WindBorne Systems is supercharging weather models with a unique proprietary data source: a global constellation of next-generation smart weather balloons targeting the most critical atmospheric data. We design, manufacture, and operate our own balloons, using the data they collect to generate otherwise unattainable weather intelligence.

Our mission is to eliminate weather uncertainty, and in the process help humanity adapt to climate change, be that predicting hurricanes or speeding the adoption of renewables. We are building a future in which the planet is instrumented by thousands of our microballoons, eliminating gaps in our understanding of the planet and giving people and businesses the information they need to make critical decisions. The founding team of Stanford engineers was named Forbes 2019 30 under 30 and is backed by top investors including Khosla Ventures.

WindBorne is in the middle of a massive scale-up; we’ve over 10x’d our global operations this calendar year alone, and we won’t stop until we reach 10,000 balloons aloft at any given time. This is an audacious plan, and accomplishing it in the next few years requires an even more audacious group of people.

Operations is the team responsible for making this vision a reality. We design, build, and run the systems that drive this scale—from manufacturing and launch to the operating cadence of the company.

We’re hiring a Chief of Staff, Operations to work closely with the COO as a trusted thought partner and execution amplifier. You’ll get a front row seat to the innards of a rapidly growing startup, working in the trenches with teams across the company and ensuring that decisions turn into reality.

Here are some qualities for the type of person that we need.

1. In this role, you will be a true confidant to the COO with deep access to information across the company. For that reason, trust is paramount. This is an emotionally complex position; it requires both a deep empathy for individuals and the ability to protect sensitive information and decouple emotions from day-to-day interactions.
2. You are organized and good at staying on top of details. You are disciplined at making sure that abstract discussions turn into actionable, time-boxed to-dos. You have a good intuition for when is the right time to apply structure and process without being overly rigid or married to it.
3. You put results over ego. When you’re in a sinking ship, you’re the first to grab a bucket and start bailing water, regardless of whose “fault” the leak was. You’re a team player at your core, never asking someone to do something you wouldn’t be willing to do yourself. You don’t think anyone is “above” any kind of work; you believe viscerally in the dignity of each individual task as essential to accomplishing a common goal.
4. You are compelled to understand what’s going on around you. You are not content to dead-fish through meetings, taking statements you don’t understand at face value without inspection. If you don’t understand something, you ask questions until you do. If you don’t understand why a decision was made, you are not content to take it on faith, you insist on knowing the reasoning behind it.
5. You don’t have to have a technical background, but you are technically literate, and most importantly, you don’t believe there’s anything special or mysterious about technical skills. Even if you aren’t a software engineer, for instance, you understand that pushing code isn’t wizardry, and you see it as a skill like anything else that anyone can learn given the right mindset and effort. You respect deep technical expertise, but you’re comfortable jumping into discussions about system architecture and engineering priorities because you trust your ability to gather context and reason from first principles.

The day-to-day of this role will vary a lot based on context, need, and the specific skillset of the person who has it, but here are some examples of core responsibilities. You will onboard by shadowing the COO across all meetings and decisions, then move into owning projects and processes over time as you gain context and get calibrated.

1. Turning abstract discussions into actionable priorities, then making sure those priorities get done.
2. Developing and implementing the “operating system” of Operations—meeting cadences, frameworks for prioritization and roadmapping, making sure decisions are backed with metrics and data.
3. Ad-hoc ideation and problem solving. Jump in a figjam and be a thought-partner for messy operational decisions across the org.
4. Driving special projects like hiring.
5. Make use of the bird’s eye view you have across the org to point out blind spots, realign priorities, and correct leadership where miscalibrated.

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Vision insurance
• Unlimited PTO
• Stock Option Plan
• Office food and beverages

• Palo Alto, CA, In person required.

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