Chief of Staff

Job Description

Job Description

Deep Fission is a nuclear technology company pioneering the development of a revolutionary deep borehole pressurized water reactor. We recently completed a private placement financing and Alternative Public Offering and are now operating as a public company while maintaining our startup agility and innovation focus. With strategic partnerships in place, strong private and public investment, and active engagement with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), we are executing our next phase of growth as we advance our groundbreaking nuclear technology toward commercial deployment. 

 

Deep Fission is seeking a Chief of Staff to the CEO to serve as the crucial integrator connecting strategy, execution, and governance across the company. This is a strategic, leadership-team-level position, not a support role. The Chief of Staff sits on the leadership team as a peer and owns two of the company's most consequential operating systems: the board process and the leadership team's own operating rhythm.

Deep Fission is pioneering a fundamentally new approach to nuclear power, placing small reactors a mile underground to bring clean, reliable energy online faster and at lower cost than the industry has built before. The company recently completed its initial public offering and is now building the organization it needs to operate as a public company while racing to bring its first reactor to criticality. This is a rare moment in a company's life, the stretch where foundational systems get built for the first time by the people in the room building them. The volume of decisions, commitments, and cross-functional work has grown faster than the systems needed to track it, and this role exists to close that gap and build what comes next.

This is an opportunity for a seasoned builder, someone who has run operating systems at this altitude before and wants the chance to build one from the ground up at a company whose mission is not incremental. The people who do well at Deep Fission are mission driven. They understand what is at stake in getting safe, affordable, scalable nuclear power built quickly, and they bring that motivation to the work without needing to be pushed.

Key Responsibilities

• Board Process
  • Own board meeting preparation and follow-through end to end: agendas, materials, pre-reads, and tracking commitments back to close.
  • Serve as the primary point of contact to board members on non-urgent matters.
• Leadership Team Operating Process
  • Build and run the leadership team's operating rhythm: standing meetings, decision forums, and the communication cadence that keeps the company's functions integrated.
  • Design and stand up structure where one does not yet fully exist, proactively and without waiting to be asked.
• Organizational Accountability
  • Own the system that tracks commitments across the leadership team, so nothing agreed by the CEO falls through without someone driving it to resolution.
  • Hold decisions steady even when they are reopened in a live conversation, and do so respectfully.
• CEO Preparation & External Engagement
  • In partnership with the relevant leadership team member, ensure the CEO walks into every significant meeting, investor conversation, and speaking engagement fully briefed and ready.
  • Own strategic initiatives as designated by the CEO.
  • Represent the CEO with board members, investors, and senior partners where appropriate.

Required Skills & Experience

• Bachelor's degree required.
• At least 10 years of senior management experience, including time on a leadership team in a Chief of Staff role.
• Demonstrated experience in strategic planning, organizational design, and cross-functional program management.
• Demonstrated experience managing real cross-functional complexity: competing priorities, organizational politics, and holding people accountable without formal authority over them.
• Has built organizational systems from the ground up, including operating rhythms, decision frameworks, and accountability structures, in a place where none existed before.
• Executive presence and credibility to represent the CEO with board members, investors, and senior partners.
• Comfortable operating in an environment where infrastructure is still being built, rather than needing a lot of structure already in place.
• Public company experience and background in technology, energy, advanced manufacturing, or another regulated industry.
• A genuine passion for Deep Fission's mission of building faster, safer, and more affordable nuclear power, and a highly self-motivated approach to work that does not require day-to-day direction.

Desired Skills & Experience

• Advanced degree in business, law, engineering, or a related field.
• Has worked in a founder-adjacent or early-stage scaling environment where systems had to be built, not inherited.
• Familiarity with board governance, investor relations, and public company reporting cadences.
• Enough technical or sector credibility to be taken seriously in conversations about nuclear energy, deep technology, or other regulated industries.

Key Competencies

• Mission-Driven and Self-Directed – Genuinely invested in Deep Fission's mission and able to generate momentum independently, without waiting for direction from the CEO or the leadership team.
• Structural Builder – Builds structure proactively, without waiting to be asked, when a gap appears.
• Decision Steadiness – Holds a decision steady even when it gets reopened in a live conversation and knows how to do that respectfully.
• Direct Communication – Comfortable stepping into direct, sometimes difficult conversations rather than routing around them.
• Judgment & Discretion – Reads a room accurately and knows when something needs to reach the CEO immediately versus when it can be resolved without her.
• Executive Presence – Has the credibility to represent the CEO with board members, investors, and senior partners.
• Political Skill – Able to push back respectfully on a strong-willed, fast-moving CEO, with good judgment about when and how to do so.

Our Commitment:  

Deep Fission is an equal opportunity employer committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds who share our passion for advancing clean nuclear energy and creating a sustainable future. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, age, sex, marital status, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.