Job description
Who We Are:
At Formic, we’re on a mission to revolutionize American manufacturing and create more abundance in the world. We believe in continuing the American legacy of innovation by making automation accessible to all manufacturers and increasing their factory productivity by 10x.
Built upon deep expertise in robotics and manufacturing, our unique full service automation solutions combine the best automation technology, software, and analysis tools for manufacturers with best in class uptime, support, and maintenance services. We are creating a new era of supercharged efficiency and competitiveness for US manufacturers.
As the world faces growing pressure from tariffs, rising costs, and labor shortages, Formic is uniquely positioned as the industry leading solution to overcome these challenges. Fueled by our vision for a re-industrialized domestic supply chain, everything we do is aimed at growing “Made in America” products. And we’re growing fast - achieving 7x growth in production hours YoY.
Supporting us in our mission, with investments thus far totaling over $60 million, are backers including Lux Capital, Initialized Capital, Blackhorn Ventures, Mitsubishi HC Capital NA, and CEOs and founders of multiple Fortune 50 companies.
The Chief of Staff (CoS) to the CEO is a senior, high-leverage operator who serves as an extension of the CEO. This role exists to increase executive decision velocity, enforce operational rigor, and ensure the company’s highest-priority initiatives are executed with clarity, discipline, and measurable outcomes. The CoS owns cross-functional initiatives on behalf of the CEO, builds and maintains the executive operating cadence, and prepares decision-ready materials for the executive team and Board of Directors. The role also acts as a bridge between business leaders and engineering, driving internal process automation and systems improvements that enable Formic to scale without linear headcount growth.
This is not an administrative role. It is a judgment-heavy execution role operating at the CEO, executive leadership, and board level.
- Strategic Execution & CEO Leverage
- Own and drive high-priority cross-functional initiatives end-to-end
- Translate CEO intent into clear objectives, owners, timelines, and success metrics
- Act on behalf of the CEO in internal leadership forums when delegated
- Executive Operating Cadence
- Lead company-wide metrics and operating cadence, including weekly reviews and quarterly planning
- Partner with functional leaders to define, standardize, and maintain KPIs and OKRs
- Maintain a single, trusted executive-level view of company performance
- Business Insights & Analytics Leadership
- Surface data-driven insights across financials, unit economics, churn, utilization, and margin drivers
- Build and own analytical models, dashboards, and recurring executive reporting
- Partner with teams to improve systems, data pipelines, and reporting reliability
- Executive & Board Communications
- Prepare decision-ready materials, board decks, and executive presentations
- Synthesize complex, cross-functional inputs into clear, concise narratives
- Cross-Functional Alignment & Process Improvement
- Resolve ambiguity across teams and functional handoffs
- Identify execution bottlenecks and partner with teams to drive automation and tooling improvements
- Enable scaled operational performance without proportional headcount growth
What We’re Looking For
Required
- 5–8+ years in strategy, operations, consulting, investing, or senior operational roles
- Proven ability to independently own high-impact initiatives
- Strong analytical skills with comfort interpreting complex business data
- Excellent communicator with experience briefing executives and boards
Preferred / Bonus
- Located in the San Francisco Bay area, with interest and ability to work in person, ideally in the East Bay
- Experience at high-growth startups or scale-ups
- Exposure to data teams, internal tooling, or systems automation
- Familiarity with SaaS, robotics, or industrial technology business models
- MBA or equivalent real-world operating experience
Attributes We Value
- High intellectual honesty and sound judgment
- Comfort operating in ambiguity and rapid change
- Bias toward action with rigorous follow-through
- Trusted by senior leaders and credible with technical teams
Success in This Role Looks Like
- The CEO’s time is protected and concentrated on the company’s highest-leverage decisions
- Company-critical initiatives move from intent to outcome without ambiguity, slippage, or repeated escalation
- The executive team operates with a single, trusted view of performance and a disciplined operating cadence
- Board and investor materials are concise, quantitative, and anticipate questions before they are asked
- Assumptions are surfaced, pressure-tested, and resolved before they reach the CEO or Board
- Leadership debates are anchored in data, not narrative or intuition
- Manual reporting, one-off analyses, and fragile processes are systematically eliminated
- Systems, tooling, and operating rhythms scale faster than headcount
- The organization feels measurably tighter, more accountable, and easier to run quarter over quarter
#LI-MB1
Our Total Rewards
At Formic, we believe you perform your best when you’re supported in caring for yourself and your loved ones. That’s why we’ve thoughtfully designed a comprehensive benefits and perks package for our full-time, U.S.-based team members, including:
Equity in Formic: Own a meaningful stake in a fast-growing Series A startup, backed by leading global investors
Comprehensive Healthcare Coverage: 99% covered Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance plans, with 75% coverage for dependents, provided by Blue Cross Blue Shield and Guardian
Additional Fully Covered Insurance Benefits: FSA & DCFSA, Life Insurance, Short-Term Disability, and Long-Term Disability through Guardian, all 100% employer-paid
Employee Assistance Program (EAP): Fully funded by Formic and provided via Guardian, offering support when you need it most
Paid Parental Leave: Generous parental leave to support our employees and their growing families
Company-sponsored 401(k): Invest in your future with our company-backed retirement savings plan
Home Office Stipend: A one-time allowance for fully remote employees to set up your ideal at-home or on the road work environment
Monthly Cell-Phone Reimbursement: Monthly stipend toward phone and internet expenses
Flexible Time-Off: Take the time you need, when you need it, supported by our flexible PTO policy
Paid Company Holidays: Celebrate important dates with paid time off
Compensation Philosophy
Formic’s compensation packages - including salaries and equity - are thoughtfully benchmarked against peer companies at a similar growth stage. Equity represents a critical part of our mutual investment: when Formic succeeds, so do you.
Final compensation packages are carefully customized based on candidate preference for cash and equity balance, experience, geographic location, and market considerations. Our goal is to attract and reward top talent who will significantly impact our organization. We’re open to meaningful discussions about compensation structure to secure exceptional team members.
The anticipated base pay range for this position is detailed below.
Base Salary Range:
$150,000—$185,000 USD
What we look for: We’re building a company from the ground up, so every single person we hire has a massive impact on our team, culture, and ability to accomplish our mission. While each individual brings their own unique skills and perspectives to Formic, we look for people who share our vision and act in alignment with our Operating Principles. If this sounds like you, Formic could be the place for you!
- Fearless Optimism: You share our ambitious vision of what we can accomplish. You’re aware of the challenges we will face as a startup doing new things in an old space, but you’re energized by the incredible opportunity we have to drive change for our customers, and for the manufacturing industry at large.
- Factories First: You have a strong customer focus, no matter who your customer is. You seek to make things easier and better for our customers, even if it makes your job a little harder.
- Today, Not Tomorrow: There are always plenty of projects to tackle in a startup, but you prioritize, take accountability for work, and have a bias toward action.
- Be Right Often: You don’t do things just because that’s how they’ve always been done. You keep looking for ways to improve, seek out feedback along the way, and back your decisions up with data.
- Made of Rubber: Just like rubber, when you fall you bounce back up. You know there’s going to be a lot of challenge and change in our work ahead but you are adaptable, resilient, and ready to thrive through it all.
- Good Baton Passes: You work with a desire to make things easier and better for your team members. You use empathy to understand the needs and goals of others and support each other so Formic can be successful together.
Equal Opportunity
Formic is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion or religious creed, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, marital status, family or parental status, disability, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. All employment decisions are based on a person’s merit, business needs, and role requirements. If you require further accommodations or have questions regarding accessibility of our roles, please reach out to [email protected].
AI Use
At Formic, fairness and transparency are at the heart of our hiring process. We use AI-powered tools in some interviews to help our teams evaluate candidate responses, but all final hiring decisions are made by humans. You can learn more about how AI is used in our recruitment process by reviewing our AI Hiring Disclosure linked here.
