the full process to take around 3–5 weeks from start to finish.

Why Join Array Labs?

Array Labs is launching a constellation of satellites to create the first high-resolution, real-time, three-dimensional model of Earth. Our next-generation satellite technology will offer image quality many times greater than traditional techniques, profoundly expanding humanity’s ability to understand and respond to events on a global scale.

We’re solving one of the hardest sensing problems in the world—from space. Our team is mission-driven, highly technical, and deeply collaborative. As Chief of Staff, you’ll sit at the center of this effort: partnering directly with the CEO and leadership team, shaping how we set priorities, communicate, and execute as we scale. If you’re excited to build the systems and practices that help a deep-tech company grow from early stage to industry-defining, we’d love to hear from you.

ITAR Requirements

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Array Labs is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made on the basis of merit, competence, and job qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by gender, color, race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, religion, age, gender.

Why you should join Array Labs

We’re solving one of the hardest sensing problems in the world—from space. Our team is mission-driven, highly technical, and deeply collaborative. As Chief of Staff, you’ll sit at the center of this effort: partnering directly with the CEO and leadership team, shaping how we set priorities, communicate, and execute as we scale. If you’re excited to build the systems and practices that help a deep-tech company grow from early-stage to industry-defining, we’d love to hear from you.