Role: Chief of Staff / COO

Function: Strategy & Operations

Location: Bangalore

Type: Full-time

Industry: Information Technology & Services, Artificial Intelligence, Critical Infrastructure

About Company

A research-first AI company incubated at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). It builds advanced AI for the planning and operations of critical networks.

Its core technology is a World Model for critical networks — AI that reasons about network state and dependencies, even with incomplete information. The founding team previously built a deep-tech company in cellular connectivity and private 5G, and has raised over $100M across earlier startups.

The company has just closed its seed round and is now building its core team. This is a rare opportunity to shape technology, culture, and commercial direction from zero to one.

Position Overview

This role sits at the centre of the company's growth, working directly with the founders across client engagement, government and policy relationships, strategic ecosystem partnerships, and internal execution. It is equally weighted between external-facing work (enterprise clients, government bodies, ecosystem partners) and internal operations (cross-functional execution, founder leverage, goal tracking). The Chief of Staff serves as the connective tissue between strategic intent and on-the-ground delivery — a high-ownership leadership role for someone who wants to build a frontier deep-tech company from the inside.

Role & Responsibilities

Work directly with founders on strategic priorities and lead high-priority special projects, acting as an extension of founder bandwidth across both external and internal workstreams.
Build and manage relationships with government bodies (MeitY, Defence) and represent the company in policy forums, ecosystem events, and sovereign AI conversations.
Own relationships with strategic ecosystem partners including Nvidia, Meta, and AWS — driving co-development, GTM, and integration opportunities.
Drive enterprise client engagement across telecom, power, and logistics verticals — supporting deal structuring, pipeline management, and account ownership.
Translate founder-level strategy into execution plans with clear milestones; track progress and resolve blockers across research, product, and business teams.
Support fundraising, investor relations, and board-level communications as the company scales post-seed.
Ensure alignment between internal teams and external commitments; proactively flag and resolve cross-functional dependencies.

Must Have Criteria

3–8 years of experience in strategy consulting, a founder's office, or early-stage startup operating roles.
Demonstrated experience managing senior external stakeholders — government bodies, enterprise clients, or ecosystem/technology partners.
Proven ability to drive cross-functional execution and manage multiple high-priority workstreams simultaneously.
Bachelor's degree from a top-tier institute (IIT or equivalent).
Comfort operating with high ambiguity and low structure in a 0-to-1 company environment.

Nice to Have

MBA or Master's degree from a top-tier institution.
Prior experience in a founder's office or as an early operator at a deep-tech or B2B SaaS startup.
Existing relationships with government stakeholders in MeitY, Defence, or critical infrastructure policy ecosystems.
Exposure to enterprise sales or business development in telecom, power, or logistics verticals.
Familiarity with the AI/ML product landscape or critical infrastructure technology.

What We Offer

Founding-team-level ownership and influence over company strategy, culture, and commercial direction.
Direct, daily collaboration with founders who have built and scaled deep-tech companies and raised $100M+ previously.
Exposure to frontier AI research at the intersection of World Models, network intelligence, and sovereign AI.
An IISc-incubated environment that blends academic research rigour with startup execution intensity.