Chief of Staff to CTO

Abound; United States; Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Hybrid work

25 days holiday

Volunteer days

Sabbatical after 4 years

Employee loan

Gym membership

Wellness budget

Job summary

Abound is hiring a Chief of Staff to act as the CTO’s right hand, responsible for building operating discipline and execution leverage to scale the technology organisation.

This high-impact leadership role focuses on execution, clarity and accountability, ensuring the organisation works on priority initiatives and delivers at pace with lean processes.

Qualifications

• Proven experience scaling engineering or product organizations in high-growth environments.
• Strong track record delivering with clear accountability and fast execution.
• Experience running planning cadences and providing portfolio visibility at scale.

Responsibilities

• Lead execution, delivery discipline and operating cadence across the tech org.
• Own planning cycles, delivery reviews, leadership forums and executive reporting.
• Create end-to-end visibility of the technology roadmap with product and central teams.
• Coordinate dependencies across engineering, product, risk, compliance and commercial teams.
• Strengthen accountability, performance management and leadership discipline.
• Support scaling hiring, onboarding and organizational capacity.
• Act as a driver of a high-performance culture and operating model.

Skills

Scaling teams

Execution focus

Planning cadence

Cross-team coordination

Commercial mindset

Senior tech leadership

Job description

About Abound

We’re redefining consumer lending in the UK, and beyond. Using advanced AI and Open Banking data, we make fair, affordable personal finance available to more people. While traditional lenders rely almost entirely on credit scores, we look at the full financial picture - how much you spend, and what you can afford to repay to build a deeper, more accurate understanding of each customer's unique financial situation.

And we've shown it works at scale. We’ve issued over £1.3bn in loans directly to customers while delivering market-leading credit performance - for every 10 defaults the industry expects, we see only 3. We also reached profitability just 2.5 years after launch.

Backed by £2bn+ of funding from top-tier investors including Citi, GSR Ventures, and Deutsche Bank, we’re recognised as one of Europe’s fastest-growing fintechs (Sifted, CNBC). Now, we’re expanding into new markets and product lines - and we’re looking for ambitious people who want to learn fast, take ownership, and grow with us.

About the role

We are hiring a Chief of Staff to act as the CTO’s right hand, responsible for building the operating discipline and execution leverage required to scale the technology organisation.

This is a high-impact leadership role focused on execution, clarity and accountability. You will ensure the organisation is working on the right priorities, making clear commitments, and delivering at pace without introducing unnecessary process or bureaucracy.

Your mission is simple: build a high-performing engineering organisation that consistently delivers.

What you'll be doing

Execution & Delivery Discipline

• Ensure engineering teams are aligned to the company’s most important priorities
• Drive clear commitments, realistic timelines and predictable delivery
• Surface risks early and ensure fast, decisive resolution

Operating Cadence

• Run the core operating rhythm of the technology organisation
• Own planning cycles, delivery reviews, leadership forums and executive reporting
• Improve decision-making clarity and ensure follow-through

Roadmap & Visibility

• Create end-to-end visibility of the technology roadmap across product and central teams
• Provide clear insight into progress, risks, dependencies and trade-offs
• Enable leadership to focus attention where it matters most

Cross-Team Execution

• Manage dependencies across engineering, product, risk, compliance and commercial teams
• Remove bottlenecks and ensure coordinated delivery across a complex organisation

Organisation & Performance

• Strengthen accountability, performance management and leadership discipline
• Help scale hiring, onboarding and organisational capacity
• Act as a visible driver of a high-performance culture

Operating Model

• Improve how central teams (Platform, FinOps, AI, Security, IT) support product teams
• Establish clear ownership, interfaces and expectations to increase speed and clarity

CTO Leverage

• Reduce the CTO’s overhead on coordination, planning and follow-up
• Create space for focus on technology strategy, architecture and innovation

Who you are

• Proven experience scaling engineering or product organisations in high-growth environments
• Strong track record driving execution, delivery discipline and operational clarity
• Experience running planning cadences, portfolio visibility and cross-team coordination at scale
• Ability to work credibly with senior engineers and technology leaders
• Commercial mindset: understands how technology drives growth, customer outcomes and risk management
• High standards, strong judgement and a bias for action

You are structured but pragmatic, demanding but focused on outcomes. You know how to raise performance without slowing teams down.

What we offer

• Everyone owns a piece of the company - equity
• Hybrid with 3 days a week in the office
• 25 days’ holiday a year, plus 8 bank holidays
• 2 paid volunteering days per year
• One month paid sabbatical after 4 years
• Employee loan
• Free gym membership
• Team wellness budget to be active together - set up a yoga class, a tennis lesson or go bouldering