Chief of Staff

PAVE Space; Villeneuve (VD); On-site; CHF 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

PAVE Space is seeking a hands-on Chief of Staff to accelerate growth as we scale from start-up to scale-up in the aerospace hardware space. You will operate at the intersection of strategy, execution, and fundraising, translating CEO decisions into clear actions across teams.

You will own cross-functional initiatives, track grants and funding opportunities, manage high-stakes projects, and flag risks before they reach the CEO. This role is fully on-site in Villeneuve (VD).

Qualifications

• 3–5 years in startup or scale-up, strategy, consulting, operations, product, finance, investing, or P&L roles
• Demonstrated ability to build and defend financial models from scratch
• Track record of owning ambiguous, high-stakes projects end to end under pressure
• Exceptional judgement and discretion, comfortable handling confidential financial, commercial, and personnel matters
• Clear, direct communicator who can challenge senior leadership constructively
• Exposure to aerospace, defence, deep tech, or other capital-intensive hardware sectors
• Startup or high-growth operating experience
• Working French (local ecosystem is francophone); German is a plus
• Familiarity with the European and Swiss investor, grant, and funding landscape

Responsibilities

• Execution follow-through on CEO decisions across teams
• Cross-functional projects and strategic initiatives nobody else owns
• Tracking grants, funding opportunities, and sales opportunities
• Key meetings, and the supporting dossiers they run on
• Flagging problems before they become the CEO's problem
• Spotting where the org is missing capability, and building the plan to fill it
• Fully on-site in Villeneuve (VD), with daily in-person work. This is not an assistant role and not a fixed box

Job description

PAVE Space is building LYOBA, a heavy kick stage moving up to 4-tonne payloads from LEO to high-energy orbits in under 24 hours. Real hardware, real funding, real milestones, tackling two of the biggest markets in space: telecom and defence.

We have our first mission in space in a month and a rocket engine ignition before the end of the year, real proof points, not roadmap promises. The company is doubling in size, and the sales, financing, and operational load still runs through the co-founders. Joining now means shaping how a company at this inflection point actually scales, not managing a machine that's already built.

You will own

The CoS operates at the intersection of strategy - decision - execution - company building:

Execution follow-through on CEO decisions across teams

Cross-functional projects and strategic initiatives nobody else owns

Tracking grants, funding opportunities, and sales opportunities

Key meetings, and the supporting dossiers they run on

Flagging problems before they become the CEO's problem

Spotting where the org is missing capability, and building the plan to fill it

What we are looking for

3 to 5 years in startup or scale-up, strategy, consulting, operations, product, finance, investing, or P&L roles

Demonstrated ability to build and defend financial models from scratch

Track record of owning ambiguous, high-stakes projects end to end under pressure

Exceptional judgement and discretion, comfortable handling confidential financial, commercial, and personnel matters

Clear, direct communicator who can challenge senior leadership constructively

Exposure to aerospace, defence, deep tech, or other capital-intensive hardware sectors

Startup or high-growth operating experience

Working French (our local ecosystem is francophone); German is a plus

Familiarity with the European and Swiss investor, grant, and funding landscape

You will fit if

You take full ownership and are accountable for outcomes, not just activity

You are comfortable owning a topic temporarily, then handing it to a clear owner rather than accumulating functions

You handle confidential financial, commercial, and personnel matters with discretion

You step outside your core discipline when the timeline needs it

You have a strong interest in space technology and where PAVE Space is trying to take it

Fully on-site in Villeneuve (VD), with daily in-person work. This is not an assistant role and not a fixed box: the boundaries are fluid, the timelines are tight, and you will own ambiguous problems before anyone has scoped them. That is the role, stated plainly.

What makes that worth it: joining now means shaping how a company at this inflection point actually scales, and participating directly in the development of a next generation Orbital Transfer Vehicle.