Chief of Staff to the CTO

At Genomines, our mission is to pioneer a new era of sustainable metal production by farming plantsthat hyperaccumulate metal. Through synthetic biology and cutting-edge technology, we harness the power of nature to create plants that can farm for metals while decontaminating soils and creating cleaner lands for agriculture. Our ultimate goal is to become the world's first carbon-negative nickel producer, using sustainable, cost-competitive methods to extract the valuable resources our society needs for the energy transition.

ROLE OVERVIEW

This role exists to act as a true right hand to the CTO across the full breadth of her responsibilities, spanning technology, operations, regulatory affairs, intellectual property, and techno-economics.

The Chief of Staff to the CTO will shadow the CTO across strategic and operational domains, absorb complexity, and translate direction into structured execution. The role is designed to materially increase the CTO's leverage by ensuring clarity, follow-through, and coherence across highly technical, regulatory, and operational topics.

This is a senior individual contributor role with high exposure, high expectations, and broad scope. Core responsibilities include. An outstanding Chief of Staff will increase the CTO's effective output by absorbing complexity, supporting on follow-through, and applying structures and hands-on solutions where none yet exist.

• STRATEGIC AND OPERATIONAL EXECUTION
• Act as a structured extension of the CTO, executing initiatives and follow-through as delegated.
• Track priorities, dependencies, risks, and commitments across the CTO's full scope.
• Surface issues, trade-offs, and execution risks early, with clear synthesis and proposed paths forward.

• TECHNOLOGY, OPERATIONS, AND SCALE-UP ENABLEMENT
• Support planning and tracking of technology development, pilot operations, and scale-up initiatives.
• Assist in structuring and monitoring key techno-economic drivers, including cost per plant, production throughput, and scale-up assumptions.
• Coordinate inputs related to production facility ramp-up, infrastructure planning, and operational readiness. 

• REGULATORY, IP, AND RISK COORDINATION
• Support the CTO in organizing and tracking regulatory workstreams, including GMO and microbiology authorizations.
• Help structure documentation, timelines, and dependencies related to regulatory submissions and reviews.
• Assist in coordinating intellectual property strategy inputs, including patent timelines, external counsel interactions, and internal documentation.

• REPORTING, PLANNING, AND OPERATING CA
• Prepare recurring reports, summaries, and briefing materials for the CTO.
• Maintain dashboards or trackers for project status, budgets, and key risks.
• Assist in organizing project timelines, milestones, risks, and dependencies
• Support budget tracking and forecasting processes in coordination with Finance

• INVESTOR RELATIONS AND CROSS-FUNCTIONAL COORDINATION
• Improve clarity of technical updates shared with non-technical audiences
• Act as a coordination layer between the CTO and non-technical departments, including Operations, Finance, HR, and Business Development
• Support preparation for board, investor, and advisory interactions by consolidating inputs and ensuring coherence across topics.

• QUALIFICATIONS 
• Master's degree required in a scientific, technical, or engineering discipline, ideally combined with business, economics, or management training.
• PhD in a relevant domain with startup or industry experience a strong plus
• 5–8 years of experience in deeptech, biotech, industrial technology, consulting, or venture-backed startup environments.
• Demonstrated experience supporting senior technical, scientific, or operational leaders.
• Exposure to regulatory, operational, or scale-up challenges in complex technical domains.
• Proven ability to operate across technical, economic, and organizational topics simultaneously.

• TECHNICAL AND OPERATIONAL COMPETENCIES
• Strong ability to structure ambiguous, multidisciplinary problems into clear plans and workstreams.
• Working understanding of R&D environments and technology development lifecycles.
• High-quality analytical, synthesis, and documentation skills.
• Strong project and execution tracking discipline across parallel initiatives.

• SOFT SKILLS
• High emotional intelligence and ability to operate credibly without formal authority.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, particularly for complex or sensitive topics.
• Strong judgment, discretion, and trustworthiness.
• Resilience and stamina in high-intensity, high-accountability environments.
• Low ego, high ownership, and strong learning orientation.
• Solutions-driven mindset with comfort navigating uncertainty.

• PLACE OF WORK
• On-site at the company's laboratory in Les Ulis, France