About us

Tempus is a leading Australian venture capital firm investing in the next generation of 'impossible' companies. Founded in 2013, we have proudly invested in companies like Auror (crime-fighting technology), HealthMatch (revolutionising clinical trials with AI), and Swoop Aero (autonomous aeromedical drone logistics), and we have recently raised our third fund. Tempus is made up of a diverse team of investors, founders and operators, and we are bringing on a Chief of Staff to join our fast-growing team. 

The role

As a Chief of Staff, you will be the heartbeat and steward of our team. You will work with our Partners to maintain their focus, and ensure our team is supported to fulfil our mission of investing in the very best technology companies across Australia and New Zealand. The role requires exceptional organisation, relationship building, project management, and execution skills. Resourcefulness, resilience, and pride in the quality of your work are highly valued. We’ll also look for someone who genuinely loves people and working cross-functionally across teams. 

Things you’ll be working on: 

• Partner activities: active support for Partners (including comms and scheduling management) to ensure they’re focused on the most important business priorities

• Strategic planning & operational efficiencies: help the partners drive the strategic planning cycle; support the team by constantly improving an action/outcome focused meeting framework, in order to drive continuous improvement and accountability across the team

• Automation & breaking bottlenecks: support Partners and functional leaders to break down bottlenecks and make informed decisions more quickly by creating decision-making frameworks that drive operational efficiencies

• Special projects: oversee ad-hoc projects such as moving office, supporting investor events, organising team activities, planning days and and off-sites

• People activities: help us improve internal comms to ensure everyone has the information they need to make the best decisions; own hiring and on-boarding processes for an expanding team; perform 1:1 check-ins with team members and facilitate company pulse surveys

• Other: There will be a bunch of other things that will come up, which is what makes this role so interesting. This can range from stepping in for partner meetings where required or building a new process from the ground up.

You might be a good fit if the following describes you:

• You are fascinated by venture and are genuinely excited about the positive impact we can have on the Australian ecosystem.  

• You’re detail oriented with a laser focus on execution, with an ability to rise above the chaos and implement scalable systems to manage and continuously improve operations. 

• You’re an exceptional communicator with strong verbal and written communication skills.  

• You have the ability to build high-trust relationships across an organisation. 

• You’re comfortable with budgets and the general finances of a business. Don’t worry, we have someone heading up our finance ops, but you’ll need to know how to ask the right questions and be confident in making decisions. 

Some profiles we think could be great in this role: 

• A “recovering management consultant” who is looking for more ownership and the ability to taste and feel actual impact and results

• A business generalist or project manager who thrives keeping the trains running on time with minimal oversight 

• A senior operating leader who has done the highs and lows at a significant, fast-growing startup

• A seasoned EA looking for more of a strategic challenge in their career 

• Note: VC experience not required; startup experience desired not required

What you can expect from us

Each Tempus employee is considered an integral member of the team, taking on a range of internal and external aspects of the firm’s activities in order to facilitate optimal investment performance. 

You will also be joining a firm that knows and values the role of a Chief of Staff (we have three ex Chief of Staffers on the team that you can lean on for support!) 

We embrace:

• Flexible working arrangements in exchange for a culture that is not ‘9 to 5’ in practice;

• Paid parental leave — 12 weeks for the primary carer and 4 weeks for a secondary carer, subject to a 12-month minimum tenure;

• Additional 1 week parental/personal leave per year;

• Annual budget dedicated to your learning & development.