Chief of Staff / Head of Operations

Spectrum Search is partnered with an early-stage investment firm seeking a hands-on operator to build and run its operational infrastructure, combining broad business ownership with practical AI automation.

About the opportunity

The firm combines an established investment foundation and institutional client relationships with the opportunity to build a modern operating model from the ground up.

Technology and artificial intelligence are central to how the organisation intends to manage workflows, serve clients and support its investment team. This role offers significant responsibility across the business, direct exposure to senior investment leadership and performance-based profit sharing.

The role

The Chief of Staff / Head of Operations will own day-to-day operations across the firm, enabling the investment team to focus on investing.

Working closely with the Head of AI and Chief Investment Officer, this person will turn ambiguous problems into reliable processes, manage external relationships and build systems that reduce manual work.

This is a hands-on individual contributor position with scope to develop into broader operational leadership. It requires someone equally comfortable negotiating a supplier agreement, completing investor documentation and implementing a new workflow.

Key responsibilities

• Own operational activity across vendors, contracts, budgets, insurance, office management and people operations.
• Manage relationships with counterparties, custodians, fund administrators and outsourced service providers.
• Coordinate investor onboarding, due diligence requests, reporting and compliance workflows.
• Partner with the Head of AI to automate recurring processes and progressively bring selected outsourced activities in-house.
• Oversee outsourced support across areas including IT, bookkeeping, cybersecurity and middle and back-office operations.
• Coordinate an outsourced sales team of five to six people, improve its customer relationship management systems and support institutional client presentations.
• Lead external calls, negotiate commercial terms and hold partners accountable for delivery.
• Manage scheduling, administrative requirements and cross-functional priorities.
• Help strengthen the investment team’s internal processes as the organisation develops.

Essential requirements

• Experience in management consulting, investment banking or private equity, followed by hands-on startup operations experience.
• Demonstrated ownership across multiple business functions, rather than responsibility for a single project or workstream.
• A track record of building and launching complete operational systems.
• Confidence acting as the primary contact for senior clients, investors, vendors or counterparties.
• Practical fluency with AI tools such as Claude and Claude Code, and the judgement to identify useful automation opportunities.
• Strong commercial judgement, clear communication and the ability to translate unclear problems into workable solutions.
• Willingness to take ownership of detailed administrative work alongside broader operational priorities.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience in investment management operations or direct investing.
• Examples of independently building AI workflows, agents or no-code automations.
• Experience improving CRM systems or supporting institutional business development.

Location and remote setup

Full-time, fully on-site in Manhattan, New York City, five days per week.