Impress employers and recruiters.
Choose from hundreds of resume examples.
Impress employers and recruiters.
Choose from hundreds of resume examples.
Tailor your resume to this Chief of Staff role.
Rezi rewrites your resume against First Order Effects's job description. Free.
Tailor your resume to this Chief of Staff role.
Rezi rewrites your resume against First Order Effects's job description. Free.
Don't guess if your resume is good enough.
See how it scores against the Chief of Staff posting at First Order Effects — free, in seconds.
Don't guess if your resume is good enough.
See how it scores against the Chief of Staff posting at First Order Effects — free, in seconds.
About the Role
As Chief of Staff at First Order Effects, you will own critical operational functions, including people and HR, finance and admin, legal and compliance coordination, and general operations. This role is crucial for enabling founders and engineers to focus on the company's core mission by managing the essential, non-mission-critical tasks and building the teams to support them.
Responsibilities
- Own the founders' office, including operating cadence, priorities, meetings, decisions, and follow-through.
- Own People and HR functions: recruiting operations, onboarding, benefits, payroll, policies, and culture scaling.
- Own Finance and Admin functions: bookkeeping, spend management, vendor and contract management, corporate records, and office/facilities.
- Own Legal and Compliance coordination: contract intake, corporate housekeeping with outside counsel, and government-contracting/export-control posture.
- Own Operations: company systems, tools, processes, and addressing urgent issues.
- Run the operating rhythm and prepare founders for board meetings, investor updates, and key engagements.
- Stand up and run recruiting, onboarding, benefits, and payroll, protecting company culture.
- Maintain clean, current, and audit-ready books, spend, vendor records, and corporate records.
- Coordinate legal and compliance with outside counsel and help establish the GovCon and export-control posture.
- Build functions initially managed solo, then hire and lead teams to own them.
- Take on special projects for the founders.
Requirements
- Proven experience owning operational outcomes end-to-end, such as an early-stage Chief of Staff, operator, management consultant, banker, or military professional.
- Demonstrated ability to operate under pressure with a focus on ownership.
- Highly organized, high-output, and low-ego individual who closes loops without constant follow-up.
- Comfortable with ambiguity and a broad scope of responsibilities, capable of handling HR, financial modeling, and vendor contracts effectively.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to handle sensitive information and maintain discretion.
- Strong bias to action, preferring to implement imperfect solutions quickly over perfect solutions delayed.
- Desire to build and lead functions, not remain in a coordinator role.
- Must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual to conform to U.S. Government export regulations (ITAR/EAR).
- Must be eligible to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.
Skills
- Operational management
- People and HR management
- Financial management
- Contract management
- Legal and compliance coordination
- Recruiting
- Onboarding
- Benefits administration
- Payroll management
- Policy development
- Culture development
- Bookkeeping
- Spend management
- Vendor management
- Corporate records management
- Office and facilities management
- Government contracting (FAR/DFARS)
- Export control (ITAR/EAR)
- CMMC
- Communication (written and verbal)
- Discretion
- Bias to action
- Leadership
- Project management
Location
- Austin, TX
Work Type
- On-site
Experience Level
- Early-stage operator experience
- Management consulting experience
- Banking experience
- Military experience
- Experience at companies known for speed and ownership
- Defense, aerospace, or GovCon exposure
- Pre-Series A experience
Salary/Compensations
- Competitive base + equity + benefits
Benefits
- Equity
- Benefits
About the Company
- First Order Effects (FOE) is building America's Infrastructure Prime for the robotic era.
- FOE develops infrastructure to power, connect, launch, and recover autonomous ships, drones, and robots.
- The team comprises individuals with experience from leading companies like SpaceX, Anduril, Saronic, Lockheed Skunk Works, Forterra, and Fuse Energy.
- The company's founders have a track record of building cutting-edge systems, including satellite ground stations, multi-megawatt power systems, and autonomous surface vessels.
Equal Opportunity
- FOE is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
- Employment decisions are based on merit, competence, and qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability, or any other legally protected status.