Chief of Staff

RIFT; Brétigny-sur-Orge; Remote; EUR 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Rift, a European drone tech company, is seeking a Chief of Staff to work closely with the CEO, manage the operating cadence, and drive cross-functional initiatives from concept to delivery.

You will oversee fundraising readiness, investor materials, and board briefs while coordinating hiring and onboarding for the coming year. Fluency in English and French, and a track record of hands-on project leadership, are essential.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in strategy consulting, investment banking, venture capital, or an operational role in a fast-growing startup.
• Exposure to defense, aerospace, or the public sector is a strong plus.
• You have run projects yourself and can describe precisely what you did, with results and figures.
• Excellent writing in English and French. You can turn a long discussion into a clear one-page memo the same day.
• You are comfortable with numbers and can build, read, and challenge a financial model or a hiring budget.
• Rigorous follow-through and a strong sense of discretion in handling sensitive information.

Responsibilities

• Operating cadence — Run the weekly leadership review, track priorities and decisions with owners and dates.
• Fundraising readiness — Build data room, investor pipeline, and financial model; prepare updates and board briefs.
• Cross-functional projects — Lead cross-team initiatives; scope, run, and deliver recommendations.
• CEO support — Prepare meetings, draft memos and presentations, manage follow-ups.
• Hiring and onboarding — Coordinate hiring pipeline and organize interviews and references.
• Reporting and tools — Keep CRM, dashboards, and metrics accurate and up-to-date.

Skills

Strategy consulting

Investment banking

Venture capital

Operational role

English writing

French writing

Job description

As Chief of Staff at Rift, you will work directly with the CEO and take ownership of the topics that would otherwise wait on the CEO's desk. You will run the company's operating cadence, prepare the next financing round, and lead cross-functional projects from the first draft to delivery.

Success in this role is measured by outcomes. Decisions taken in leadership meetings are carried through to completion, investor material is ready before anyone asks for it, and the CEO can spend more time with customers, partners, and the team.

What you’ll do

Operating cadence — Run the weekly leadership review, track priorities and decisions across teams, and make sure every commitment has an owner and a date.

Fundraising readiness — Build and maintain the data room, the investor pipeline, and the financial model alongside our finance advisor. Prepare investor updates, board materials, and meeting briefs.

Cross-functional projects — Lead the projects that span several teams, such as entering a new country, structuring a partnership, or coordinating a major tender response with our bid partners. You scope the work, run it, and come back with a recommendation.

CEO support — Prepare the CEO's key meetings, write first drafts of memos, letters, and presentations, and handle the follow-up so that work keeps moving after each meeting.

Hiring and onboarding — Coordinate the hiring pipeline for the roles opening over the coming year, organize interviews and reference checks, and help new team members become productive in their first weeks.

Reporting and tools — Keep our CRM, dashboards, and key metrics accurate and current. If it's not in the CRM, it doesn't exist.

What we’re looking for

• 3+ years of experience in strategy consulting, investment banking, venture capital, or an operational role in a fast-growing startup. Exposure to defense, aerospace, or the public sector is a strong plus.
• You have run projects yourself and can describe precisely what you did, with results and figures.
• Excellent writing in English and French. You can turn a long discussion into a clear one-page memo the same day.
• You are comfortable with numbers and can build, read, and challenge a financial model or a hiring budget.
• Rigorous follow-through and a strong sense of discretion. You will handle sensitive information every day, including information subject to defense confidentiality rules.
• This is an individual contributor role with no direct reports at this stage. It suits someone who wants to work hands-on alongside a founder.you, we’d love to hear from you.

Don't worry if your profile doesn't match every point—if this mission feels right, we'd like to hear from you.

How we work

• Boldness is encouraged, we’d rather break the rules than follow them blindly.
• We share both successes and failures openly: learning fast means failing fast.
• We value initiative, agility, and ownership. Everyone is encouraged to take the lead and help move things forward.
• We care personally and challenge directly: honest feedback early and often, without ego.

Hiring process

Introductory call – Get to know each other, motivations, overall fit.
Technical interview – Case study or hands-on scenario.
Final interview – Meet the team & founders.
Reference check – Quick call with a former manager or colleague.

Who we are

Rift is building the first European long-range drone network to protect borders, critical infrastructure, and territories. Our mission is to make real-time aerial intelligence accessible, anywhere, anytime.

We design, build, and operate a fleet of fixed-wing drones deployed through autonomous ground stations. Each drone covers hundreds of kilometers per flight and is fully remote-controlled from our operations center, delivering live intelligence to security forces in crisis situations.

Rift is entering a phase of industrialization and large-scale deployment. We're looking for talented, self-driven individuals who want to make an impact, people ready to help build a strategic tech company that strengthens Europe’s security, sovereignty, and resilience in the face of tomorrow’s threats.