Chief of Staff to Startup CEO

Responsibilities

• Personal operations for the CEO: manage inbox, calendar, priorities, follow-through, travel coordination, personal admin (banking, leases, visas, real estate, payments) and ensure decisions reach the CEO prepared with options and recommendations.
• Negotiation & suppliers: lead negotiations with banks, vendors, service providers and real estate; build BATNAs, benchmark terms, and design pressure points to secure better outcomes.
• Complex project ownership: manage multi-stakeholder business and personal projects end-to-end; coordinate legal, technical and financial experts; maintain decision records and commitment logs.
• Organizational systems & execution: implement and own execution cadence (OKRs, priorities, follow-through), design scalable processes, automations, AI tools and knowledge bases; run post-mortems and issue logs.
• Talent & vendors: source, screen and interview candidates; find top-tier service providers; identify role misfits early and ensure the right people are in the right seats.
• Finance & admin operations: facilitate multi-country admin (including UAE), keep financial data clean and decision-ready, continuously audit expenses and negotiate tools.

Requirements

• Top-tier education
• Startup operator
• Analytical mindset
• Problem solver
• High attention to detail
• Notion & AI
• Project management
• Travel to Dubai
• Confidentiality
• Fluent English

Preferred Qualifications

• 2+ years as the operational backbone to a startup founder or graduation from a top-tier business/engineering school
• Experience as COO / Head of Ops or in complex operational roles at fast-paced startups
• Strong negotiation and supplier management experience
• Proven ability to design and implement scalable operating systems, automations and knowledge bases
• Comfortable working across business and personal operations with high discretion
• Experience handling multi-country admin and finance (audit, expense control)

Benefits

• Competitive salary above local market for the right profile
• Annual leave
• Education allowance (books/training support)
• Company-covered flights / annual team retreats
• 5 paid days for work with the Paradox Foundation (for full-time employees)
• Flexible remote culture, standing desk support, Mac provided, wellness stipend and coaching sessions (full-time employees)

About the Company

Paradox builds a personalized Operating System for Greatness that helps people transform at scale through AI personalization, lean experimentation and deep psychological insight. Founded by David Laroche, Paradox brings together designers, tech, coaches and filmmakers to create cinematic, precise and effective learning experiences. The company operates a remote-first culture with offices in Dubai, Paris and Lisbon and aims to move fast, design durable systems and create measurable impact for millions of users. This role will work closely with the CEO and requires flexibility, discretion and a passion for building systems that scale.