Chief of Staff, Sofar Ocean
$125-177k
Ocean data monitoring
Open for applications
Ocean data monitoring
21-100 employees
Open for applications
$125-177k
21-100 employees
Company mission
To connect the world's oceans to the people who depend on them (all of us).
Role
Who you are
- 7+ years of experience in operations, business strategy, or a similar role, ideally in a tech startup or high-growth environment
- Strong project management skills, with a proven track record of leading cross-functional initiatives from concept to execution, while delivering measurable business results
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate with senior leadership, team members, and stakeholders across the organization
- Strategic thinker with analytical abilities—capable of synthesizing data, spotting trends, and making data-driven recommendations to drive company growth and innovation
- Experience working closely executives, and managing competing priorities in a fast-paced environment
- Ability to navigate ambiguity and proactively solve problems while maintaining a focus on high-level company goals and fostering a culture of operational excellence
- A deep passion for the Ocean and a desire to make an impact
What the job involves
- To help accelerate the growth of our company, we are seeking a Chief of Staff to work closely with the CEO and provide strategic and operational support across the organization
- This role will be instrumental in driving the execution of key business initiatives, aligning cross-functional teams with the company's goals, and supporting the CEO in setting and executing the company's strategic vision
- We are looking for a seasoned operations leader with a passion for building high-growth companies, capable of thriving in a dynamic and fast-paced tech environment
- The Chief of Staff will play a critical role in ensuring operational efficiency, driving key projects, and fostering a culture of collaboration
- This role will involve implementing operational processes, optimizing reporting structures, and providing managerial oversight to enable smooth scaling
- As a trusted partner to the CEO, you will help shape the company’s growth trajectory and contribute to the success of the business
- Strategic Planning & Execution: Collaborate with the CEO to develop and execute business strategies, ensuring alignment across departments, driving key initiatives, and tracking performance metrics to measure progress toward company objectives
- Cross-Functional Leadership: Serve as a bridge between leadership teams and the CEO, facilitating communication and ensuring the smooth operation of daily activities and projects across departments
- Operational Efficiency: Identify and prioritize operational challenges, streamline processes, and drive improvements to enhance overall business performance
- Executive Decision Support: Provide high-level insights, data analysis, and recommendations to support the CEO in decision-making and the development of business strategies
- Project Management: Lead and oversee high-impact projects, ensuring they are completed on time, within scope, and aligned with business objectives
- Fundraising & Investor Relations: Assist the CEO with fundraising activities, prepare investor updates, manage relationships with investors, and coordinate materials and agendas for board meetings
- CEO's Trusted Advisor: Act as a strategic advisor to the CEO, helping manage priorities, oversee key communications, and ensure the CEO’s time is focused on the highest-value activities
Our take
Drastically changing weather and climate is one of the foremost issues of our time. And as we work to limit the impact of the climate crisis, we need trustworthy banks of data on how these changes have manifested, and what trajectory our world is on. This is where Solar Ocean comes in, with its global network of ocean-monitoring buoys.
It is the largest network of its kind, with thousands of solar-powered ‘spotters’ across the world’s oceans delivering over 200,000 updates every day. Its product is used primarily by climate scientists, but also has important applications in shipping, weather forecasting and maritime research as well.
Sofar is the largest network of its kind, and even though its spotters aren’t as sophisticated as similar government-funded ones, the sheer scale of its data collection makes its forecasts far more accurate. Recent funding is being put towards further extending its network and developing its data services.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
Company
Funding (last 2 of 4 rounds)
Aug 2022
$39.4m
LATE VC
Nov 2021
$39m
SERIES B
Total funding: $85.7m
Company benefits
- Comprehensive health, vision, dental plan
- Volunteering program
- Home office stipend
- Hybrid work schedule (for most roles)
- Flexible time off (including World Oceans Day!)
- A strong internal community of ocean-lovers!
Company values
- Oceans First: We have one planet. If we have to choose between more profit or better oceans, we choose the ocean
- Grab an Oar: We pride ourselves on being proactive, taking responsibility, and always making things better
- Team Wins: We can only accomplish this mission together. Respect and help others, always
- Challenge with Heart: Vocal but open to others’ ideas. Listen, discuss, and commit
- Ship for Impact: Build for the mission, be pragmatic, and move fast. Ocean health can’t wait
Company HQ
Mission District, San Francisco, CA
Articles
Leadership
Evan Shapiro
(CTO)Previously Co-founded Bad Rabbit Consulting, Spoondrift and Knit Health. At Knit Health they were also CTO, and at Spoondrift they worked as a Technical Architect.
Tim Janssen
(CEO)Former Assistant Professor of Oceanography at San Francisco State University. They were a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Naval Postgraduate School, and worked as an Independent Research Scientist & Principal Investigator at Theiss Research & NorthWest Research Associates.
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