Chief of Staff
Location: Ireland
Company Type: Research & Technology SME (Global)
The Opportunity
This is a rare and influential opportunity to step into a senior leadership role within a highly innovative, globally active water technology research and advisory business. The organisation operates at the intersection of research, data, technology, and strategic advisory, supporting infrastructure operators, global corporates, financial institutions, and innovation-led enterprises worldwide.
As Chief of Staff, you will act as a strategic partner to the Founder/Owner, helping to drive focus, momentum, and execution across the business. This is a highly trusted role, positioned at the centre of strategy, priorities, and cross-functional coordination. Rather than owning a single function, you will work across all areas of the organisation to ensure that the Founder’s vision is translated into clear plans, aligned teams, and measurable outcomes.
This role is ideal for someone who enjoys operating at both strategic and tactical levels, thrives in an evolving SME environment, and wants to be deeply involved in shaping the direction and effectiveness of a growing, globally relevant business.
Your Impact
You will bring structure, clarity, and pace to the organisation. Acting as an extension of the Founder, you will help prioritise initiatives, unblock issues, and ensure alignment across research, advisory, data, and technology teams. You will play a key role in improving decision-making, driving accountability, and enabling sustainable growth — while protecting the entrepreneurial culture that defines the business.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Partnership & Execution
- Act as a close strategic partner to the Founder, supporting planning, decision-making, and execution
- Help shape and drive the company’s strategic priorities, translating vision into actionable initiatives
- Track progress against strategic goals, ensuring follow-through and accountability
- Prepare briefings, business cases, and insights to support key decisions
Business Planning & Performance
- Support the development of annual plans, OKRs/KPIs, and operating rhythms
- Monitor performance across divisions, highlighting risks, opportunities, and dependencies
- Work with functional leaders to align objectives, timelines, and resources
- Drive consistency in reporting, metrics, and management information
Cross-Functional Coordination
- Act as a connective tissue across teams, ensuring collaboration and alignment
- Lead or support high-impact, cross-functional initiatives and projects
- Identify and resolve operational bottlenecks that hinder execution
- Ensure priorities remain focused as the business scales and evolves
Commercial & Financial Support
- Partner with the Founder, Financial Controller, and leadership team on budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning
- Support commercial analysis, pipeline visibility, and performance reporting
- Provide insight into client profitability, resource allocation, and growth opportunities
- Enable informed decision-making through clear, concise analysis (without owning the P&L)
Founder Enablement & Governance
- Act as a trusted sounding board, providing challenge, perspective, and support
- Help manage internal and external stakeholder interactions as required
- Support board, investor, or advisory engagement through preparation and follow-up
- Ensure key decisions and actions are clearly communicated and executed
Culture, People & Ways of Working
- Reinforce a high-performance, collaborative, and intellectually curious culture
- Support leadership team effectiveness and ways of working
- Contribute to organisational design, role clarity, and talent planning as the company grows
- Help embed scalable processes without introducing unnecessary bureaucracy
About You
You are a highly capable generalist with strong commercial instincts and a passion for making organisations work better. You are comfortable operating behind the scenes, influencing without ego, and bringing order to complexity. You enjoy being close to the action and take pride in helping leaders and teams perform at their best.
You will bring:
- Experience in a senior, cross-functional role such as Chief of Staff, Strategy, Operations, Consulting, or similar
- A strong strategic mindset combined with excellent execution and follow-through
- Solid financial and commercial acumen, with experience working alongside finance and leadership teams
- Exceptional organisational, prioritisation, and problem-solving skills
- High emotional intelligence and the ability to build trust across all levels
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Qualification in Business, Finance, Strategy, or a related discipline
- Project management experience is highly beneficial
- Industry experience is desirable but not essential
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