Chief of Staff, R&D in London

As a key support to the R&D leaders, the Chief of Staff will enhance the leaders' impact by:

• Acting as a buffer: Resolving challenges, addressing escalations, and managing sensitive issues before they reach the leaders.
• Providing counsel: Serving as a thought partner to the R&D leaders and offering tailored advice to the R&D team members and cross-functional leaders.
• Improving communication: Bridging communication gaps between R&D executive leaders and GTM teams to foster alignment and manage R&D-related internal communications.
• Supporting the leader: Supporting the Engineering and Product leaders' schedule, coordinating travel, and responding to inquiries on their behalf.
• Recruiting & sourcing: Identifying talent gaps, helping in building a hiring plan, and prioritising hiring efforts across engineering leaders.
• Meeting management: Preparing agendas, taking detailed notes, and driving follow-ups and tracking actions for R&D-led meetings including those with the Executive and GTM teams.
• Leading and supporting planning process: Supporting R&D in managing recurring events such as roadmap planning and prioritisation, market analysis review cycles, demos, and org restructuring.
• Drive the creation of executive-ready R&D decks and documentation: Ensuring clarity, alignment, and consistency across All Hands decks and SAP leadership related communications.
• Orchestrating and coordinating the request for product and engineering customer engagement: Directing and coordinating the different requests to the right people in the R&D organisation ensuring efficiency and customers' needs are met.

The Chief of Staff will ensure the R&D organisation vision is executed across teams by:

• Managing projects: Acting as the Project Manager for large-scale cross-functional initiatives ensuring decisions are made and goals are met.
• Guiding others: Advising R&D department heads on team efficiency, offering recommendations on organisational design and process improvements.
• Temporary leadership: Stepping in as interim leadership for key R&D teams during transitions ensuring continuity until new leaders are in place.
• Offsite management: Coordinating, facilitating, and setting agendas for R&D team offsites and strategic planning sessions.
• OKR management: Overseeing the creation, tracking, and reporting of R&D-focused OKRs, identifying areas for adjustment as needed to ensure organisational success.

This role is for an individual who thrives in a fast-paced, high-impact environment and is passionate about driving R&D success. You are a problem solver, a proactive strategist, and a natural leader who enjoys managing complex projects and aligning diverse teams toward common goals.

• 5-10 years of experience in product engineering, program management, strategy, operations, or a Chief of Staff role within a technology-driven organisation.
• Strong R&D domain fluency: deep understanding of how Product and Engineering teams operate including roadmapping, prioritisation, delivery, and technical trade-offs.
• Proven experience partnering with senior executives (VP, CPO, CTO, SVP Engineering) as a trusted advisor and thought partner.
• Exceptional execution and project leadership skills with a track record of driving complex cross-functional initiatives to completion.
• Excellent communication skills (written, verbal, and executive presence) with the ability to influence without authority and tailor messaging to different audiences.
• Strategic mindset with operational rigor: ability to zoom out to strategy while diving deep into details when needed.
• Strong organisational and prioritisation skills capable of managing multiple workstreams in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment.
• Experience with OKR frameworks, operating cadences, and performance management in R&D organisations.
• Demonstrated ability to navigate sensitive situations, manage escalations, and handle confidential information with discretion and judgment.
• People leadership experience or demonstrated ability to step into interim leadership roles and guide teams through change.
• Customer- and business-oriented mindset with experience collaborating closely with GTM, Sales, Customer Success, and Executive teams.
• Comfort operating in high-growth, scaling, or transformational environments including org changes, new operating models, or AI-driven initiatives.
• Bachelor's degree required; MBA or equivalent experience preferred.

SmartRecruiters is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, colour, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.

Remote Work: Yes

Employment Type: Full-time

Key Skills: Laboratory Experience, Vendor Management, Design Controls, C/C++, FDA Regulations, Intellectual Property Law, ISO 13485, Research Experience, SolidWorks, Research & Development, Internet Of Things, Product Development.