Chief of Staff

**This role is based in Singapore and is a critical hire for a newly-created stealth venture that Xora has invested in.**

**Why this role exists**

In a new venture’s early days, a _truly multi-faceted_ operator is mission critical. You’ll be the CEO’s right hand - part strategic partner, part high-leverage “doer” - who glues **software and science teams together**, keeps every milestone visible, and ensures no meeting, customer touchpoint, or board package slips through the cracks. Great Chiefs of Staff are rare; we’re looking for the one who can help scale the company from a scrappy deep-tech startup to a global platform vendor.

**Day-to-day responsibilities**
- **Business formation & compliance management**- Manage early-stage administrative and operational infrastructure, including contract management, corporate policies, and compliance documentation required for business incorporation.
- Lead cross-border setup efforts, ensuring alignment and compliance between Singapore headquarters and US subsidiary across legal, financial, and regulatory domains.
- Oversee strategic planning and execution related to initial staffing structures, office logistics, and essential vendor relationships critical to business formation.
- **Executive rhythm & milestone tracking**- Own agendas, notes, and action items for all exec, software, and science syncs.
- Maintain a live Gantt of product, science, and fundraising milestones, surface slippage early.
- **Cross-functional glue (Software Science)**- Schedule and facilitate joint design reviews, ensuring computational and experimental groups leave with clear deliverables.
- Follow up on blockers and escalate to the CEO only when truly needed.
- **Strategic communications & writing**- Draft quarterly board updates, investor slide decks, and external white-papers; “do the leg-work” so leadership can focus on content.
- Prepare CEO briefs for customer, partner, and investor calls; own data room hygiene.
- **External cultivation & calendar master**- Triage inbound partner/customer requests, slot calls, and shepherd follow-ups.
- Track relationship health in CRM; ensure no high-value lead goes cold.
- **Process & HR architecture**- Roll out Notion/Asana workflows, SOP docs, and hiring pipelines; keep JD library current.
- Coordinate with People Ops on head-count planning, culture rituals, and onboarding.

**What you bring**
- Strong experience within strategy & operations at a high-growth tech firm, top-tier consultancy, or venture-backed startup (deep-tech a plus).
- **Startup architect**: Proven experience managing early-stage company setup, including financial structuring and initial operational infrastructure.
- **Operational backbone**: Demonstrated capability in overseeing foundational business operations, vendor negotiations, and administrative processes critical to early-stage ventures.
- **Operator’s mindset**: lives in OKRs, burn charts, and rolling forecasts; ruthless about agendas and follow-through.
- **Writing & narrative craft**: can turn complex science into crisp board prose.
- **Global execution**: managed cross-APAC/US projects, navigating multi-entity compliance.
- **EQ & discretion**: trusted with sensitive IP, HR, and investor conversations.

**Nice-to-haves**
- Technical degree (CS, engineering, or materials science) or prior AI4Science experience.
- Network in APAC venture, government-funding, or semiconductor ecosystems.
- Familiarity with ISO-27001, SOC-2, or export-control workflows would be beneficial.
- Previous exposure to supporting fundraising rounds or M&A transactions