Chief of Staff – Founding Operator (AI-Native)
Luminous Leadership
Full-time | £75,000–£80,000 base + 10–15% performance bonus
London (Hybrid) | European scope | Start: February 2026
At a Glance
• Founding operator role (Employee #1)
• Architect and owner of Luminous' operating system
• Owns systems, pipeline, events, execution quality, and AI enablement
• Works directly with Founder, Partners, and senior European faculty
• AI-native, systems-led, judgement-driven
• London-based with selective European travel
About Luminous
Luminous is a European leadership and organizational development institution working with founders, CEOs, and executive teams at critical leadership thresholds: Scale, Transformation, Stewardship & Succession, Renewal, and Purpose & Legacy.
We operate across Europe with senior faculty including former C-suite leaders, IMD faculty members, and ex-McKinsey partners. Our work combines organizational and leadership development, strategic advisory, and immersive leadership experiences, designed for depth, coherence, and long-term impact.
Luminous is not a lifestyle consultancy or short-term growth vehicle. It is being built as an enduring institution, focused on stewardship, continuity, and the long-term consequences of leadership.
Our approach integrates human judgment with AI-driven pattern recognition to support leadership development over long horizons. Internally, we use LLMs and automation within our operating system to improve quality, speed, and coherence across delivery and operations.
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The Role
This is a foundational, high-trust role.
You are Employee #1 and the architect and owner of Luminous' operating system. You turn intent into execution, ideas into systems, and ambition into repeatable reality.
You work directly with the Founder and Partners, enabling them to focus on client work, thought leadership, and senior relationships while you own operations, systems, execution, and performance visibility.
This role requires a senior operator who is calm under pressure, deeply organised, commercially aware, and AI-native, using LLMs and automation as daily working tools. You design systems, workflows, and leverage points rather than rely on heroics or manual effort.
Partners lead diagnostics and close engagements. You own the engine that makes revenue, delivery, and experience predictable, visible, and scalable.
This is not an administrative role. It is an institution-building role.
Reports to: Founder / Partner
Location: London-based (3–4 days per week in person), with occasional European travel.
What Makes This Role Distinctive
• Institution-building from zero. No playbook exists. You design the operating system from first principles.
• Extreme ownership. You own outcomes end-to-end, not just tasks or inputs.
• AI-native by design. LLMs and automation are infrastructure. You build workflows, not just prompts.
• Senior-level environment. You work daily with founders, partners, and faculty with decades of experience. Judgement, discretion, and sound professional judgement matter as much as systems.
• Long-term orientation. We optimise for quality, coherence, and longevity, not growth theatre.
What You Will Own
1. Operating System & AI Enablement
You design and run Luminous' end-to-end operating system across CRM, workflows, dashboards, and reporting.
You build and maintain LLM-enabled workflows (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) to:
• Convert meetings, transcripts, and notes into structured actions
• Generate operational briefs, templates, checklists, and internal artefacts
• Support content structuring, formatting, and publishing
• Improve speed, quality, and consistency across delivery and operations
• Curate a top library of leadership articles and resources that will help train our models
You implement automation (Zapier / Make) across:
• CRM hygiene and pipeline updates, Event workflows and follow-ups
• Reporting and forecasting
• Client feedback and CSAT loops
We are not looking only for prompt users. We are looking for operators who are able or can demonstrate they can quickly learn to build repeatable, reliable, LLM-enabled workflows with some guidance from one of our partners who is an AI expert.
You also exercise judgement: not everything valuable should be automated.
2. Pipeline & Revenue Operations
You own the revenue engine from introduction to diagnostic to proposal to close.
You ensure:
• CRM accuracy and discipline
• Forecasting and weekly reporting
• Tracking conversion, partner capacity, and utilisation
• Early surfacing of risk with corrective action proposed
Although partners are responsible for closing, there are no revenue surprises. Partners rely on the pipeline data with confidence.
3. Events & Experiences
You own two outcomes: flawless execution and strong, appropriate attendance.
You plan and execute a portfolio of intimate European leadership events, each with 15 to 40 attendees, including:
• Emergence events
• Founder / CEO gatherings
• CHRO forums
• Family business and succession conversations
• Small, curated salons
• One flagship Faculty + Client Retreat
You own logistics end-to-end and run a structured, multi-touch event choreography from invitation through post-event follow-up.
Success looks like:
• Events delivered on or under budget
• Zero logistical failures
• Participants describing the experience as "easy, thoughtful, and exceptionally well run"
4. Partner & Introducer Enablement
You enable a senior introducer network without turning relationships into administration.
You:
• Support introducer and partner meetings with materials and follow-up
• Ensure clean handoffs from introduction to diagnostic to engagement
• Track partner capacity and administer revenue-share mechanics
You make it easy and rewarding for others to introduce clients to Luminous.
5. Content & Vendor Coordination
You run the publishing and production machine.
Partners create content and substance; you ensure continuity and execution:
• LinkedIn cadence
• Monthly Threshold Briefings
• Quarterly canonical essays
You act as the single point of ownership for:
• Writers and editors
• Web and SEO partners
• LLM-optimisation and AI-automation vendors
Publishing happens without interruption.
6. Client Experience & Quality
You own client experience from onboarding through post-engagement.
You:
• Track CSAT, NPS, testimonials, case studies and referrals
• Surface issues early and coordinate resolution
• Improve systems to prevent recurrence
You will occasionally interact with senior clients for operational coordination only (events, scheduling, materials). Partners own all advisory, diagnostic, and strategic client relationships.
7. Billing, Finance & Scheduling
• Own operational coordination and automation of billing, invoicing, and payment flows, ensuring accuracy and timeliness
• Track engagement economics, partner revenue shares, and utilisation data to support decision-making
• Coordinate with external finance providers and advisors as required
• Manage and support the Founder's calendar, prioritising high-value work and ensuring clean meeting hygiene
Your First 90 Days
Month 1: Ensure the success of Luminous Emergence event scheduled for late March. Core systems live. CRM operational and trusted. Flagship events locked.
Month 2: March Emergence event executed. Follow-up cadence running. Pipeline visible and stable.
Month 3: Systems stabilised. Introducer network scaling. Content and publishing machine operational.
By the end of Month 3, operations run cleanly without founder or partner intervention.
Who You Are
Non-negotiable:
• Exceptionally organized with a high attention to detail, systems-minded, and commercially aware
• Calm under pressure; reliable in ambiguity
• Data-fluent with strong operational judgement
• AI-native: designing workflows, not relying on manual effort alone
• Able to work with senior leaders in a composed, grounded manner, maintaining role clarity and decision confidence.
• Excellent communicator
• Discreet, trusted, and highly accountable
• You work effectively with a contemplative, systems-thinking founder who integrates depth psychology with business precision
• You are genuinely aligned with the purpose of Luminous, with a deep interest in leadership development, contemplative practice; leadership psychology and neurosciences, and your own ongoing development, and a clear commitment to supporting the development of others
Relevant Backgrounds:
• Chief of Staff / Director of Operations
• Founder's Office or early institutional build
• Revenue operations in professional services
• Tech-enabled strategy & operations
• Boutique consulting, leadership development, or adjacent fields
Tools You'll Use
Notion, HubSpot (or equivalent CRM), ChatGPT / Claude / Gemini, Zapier / Make, Google Workspace / Excel / Sheets
You will have access to an AI implementation specialist as a technical thought partner. You remain accountable for implementation quality and operational reliability.
How to Apply
Email connect@beingluminous.com with:
• CV (focused on systems, operations, and AI usage)
• A short cover letter answering the following questions:
1. Describe the most significant operating system, function, or organisation you have built from scratch. What problem did it solve, and what was your role end-to-end?
2. How do you currently use AI in your daily professional work? Be specific about where it materially improves quality, speed, or clarity.
3. Describe a situation where there was no clear playbook and you were expected to figure things out. What did you do first, and what was the outcome?
4. Why Luminous, and why is this role a good fit for your career at this stage?
Please keep responses concise and factual (bullet points or short sentences preferred).
Applications close: 19 January 2026
Start date: February 2026