Chief of Staff to the CEO

Who We Are:

At Formic, we’re on a mission to revolutionize American manufacturing and create more abundance in the world. We believe in continuing the American legacy of innovation by making automation accessible to all manufacturers and increasing their factory productivity by 10x. 

Built upon deep expertise in robotics and manufacturing, our unique full service automation solutions combine the best automation technology, software, and analysis tools for manufacturers with best in class uptime, support, and maintenance services. We are creating a new era of supercharged efficiency and competitiveness for US manufacturers.   As the world faces growing pressure from tariffs, rising costs, and labor shortages, Formic is uniquely positioned as the industry leading solution to overcome these challenges.  Fueled by our vision for a re-industrialized domestic supply chain, everything we do is aimed at growing “Made in America” products. And we’re growing fast - achieving 7x growth in production hours YoY.

Supporting us in our mission, with investments thus far totaling over $60 million, are backers including Lux Capital, Initialized Capital, Blackhorn Ventures, Mitsubishi HC Capital NA, and CEOs and founders of multiple Fortune 50 companies.

The Chief of Staff (CoS) to the CEO is a senior, high-leverage operator who serves as an extension of the CEO. This role exists to increase executive decision velocity, enforce operational rigor, and ensure the company’s highest-priority initiatives are executed with clarity, discipline, and measurable outcomes. The CoS owns cross-functional initiatives on behalf of the CEO, builds and maintains the executive operating cadence, and prepares decision-ready materials for the executive team and Board of Directors. The role also acts as a bridge between business leaders and engineering, driving internal process automation and systems improvements that enable Formic to scale without linear headcount growth.

This is not an administrative role. It is a judgment-heavy execution role operating at the CEO, executive leadership, and board level.

• Strategic Execution & CEO Leverage
  • Own and drive high-priority cross-functional initiatives end-to-end
  • Translate CEO intent into clear objectives, owners, timelines, and success metrics
  • Act on behalf of the CEO in internal leadership forums when delegated
• Executive Operating Cadence
  • Lead company-wide metrics and operating cadence, including weekly reviews and quarterly planning
  • Partner with functional leaders to define, standardize, and maintain KPIs and OKRs
  • Maintain a single, trusted executive-level view of company performance
• Business Insights & Analytics Leadership
  • Surface data-driven insights across financials, unit economics, churn, utilization, and margin drivers
  • Build and own analytical models, dashboards, and recurring executive reporting
  • Partner with teams to improve systems, data pipelines, and reporting reliability
• Executive & Board Communications
  • Prepare decision-ready materials, board decks, and executive presentations
  • Synthesize complex, cross-functional inputs into clear, concise narratives
• Cross-Functional Alignment & Process Improvement
  • Resolve ambiguity across teams and functional handoffs
  • Identify execution bottlenecks and partner with teams to drive automation and tooling improvements
  • Enable scaled operational performance without proportional headcount growth

What We’re Looking For

Required

• 5–8+ years in strategy, operations, consulting, investing, or senior operational roles
• Proven ability to independently own high-impact initiatives
• Strong analytical skills with comfort interpreting complex business data
• Excellent communicator with experience briefing executives and boards

Preferred / Bonus

• Located in the San Francisco Bay area, with interest and ability to work in person, ideally in the East Bay
• Experience at high-growth startups or scale-ups
• Exposure to data teams, internal tooling, or systems automation
• Familiarity with SaaS, robotics, or industrial technology business models
• MBA or equivalent real-world operating experience

Attributes We Value

• High intellectual honesty and sound judgment
• Comfort operating in ambiguity and rapid change
• Bias toward action with rigorous follow-through
• Trusted by senior leaders and credible with technical teams

Success in This Role Looks Like

• The CEO’s time is protected a