Executive Operations Manager — Office of the CEO

Executive Operations Manager — Office of the CEO Work arrangement: Full-time, primarily on-site About Spectacular Labs Spectacular Labs is building Spectacular OneTouch, a fully automated tabletop platform for molecular food-pathogen testing. Our system combines enrichment, sample preparation, molecular detection, and cloud-based reporting in a sealed cartridge. Our goal is to make reliable pathogen testing faster, simpler, and available directly at food-production facilities without requiring a traditional microbiology laboratory. We are an early-stage technical company working across biotechnology, mechanical engineering, electronics, firmware, software, manufacturing, and food safety. The Role We are hiring an exceptional Executive Operations Manager to work directly with our CEO and help run the operating system around the company. This is not a conventional administrative-assistant position, and it is not a strategy-only Chief of Staff role. You will manage the CEO’s priorities, calendar, commitments, and decision flow while ensuring that important work across engineering, biology, manufacturing, customers, grants, recruiting, finance, and external partnerships reaches completion. The central purpose of the role is simple: Important work should not be forgotten, delayed, or depend on the CEO personally chasing it. You will turn fast-moving conversations, meetings, and ideas into clear owners, deadlines, decisions, and completed outcomes. What You Will Own CEO Operations Actively manage and prioritize the CEO’s calendar Protect time for strategic, technical, and customer-critical work Evaluate meeting requests and determine where the CEO is truly required Prepare daily and weekly priorities Coordinate travel, conferences, and complex itineraries Organize information before important meetings and decisions Draft routine correspondence and follow-up communications Maintain a clear queue of decisions requiring CEO input Triage incoming requests and route work to the appropriate owner Company Follow-Through Capture commitments made in meetings and conversations Assign clear owners, deadlines, and definitions of completion Follow up persistently until work is completed Surface blockers before they become emergencies Maintain the company’s central task and commitment system Prepare and help run the weekly operating review Track cross-functional initiatives involving multiple teams Ensure every important project has an owner, next action, and deadline Operational Coordination Coordinate recruiting logistics, candidate communication, and interview schedules Manage document collection, signature routing, and organized recordkeeping Coordinate routine vendor, supplier, and professional-service communication Track purchasing, shipments, and delivery commitments with functional owners Coordinate payroll, payment, and financial-administration inputs with external specialists Manage grant calendars, supporting documents, and partner coordination Support customer demonstrations, conferences, and site visits Build repeatable processes for activities currently handled informally What Success Looks Like Within your first 90 days: Every major company commitment has one owner and one deadline The CEO has a clear and prioritized decision queue Routine travel, scheduling, and administrative coordination no longer require CEO execution Important meetings have agendas and preparation materials in advance Action items are documented, assigned, and followed through Overdue commitments are visible and escalated Recruiting and interview logistics run without CEO coordination Payroll, vendor, grant, and document deadlines are proactively managed The CEO’s calendar contains substantially more strategy, product, customer, and leadership time The organization has one reliable source of truth for priorities and follow-through Who You Are You are exceptionally organized, but organization alone is not enough. You are also assertive, resourceful, discreet, and comfortable taking ownership in an ambiguous environment. You may currently be an: Executive Operations Manager Executive Business Partner Senior Executive Assistant Startup Operations Manager Founder Associate Program Manager Execution-oriented Chief of Staff You are likely to thrive in this role if you: Have supported a founder, CEO, or senior executive in a fast-moving organization Know how to turn incomplete instructions into concrete outcomes Are comfortable asking senior people for updates and holding them to commitments Can distinguish urgent work from noisy work Communicate clearly and concisely in writing Exercise sound judgment with confidential information Notice details without losing sight of the larger objective Enjoy closing loops and building reliable systems Present recommendations rather than merely identifying problems Are comfortable around hardware, laboratories, manufacturing, or technical teams Can work primarily on-site in Richmond, California Preferred Experience Four or more years in executive operations, startup operations, program management, or senior executive support Experience working directly with a founder or CEO Experience in an early-stage company Experience supporting biotechnology, diagnostics, hardware, manufacturing, or another complex technical organization Experience coordinating vendors, recruiting, travel, and cross-functional programs Familiarity with Google Workspace, Trello, or similar project-management systems Experience building operating processes from scratch A specific degree is not required. Reliability, judgment, writing, and execution matter more than credentials. Working With the CEO The CEO is a technical founder who works quickly across product development, engineering, customers, fundraising, and company operations. You must be comfortable: Receiving rapid verbal downloads and turning them into structure Asking precise questions when an outcome is unclear Batching nonurgent questions instead of interrupting continuously Telling the CEO when he is becoming a bottleneck Recommending that a meeting be declined, shortened, or delegated Working with urgency while maintaining accuracy Operating with a high degree of trust and discretion Spectacular Labs is an equal-opportunity employer. We evaluate candidates based on their ability to perform the role and contribute to the company’s mission. #J-18808-Ljbffr Spectacular Labs