Fractional Chief of Staff
Gofractional, San Francisco, CA, United States
The Role
We're looking for a Fractional Chief of Staff to bring structure, accountability, and operational clarity to Parallel Bio as we scale. This is a high-leverage, part-time role for someone who has joined early-stage organizations and built operational infrastructure largely from scratch: meeting rhythms, project tracking, documentation systems, cross-functional workflows.
You’ll be the connective tissue across leadership and teams, ensuring that what we decide actually gets done. You’ll design sprint cadences, build accountability systems, and hold teams to measurable outcomes. You’ll partner across Science, Technology, Operations, and Executive functions to keep cross-functional projects moving forward with clear ownership and visibility.
Critically, you’re a workflow-first thinker. You rethink operational processes from first principles rather than defaulting to whatever tool is already in place. You design the leanest possible system that actually works, and you’re comfortable eliminating tools entirely when they add more noise than value. You approach operational complexity with a minimum-viable mindset and iterate from there.
If you love creating order from ambiguity, coaching teams toward operational rigor, and helping founders scale their impact, this could be a strong fit.
What You’ll Own (Key Responsibilities) Organizational Rhythm and Accountability
Design and manage the cadence of leadership meetings, project sprints, and progress reviews.
Build accountability systems so initiatives have clear ownership, scope, and timelines.
Keep priorities visible and current, surfacing blockers early and ensuring follow-through on commitments.
Cross-Functional Coordination
Partner with leadership to translate company goals into actionable project plans.
Drive cross-functional projects forward by coordinating dependencies, clarifying ownership, and tracking deliverables across Science, Technology, Operations, and Executive teams.
Centralize decisions, documentation, and updates so information flows cleanly between functions.
Operational Systems and Execution
Audit how we use our current tooling (Asana, Notion, Slack, Shortcut, and others) and redesign workflows end-to-end where needed, rather than layering fixes on top of broken systems.
Develop dashboards and reporting to give leadership real-time visibility into progress across company-wide initiatives.
Reduce operational noise and optimize information flow between functions.
Strategic Support
Support founders in prioritization, planning, and maintaining organizational focus.
Coordinate critical initiatives spanning multiple functions, tracking progress and outcomes end-to-end.
Step in to own high-priority special projects as the company evolves.
People Programs
Run benefits and leave programs end-to-end, including direct coordination with state authorities on claims and documentation.
Ensure enrollment data flows accurately to providers; be the person employees trust for clarity on policies and status.
Own onboarding: equipment, system access, benefits enrollment, training coordination.
Own the details that make people feel like they belong.
Qualifications & What You’ll Thrive Here If You Have Required
5-10 years of professional experience, with 3-7 years in Chief of Staff, operations, or business operations roles supporting senior leadership.
Experience at startups or high-growth teams, with at least one in biotech, deep tech, or a science-driven environment.
Workflow-first orientation: you evaluate and select the right tool for the job (or eliminate the tool entirely), rather than defaulting to specific platforms. You design lean systems that actually work.
Strong cross-functional coordination skills, with a track record of aligning technical and non-technical teams and driving accountability across functions.
Clear, concise communicator who enables alignment without micromanagement.
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area (this is an in-person role).
Nice-to-Have
Previous fractional or consulting experience (comfortable with part-time, high-leverage engagements).
MBA or similar graduate degree.
Experience with OKR or sprint frameworks in a biotech or deep tech context.
Evidence of having redesigned or consolidated operational systems and vendors to be leaner and more effective.
Location & Hours This is an in-person role based at our San Francisco office, approximately 20 hours per week. You’ll embed directly with our leadership and executive teams to drive execution and ensure cross-functional projects move seamlessly from planning to completion.
Within 90 Days What Success Looks Like (90 Days)
Projects across functions are tracked with clear ownership, timelines, and regular updates.
Cross-functional priorities are visible and understood across the organization.
Meetings produce outcomes, not just action items.
Leadership has real-time visibility into progress and blockers across the company.
2-3 operational workflows have been meaningfully simplified or redesigned.
#J-18808-Ljbffr
You’ll be the connective tissue across leadership and teams, ensuring that what we decide actually gets done. You’ll design sprint cadences, build accountability systems, and hold teams to measurable outcomes. You’ll partner across Science, Technology, Operations, and Executive functions to keep cross-functional projects moving forward with clear ownership and visibility.
Critically, you’re a workflow-first thinker. You rethink operational processes from first principles rather than defaulting to whatever tool is already in place. You design the leanest possible system that actually works, and you’re comfortable eliminating tools entirely when they add more noise than value. You approach operational complexity with a minimum-viable mindset and iterate from there.
If you love creating order from ambiguity, coaching teams toward operational rigor, and helping founders scale their impact, this could be a strong fit.
What You’ll Own (Key Responsibilities) Organizational Rhythm and Accountability
Design and manage the cadence of leadership meetings, project sprints, and progress reviews.
Build accountability systems so initiatives have clear ownership, scope, and timelines.
Keep priorities visible and current, surfacing blockers early and ensuring follow-through on commitments.
Cross-Functional Coordination
Partner with leadership to translate company goals into actionable project plans.
Drive cross-functional projects forward by coordinating dependencies, clarifying ownership, and tracking deliverables across Science, Technology, Operations, and Executive teams.
Centralize decisions, documentation, and updates so information flows cleanly between functions.
Operational Systems and Execution
Audit how we use our current tooling (Asana, Notion, Slack, Shortcut, and others) and redesign workflows end-to-end where needed, rather than layering fixes on top of broken systems.
Develop dashboards and reporting to give leadership real-time visibility into progress across company-wide initiatives.
Reduce operational noise and optimize information flow between functions.
Strategic Support
Support founders in prioritization, planning, and maintaining organizational focus.
Coordinate critical initiatives spanning multiple functions, tracking progress and outcomes end-to-end.
Step in to own high-priority special projects as the company evolves.
People Programs
Run benefits and leave programs end-to-end, including direct coordination with state authorities on claims and documentation.
Ensure enrollment data flows accurately to providers; be the person employees trust for clarity on policies and status.
Own onboarding: equipment, system access, benefits enrollment, training coordination.
Own the details that make people feel like they belong.
Qualifications & What You’ll Thrive Here If You Have Required
5-10 years of professional experience, with 3-7 years in Chief of Staff, operations, or business operations roles supporting senior leadership.
Experience at startups or high-growth teams, with at least one in biotech, deep tech, or a science-driven environment.
Workflow-first orientation: you evaluate and select the right tool for the job (or eliminate the tool entirely), rather than defaulting to specific platforms. You design lean systems that actually work.
Strong cross-functional coordination skills, with a track record of aligning technical and non-technical teams and driving accountability across functions.
Clear, concise communicator who enables alignment without micromanagement.
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area (this is an in-person role).
Nice-to-Have
Previous fractional or consulting experience (comfortable with part-time, high-leverage engagements).
MBA or similar graduate degree.
Experience with OKR or sprint frameworks in a biotech or deep tech context.
Evidence of having redesigned or consolidated operational systems and vendors to be leaner and more effective.
Location & Hours This is an in-person role based at our San Francisco office, approximately 20 hours per week. You’ll embed directly with our leadership and executive teams to drive execution and ensure cross-functional projects move seamlessly from planning to completion.
Within 90 Days What Success Looks Like (90 Days)
Projects across functions are tracked with clear ownership, timelines, and regular updates.
Cross-functional priorities are visible and understood across the organization.
Meetings produce outcomes, not just action items.
Leadership has real-time visibility into progress and blockers across the company.
2-3 operational workflows have been meaningfully simplified or redesigned.
#J-18808-Ljbffr