Chief of Staff – CEO’s Office

IAIRO is building India’s sovereign AI execution engine translating frontier AI research into real-world deployment across industry and public systems.

We are looking for a Chief of Staff to the CEO and Leadership Team who can operate at the intersection of strategy, execution, and institution building.

This role is for someone who thrives in high ambiguity, has seen the early stages of building organisations (0 → 1), and is comfortable working directly with leadership to turn complex ideas into structured execution.

This role is best suited for someone who has previously operated in high-ownership environments such as early-stage startups, strategy consulting, or deep-tech companies where ambiguity is high and execution velocity matters.

What You’ll Work On : You will help translate institutional ambition into execution across multiple fronts:

Strategic Execution

• Translate leadership priorities into clear execution roadmaps

• Drive 0 → 1 strategic initiatives across research programs, partnerships, and institutional development

• Build dashboards and track progress across key organisational initiatives

Program Leadership

• Lead cross-functional projects involving research, engineering, partnerships, and operations

• Drive initiatives from concept to implementation

• Identify bottlenecks early and ensure execution velocity

Institution Building

• Help design operating frameworks, governance structures, and internal processes

• Work with leadership on organisation design and scaling priorities

Partnerships & Global Collaborations

• Support development of strategic partnerships with global research institutions, technology companies, and AI ecosystems

• Coordinate with international collaborators, research labs, and industry partners

• Prepare briefing materials and strategic notes for global engagements and collaborations

External Engagement

• Coordinate with industry partners, research labs, and collaborators

• Prepare briefs, strategic documents, and materials for leadership discussions

Who This Role Is For

You are someone who enjoys solving messy problems and building things from scratch.

Typical backgrounds for successful candidates include:

• Strategy consulting → startup operator

• Early employee at a deep-tech or AI startup

• Product or program leader in a technology organisation

Ideal Candidate Profile

Experience

• 6–10 years of experience

• Exposure to startup, consulting, deep-tech, or technology environments

• Experience driving high-impact projects in ambiguous environments

Education

• Engineering degree required

• MBA preferred

Capabilities

• Strong analytical and structured thinking

• Excellent written and verbal communication

• Ability to convert complexity into clear frameworks and execution plans

• High ownership and ability to operate without constant direction

• Comfortable working with scientists, engineers, policymakers, and global stakeholders

Why This Role

• Opportunity to help build a national-scale AI research institution

• Work directly with leadership shaping the future of AI in India

• Exposure to global AI research ecosystems, industry collaborations, and public systems

• Ability to drive high-impact initiatives from 0 → 1

If interested, reach out to careers@iairo.ai with a 1-pager resume and a short cover letter.