Chief of Staff

Chief of Staff

Location: West Edinburgh, Scotland (on-site most days) · Type: Full-time, permanent · Level: Senior · Reports to: the founders

About the role

Cnuic Technologies is a venture-backed deep‑tech company building next‑generation optical systems, with cleanrooms and laser labs in Edinburgh. As Chief of Staff, you will take the running of the company off our two founders so their time goes on strategy and growth. You will own planning, board and investor work, finance and contracts, and turn strategy into delivery across our R&D, partner and grant‑funded programmes.

You will work closely with our Project Manager, HR Manager and Business Development team, leading mostly through influence rather than line management. This is the most senior non‑engineering role in the company, and it is built to grow as we do.

Key responsibilities

Founders' office

• Shape the founders' priorities and protect their time for strategic work.
• Prepare them for key meetings, keep the record and make sure actions are closed.
• Run projects they hand over, such as market and competitor research.
• Keep customer and partner conversations moving, with follow-ups done.

Board, investors and fundraising

• Own board papers and the regular investor update.
• Keep company records, the share register and the data room in order, working with our accountants and lawyers.
• Get the next funding round ready well ahead of need: numbers, metrics and milestones, investor list, timeline and paperwork, and support the founders on the story.

Planning and delivery

• Run annual and quarterly goals and a monthly review with the founders.
• Keep the R&D plan, hiring plan and budget aligned, and settle clashes over priorities.
• With the Project Manager, turn strategy into delivery across R&D, partner and grant‑funded programmes: clear priorities, regular check‑ins and early action when work slips.
• Own customer projects from scope to hand‑over, so we deliver what we promised.
• With Business Development, help turn partner pilots into paid non‑recurring engineering (NRE) work.
• Decide with the founders which grants to pursue, and make sure their obligations are met.

People, money and contracts

• With the HR Manager, own the hiring plan, lead senior hires and make sure contracts, policies, share options and payroll are right.
• Own the budget and cash forecast, know our runway to the month, and check large spend against budget before it reaches the founders.
• Manage key contracts, NDAs and partner agreements, along with insurance and office set‑up.
• Protect the culture as the team grows.

What success looks like

• By 6 months: the board pack, investor update and cash forecast run monthly, and the quarterly planning cycle is in place.
• By 12 months: materials and data room for the next round are ready, and partner pilots are converting to paid NRE work.

About you

Essential

• At least 5 years' experience, including 2 or more in a startup or scale‑up, ideally venture-backed.
• A track record of running things across a business, in operations, strategy, finance or a Chief of Staff role.
• Strong with numbers: you can build a budget and cash forecast and defend it to a board.
• Clear, short, accurate writing for board papers, investor updates and funding applications.
• You get things done through people who don't report to you, and make sound calls on incomplete information.
• Technical enough to follow engineering conversations, through a science or engineering degree or years in a technical company.

Desirable

• Experience of a funding round, from the company or investor side.
• Public funding bids (such as Innovate UK) or large commercial bids.
• Semiconductors, photonics, optics or other hardware.
• Hiring for technical roles.
• A background in consulting, investment banking, investing or founding a company.

You are trustworthy with confidential detail, tell the founders bad news early, and add order without red tape. You are as happy writing a board paper on Tuesday as chasing a shipment on Wednesday. No MBA needed: we care about what you have run, not the route you took.

Benefits

• £65,000 to £80,000, depending on experience
• ESOP
• Life insurance & Death in Service
• Modern, well‑equipped workspace in West Edinburgh

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