Chief of Staff

Job summary

The Chief of Staff will manage the operating rhythm of the AI organization, including annual planning, budget oversight, and cross-functional coordination. They will act as a strategic partner to the Chief AI Officer to ensure priorities are met and complex programs are executed effectively.

Job details

Who are we? Cohere is the leading security-first enterprise AI company. We build cutting-edge foundation AI models and end-to-end products that are designed to solve real-world business problems. We’re training and deploying frontier models for enterprises who are building AI systems. We believe that our work is instrumental to the widespread adoption of AI and we are looking for folks that want to be part of that. We obsess over what we build. Each one of us is responsible for contributing to increasing the capabilities of our models and the value they drive for our customers. Cohere is a team of researchers, engineers, designers, and more, who are all passionate about their craft. We are a global technology company headquartered in Toronto with key offices in London, New York City, San Francisco, Montreal, Paris, Berlin and Seoul. Join us! About the role We're hiring a Chief of Staff to keep Cohere's AI organization running at full speed. You'll report to and support the Chief AI Officer and work to bridge across all teams and functions at Cohere (including research, modelling, product, delivery, security, sales and operations). In any given quarter, the org ships new AI product demos and releases, customer pilots and scaled solutions, security updates, often across regions and time zones. Your job is to make sure the right work priorities win when everything feels urgent, that our plans turn into high-quality shipped work, and that our Chief AI Officer can focus on leading instead of firefighting. Much of this is operational: the planning calendar, the budget, the headcount plan, the weekly business reviews, the communication strategy (internal and external), the cross-functional handoffs. Your role is the operating rhythm of the org: meetings, priorities, plans, and the decisions that come out of them. You will be a member of an experienced, high-performing and supportive leadership team. What you'll own Own the operating rhythm and planning: annual and quarterly planning, goal-setting, and the weekly and monthly business reviews. Drive budget and headcount planning against the slate, and keep both honest as priorities shift mid-quarter. Keep major programs from colliding or stalling across research, modelling, product, delivery, and security. Be the person teams come to when it isn't clear who owns a decision, or how to navigate trade-offs. Be the connective tissue between the Chief AI Officer’s org and the rest of the company: cross-functional planning with product, engineering, security, and finance, so the org's commitments are realistic and its dependencies are visible. Own and lead special projects: Lead the things that don't fit neatly on any one team's plate: a reorg, a new partnership, a flagship research event, an org-wide planning week. Own them end to end. Who you are You have 12+ years of operating experience, with real time inside an AI/ML organization in a Chief of Staff, business operations, or senior program-operations seat. You know how to partner with teams shipping fast & often to high-stakes organizations, and you know how to change course with agility when needed. You understand how AI actually works—at the level of someone who's done it rather than managed it from a distance. You can talk credibly about how a model turns into a product, what data requirements demand from both research and engineering, and where delivery motions usually break. You're fluent in the numbers. Model performance metrics, data pipeline throughput, budget-to-impact. You don't have to run every program yourself. You do have to understand them well enough that the people who run them respect your judgment. You hold strategy and execution in the same hand. You can sit in a planning conversation with the Chief AI Officer in the morning and chase down a stuck deliverable in the afternoon. You thrive in a fast-paced environment, you handle ambiguity with curiosity and confidence, you stay calm when it's messy. You have a track record of bringing order to a fast, complex org without grinding it to a halt. You are an outstanding communicator and know how to wield soft power. Clear writing, straight talk, the ability to influence teams and individuals, and the executive presence to represent the Chief AI Officer in high-stakes conversations. Full-Time Employees at Cohere enjoy these Perks: A weekly lunch stipend of $75/£75 or equivalent in your local currency for lunch. Full health and dental benefits, including a separate budget for mental health. RRSP matching, 401K, Pension Scheme. 100% Parental Leave top-up for up to 6 months, for either parent. Annual enrichment benefits: Arts & culture, fitness/wellness, quality time, and a workspace improvement credit. Education & learning stipend for conferences, courses, and coaching. 6 weeks of paid vacation (30 working days!) Budget for traveling to other offices if you are remote, plus an annual company offsite. How and Where We Work: Cohere is remote-friendly, but we also have offices in Toronto, London, New York City, San Francisco, Montreal, Paris, Berlin and Seoul with more opening soon. For those in the office: a daily lunch program, plenty of snacks, and regular community and social events. For those not near an office: a co-working benefit so you can work alongside others in your city. Everyone receives a $500 home office stipend to set up your workspace properly. If any of the above doesn’t line up exactly with your experience, we still encourage you to apply. We strive to create an inclusive work environment for all; we welcome applicants from all backgrounds and are committed to providing equal opportunities. Should you require any accommodations during the recruitment process, please submit an Accommodations Request Form, and we will work together to meet your needs. We may use AI-enabled tools to screen and assess applicants against the criteria for this position. This helps our recruiters identify potentially qualified candidates, but it doesn't limit the applications our recruiters may review or consider. Beware of Scams: Cohere will never ask for payment or third-party services (e.g., CV writing) as part of our hiring process. All legitimate roles are listed on the Cohere careers page and LinkedIn only, with all communications from Cohere employees coming from an @cohere.com or @cw.cohere email alias. If jobs are viewed on other sites then please verify these through our official careers page.

What you’ll do

The Chief of Staff will manage the operating rhythm of the AI organization, including annual planning, budget oversight, and cross-functional coordination. They will act as a strategic partner to the Chief AI Officer to ensure priorities are met and complex programs are executed effectively.

Requirements

Candidates must have 12+ years of operating experience, specifically within an AI/ML organization in a senior operations or program management role. A deep understanding of AI model development, data requirements, and the ability to navigate complex, fast-paced environments is essential.

Benefits

• Weekly lunch stipend
• Health insurance
• Dental benefits
• Mental health budget
• RRSP matching
• 401k
• Pension scheme
• Parental leave top-up
• Arts and culture benefit
• Fitness and wellness benefit
• Workspace improvement credit
• Education and learning stipend
• Paid vacation
• Travel budget
• Home office stipend

Listed skills

• Change Management · Preferred
• Data analysis · Preferred
• Decision Making · Preferred
• Project management · Preferred
• Stakeholder Management · Preferred

Other relevant skills

Identified from the job description. Confirm important requirements above.

• Operational strategy
• Budget management
• Headcount planning
• Cross-functional leadership
• Program management
• Communication strategy
• Stakeholder management
• AI/ML industry knowledge
• Data analysis
• Strategic planning
• Executive presence
• Project management
• Decision making
• Business operations
• Change management
• Communication
• Planning
• Operations
• Business Problems
• Influencing Skills
• Honesty
• Curiosity
• Leadership
• Machine Learning
• Data Pipelines
• Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure
• Artificial Intelligence
• Writing
• Coaching
• Finance
• Dealing With Ambiguity
• Research
• Sales
• Business Metrics
• Performance Metric
• Product Engineering
• Mental Health
• Business Operations
• Goal Setting
• Workplace Inclusivity
• AI Adoption
• Executive Presence
• Product Demonstration
• Communication Strategies
• Product Delivery
• Grinding

Job areas

• Management & Leadership
• Technology
• Software
• Administrative
• Consulting
• Chief of Staff
• Managing Directors and Chief Executives
• Chief Executives

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