Chief of Staff / Head of Business Operations

The Chief of Staff & Head of Business Operations sits at the intersections of ADL’s venture building, corporate engagement and major grants projects, making sure that ADL operates smoothly so that its ongoing projects outperform expectations. If you have a passion to transform ClimateTech through company building and tech ventures and know your way around the C-Suite of a company, the Chief of Staff role gives you the perspective and opportunity to help us develop exciting new ventures. Blending hard-nosed business operations capabilities with the unstructured opportunities that emerge, the CoS not only makes sure that we execute flawlessly but also makes sure that ADL takes advantage of its unusual access to senior leadership, technology and venture capital. Needless to say, this role requires a flexible mind, passion to change the world and a proactive personality in addition to providing the stability and center of gravity of a veteran business operations leader.

Please note that this role will be based in Boston, MA, with a minimum of 3 days per week in ADL’s Boston office.

Responsibilities

• Work directly with ADL’s Managing Partners to execute their decisions and proactively provide data for decision-making.
• Provide accurate day to day management and transparency in the areas of finance & planning, human resources, and IT to ADL’s Executive Leadership team in service to ADL’s short-term, medium-term, and long-term growth plans.
• Develop commercial contracts, administer grants, staffing, HR, recruiting and employee development.
• Run day-to-day administration, operations and strategic planning workstreams at ADL Ventures .
• Optimize and own dashboards for monitoring ongoing engagements, team progress, deliverable submission, etc.
• Grow and improve systems and where necessary work with senior staff to deploy key processes for operating the business including: project budgeting, project staffing, sales / business development and various internal administration items.
• Work with other executive staff members on key strategic initiatives which have high organizational importance and urgency, on an as-needed basis and according to availability.
• Run regular staff check-in meetings between Partners and Principals / EMs, determining next steps and helping assign / coordinate deliverables.
• Act as an important coordinator for internal communications between the ADL Partnership, executive leadership team, and staff. Ensures that firmwide communications and messaging is cohesive, efficient and positive.

Requirements

• 5-10 years of previous work experience as a Business Operations or Commercial Operations lead in a fast-paced, deadline-driven work atmosphere; background with an emerging company or start-up in the general area of climate & sustainability is desirable.
• Action-oriented and efficient with a bias toward rapid execution and simple solutions; doesn’t wait to be told what to do; recognizes opportunities for improvement and utilizes both formal and informal responsibilities / resources to execute.
• Significant experience playing both leadership and support roles on cross-functional teams and overcoming adversity under strenuous circumstances and tight deadlines; brings relevant professional services (e.g. consulting or venture capital) and/or start-up experience as well as community and/or extracurricular passions which demonstrate a bias toward action.  
• Brings business expertise in legal, regulatory and tax frameworks, in particular business entity and corporate organizational knowledge, and contracts management expertise (NDAs, purchase orders / sales contracts, vendor contracts etc.).
• An advanced, working understanding of more complex strategic transactions, particularly  in the area of climate & sustainability, is a plus, including financing / M&A, government grants, and strategic partnerships.
• Strong financial analysis & modeling skills to develop a scalable system to oversee budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning aimed at driving profitability and growth, including developing and managing high-leverage junior resources as needed. 
• Experienced in HR functions, including the capability to develop and manage compensation structures, as well as creating/improving policies which are fully compliant with federal, state and local laws. Actively strives to implement best practices to create a positive and productive workplace experience for all employees and staff.
• A deep understanding of government grants is a plus.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills; in particular being able to deliver external and internal messaging concisely and clearly at an executive level.

Benefits

Base salary range: $140,000 - $200,000

Other benefits: 

• Additional incentives based on exceptional company and individual performance above plan
• Management carve-out (equity-like upside in the event of a company exit)
• Opportunity to earn equity in ADL-related start-ups on a case-by-case basis
• 401(k)
• Medical, dental, and vision benefits
• Life insurance
• Unlimited vacation policy
• Telecommuter allowances