Role Title: Chief of Staff
Location: Manchester / Leeds Remote
Start Date: ASAP (January 2025)
Reports To: CEO / Founder
About CANVVS
CANVVS is where world-class creativity meets cutting-edge technology. We are a premier platform and creative partner trusted by the world’s biggest brands—including Disney, Marvel, Sky, eBay, and Nike—to deliver high-fidelity digital experiences and physical activations. Whether we are building bespoke digital platforms or executing global events, our standard is excellence. We are currently scaling our team to support a massive roadmap of activations through 2026.
About CANVVS
CANVVS is the world’s leading agency and dedicated marketplace for the custom sneaker and sports shoe industry. We exist at the intersection of sport, music, and entertainment, turning footwear into a powerful canvas for self-expression and brand storytelling.
Backed by some of the most influential names in culture—including Ed Sheeran, Sir Gareth Southgate, and Gary Vaynerchuk—CANVVS has evolved from a high-touch agency into a scalable technology platform. We have delivered bespoke projects for the biggest teams, talent, and sporting moments on the planet, as well as global concert tours.
Having successfully launched the world’s first dedicated custom sneaker marketplace (MVP), we are now on an aggressive growth trajectory for 2026. This expansion includes scaling our digital infrastructure and establishing our physical footprint with a new head office opening in Manchester (Q1) and a dedicated workshop studio in Leeds.
We are defining the future of footwear customisation.
We are a dual-engine business:
The Platform: A global marketplace connecting custom sneaker creators with buyers and authentic footwear supply.
MVP Website - www.canvvs.com
The Agency: A specialised creative agency delivering high-heat sneaker activations for global brands (clients include Nike, Disney, SKY, and major sports franchises).
Agency website - canvvsagency.com
We are entering a massive growth phase in 2026. We are about to deploy significant capital to scale our team from a core founding unit to a robust organisation of 20+ specialised roles across Tech, Creative, and Operations.
The Mission
We are looking for our \"Linchpin.\" You will be the first senior operational hire of this new phase, acting as the Head of Talent and Right Hand to the Founder.
Your immediate mission is clear: Build the plane while we fly it. You will lead the recruitment and onboarding of 10+ staff members in Q1, professionalise our internal operations, and manage the Founder’s office to ensure they can focus on high-level strategy and investor relations.
What You Will Do:
1. Talent Acquisition & People Ops (The Q 1 Sprint)
Lead the Hiring Surge: Own the recruitment lifecycle for 10+ critical roles (including Digital PM, Creatives, and Tech Leads) within the first 90 days.
Contracting & Onboarding: Manage all employment contracts, contractor agreements, and onboarding workflows to ensure new hires hit the ground running.
Culture Architect: Establish the \"CANVVS Way\" of working—creating a culture that bridges the gap between a high-energy creative studio and a disciplined tech startup.
2. General Management & Operations
Operational Backbone: Manage the day-to-day rhythm of the business and ensure processes are in place and maintained.
Agency & Platform Liaison: Act as the operational glue between our Agency team (delivering physical events) and our Platform team (building software), ensuring resources are allocated correctly.
Office & Remote Management: Organise team logistics, equipment procurement, and ensure our hybrid setup works seamlessly.
3. Executive Support (The \"Right Hand\")
Gatekeeper & Enabler: Manage the Founder’s complex schedule, prioritising their time against strategic goals and filtering out noise.
Special Projects: Pick up ad-hoc strategic projects that don't fit into a specific department but need to get done (e.g., finding a new office space, organising a launch event).
Who You Are:
You are a \"Force Multiplier\": You have experience in a Chief of Staff, Operations Manager, or Executive Assistant role within a high-growth startup or agency.
You know HR basics: You aren't necessarily a lawyer, but you know your way around an employment contract, IR35, and basic HR compliance in the UK.
You are radically organised: You love Slack, Trello, Asana etc and are proficient in G Suite. You bring order to chaos and create processes that scale.
You have \"Low Ego / High Output\": No task is too small (booking a flight) and no task is too big (hiring a CTO). You do what is needed to move the business forward.
You \"Get\" the Culture: You understand the pace of a creative agency and the structure of a tech platform. An interest in sneaker culture or streetwear is a massive plus, but not required.
Why Join Now?
Impact: You will personally build the team that defines the next decade of the sneaker industry.
Access: You will work side-by-side with leadership, gaining a front-row seat to building a venture-backed scale-up.
Growth: This role is designed to evolve. As we scale, you could transition into a COO or Chief People Officer role.
To Apply:
In your reply include a draft LinkedIn outreach message targeting a Community Manager at another company. It needs to be compelling enough to get a response from someone who isn't looking for a job.