Chief of Staff

Chief of Staff

Full-Time 60000 - 140000 £ / year (est.) No working from home possible
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At a Glance

  • Tasks: Lead operations and strategy for a cutting-edge energy tech startup.
  • Company: Join Squid, a pioneering company transforming power grid management.
  • Benefits: Competitive salary, equity options, and a vibrant London office.
  • Other info: High-ownership role with opportunities for personal and professional growth.
  • Why this job: Shape the future of energy while working closely with visionary founders.
  • Qualifications: Experience in startups or complex environments; strong communication skills.

The predicted salary is between 60000 - 140000 £ per year.

AI and data centres are booming, electrification is accelerating, and trillions in generation, storage, and connection projects are queued - but the real bottleneck is the grid.

Grid planning and operations are becoming a national-scale systems problem: complex network models, messy legacy data, strict governance, overloaded teams, and high-stakes decisions that affect real infrastructure.

Squid is building the agentic modelling platform for power grids: a versioned, auditable source of truth where network models, data, changes, assumptions, and decisions can be tracked - and where humans and AI agents can safely work together.

We unify legacy planning models, operational data, and grid workflows into software that helps teams run checks, compare models, explain changes, validate assumptions, and move faster without losing engineering rigour.

Based in London, Squid is backed by premier investors like Y Combinator and partners with industry leaders including National Grid and Northern Powergrid.

About the role

Pay Range

£60k-£140k (salary + equity), based in

London, UK.

We are hiring a Chief of Staff to work directly with Squid’s founders.

You will build and run the operating system around the founders, taking ownership of work that currently spans company operations, finance, hiring, customer operations and board and investor preparation.

This is a senior, hands-on generalist role.

You will move between strategic priorities and detailed execution, helping Squid operate with reliable information, clear ownership and proportionate processes.

This is a high-ownership role based in our central London office, with the opportunity to shape how the company operates as it grows.

What you'll do

  • Establish clear weekly and quarterly rhythms for priorities, decisions, risks and follow-through.
  • Maintain a reliable view of company actions, ownership and cross-functional commitments.
  • Prepare founder, board and adviser materials and maintain the underlying records.
  • Maintain Squid’s cash forecast, runway model, budget and monthly management information.
  • Coordinate bookkeeping, payroll, tax, insurance, legal providers and UK and US corporate administration.
  • Oversee invoices, expenses, procurement, approvals and core company records.
  • Run the operating side of hiring, including candidate pipelines, interview coordination, offers and onboarding.
  • Maintain simple people processes covering equipment, access, policies, joiners and leavers.
  • Support strategic customer operations, including meeting preparation, account tracking and follow-through.
  • Coordinate procurement, security, legal, data-sharing and deployment dependencies around customer accounts.
  • Lead important cross-company initiatives that do not yet belong to a dedicated function.

Qualifications

You do not need to meet every requirement. We are looking for a highly capable generalist who has made complex and ambiguous work reliable.

You may be a strong fit if you have

  • Experience in an early-stage startup, consulting, investing, finance, business operations or a similarly demanding environment.
  • Strong written and verbal communication, with the ability to turn complexity into clear decisions and actions.
  • Confidence working with cash forecasts, budgets, management information and basic commercial analysis.
  • Sound judgement, discretion and close attention to detail.
  • A strong record of following through and anticipating risks across multiple workstreams.
  • The ability to switch comfortably between strategic work and detailed operational execution.
  • A willingness to do important operational work personally while building systems that can scale.
  • The ability to coordinate specialist providers and understand their outputs without needing to be a qualified accountant or lawyer.
  • About Squid (www. squid. energy)

AI and data centres are booming, electrification is accelerating, and trillions in generation, storage, and connection projects are queued - but the real bottleneck is the grid.

Grid planning and operations are becoming a national-scale systems problem: complex network models, messy legacy data, strict governance, overloaded teams, and high-stakes decisions that affect real infrastructure.

Squid is building the agentic modelling platform for power grids: a versioned, auditable source of truth where network models, data, changes, assumptions, and decisions can be tracked - and where humans and AI agents can safely work together.

We unify legacy planning models, operational data, and grid workflows into software that helps teams run checks, compare models, explain changes, validate assumptions, and move faster without losing engineering rigour.

Based in London, Squid is backed by premier investors like Y Combinator and partners with industry leaders including National Grid and Northern Powergrid.

About the role

Pay Range

£60k-£140k (salary + equity), based in

London, UK.

We are hiring a Chief of Staff to work directly with Squid’s founders.

You will build and run the operating system around the founders, taking ownership of work that currently spans company operations, finance, hiring, customer operations and board and investor preparation.

This is a senior, hands-on generalist role.

You will move between strategic priorities and detailed execution, helping Squid operate with reliable information, clear ownership and proportionate processes.

This is a high-ownership role based in our central London office, with the opportunity to shape how the company operates as it grows.

What you'll do

  • Establish clear weekly and quarterly rhythms for priorities, decisions, risks and follow-through.
  • Maintain a reliable view of company actions, ownership and cross-functional commitments.
  • Prepare founder, board and adviser materials and maintain the underlying records.
  • Maintain Squid’s cash forecast, runway model, budget and monthly management information.
  • Coordinate bookkeeping, payroll, tax, insurance, legal providers and UK and US corporate administration.
  • Oversee invoices, expenses, procurement, approvals and core company records.
  • Run the operating side of hiring, including candidate pipelines, interview coordination, offers and onboarding.
  • Maintain simple people processes covering equipment, access, policies, joiners and leavers.
  • Support strategic customer operations, including meeting preparation, account tracking and follow-through.
  • Coordinate procurement, security, legal, data-sharing and deployment dependencies around customer accounts.
  • Lead important cross-company initiatives that do not yet belong to a dedicated function.

Qualifications

You do not need to meet every requirement. We are looking for a highly capable generalist who has made complex and ambiguous work reliable.

You may be a strong fit if you have

  • Experience in an early-stage startup, consulting, investing, finance, business operations or a similarly demanding environment.
  • Strong written and verbal communication, with the ability to turn complexity into clear decisions and actions.
  • Confidence working with cash forecasts, budgets, management information and basic commercial analysis.
  • Sound judgement, discretion and close attention to detail.
  • A strong record of following through and anticipating risks across multiple workstreams.
  • The ability to switch comfortably between strategic work and detailed operational execution.
  • A willingness to do important operational work personally while building systems that can scale.
  • The ability to coordinate specialist providers and understand their outputs without needing to be a qualified accountant or lawyer.
  • #J-18808-Ljbffr

Chief of Staff employer: Squid

Squid offers an exceptional work environment for AI-Driven Grid Software Engineers, providing a unique opportunity to be among the first engineers in London and directly collaborate with founders. With a strong focus on innovation, employees enjoy a culture that encourages ownership, creativity, and professional growth, all while working in the vibrant heart of central London, which enhances both personal and professional experiences.

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Contact Details:

Squid Recruitment Team

We think you need these skills to ace Chief of Staff

Strategic Planning
Operational Execution
Financial Management
Cash Forecasting
Budget Management
Communication Skills
Risk Management