Chief of Staff (CTPO)

Chief of Staff to the CTPO (Chief Technology & Product Officer)

Location: Bengaluru Work from Office (5 days a week)

Start Date: Immediate

About Zeno

An unprecedented energy transition has begun. To meet 2040 net zero goals, over 2 billion electric two-wheelers (motorcycles) must be sold and $11 trillion in fuel consumption replaced. Zeno is building a tech platform to electrify this two-wheeler market, currently responsible for more than 4% of the worlds GHG emissions. Our mission is to accelerate the energy transition and democratize the benefits across Africa, India, and Latin America. With a focus on East Africa as a starting point, Zeno is building a new energy ecosystem with ground-up development of a fundamentally better electric motorcycle and associated battery swap network to drive a better experience for our customers.

Role Summary

The Chief of Staff to the CTPO will act as a strategic and execution partner to the Product Development and Manufacturing groups, supporting the CTPO in driving alignment, delivery discipline, and cross-functional execution. The role is responsible for translating technology and product strategy into structured plans, tracking execution across engineering and product teams, and ensuring timely decision-making in a complex automotive environment.

This role operates at the intersection of technology, product, and business, enabling the CTPO to focus on long-term strategy, architecture, and innovation while ensuring predictable execution across vehicle, charging and software programs.

What Youll Do

Strategy & Execution Enablement

• Translate CTPOs technology and product vision into clear priorities, roadmaps, and execution plans
• Track progress across Engineering, Product, Systems, Embedded/Firmware, QA, and Platform teams
• Identify execution risks, dependencies, and bottlenecks; propose mitigation plans
• Own and enforce data management best practices to ensure clean and complete design and validation data is transparent and available to all stakeholders with proper permissions.

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Act as a central coordination point between Technology, Product, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, and Compliance teams
• Collaborate with Sourcing, Logistics, Finance, Inventory and Assembly teams to develop high-performing production planning processes. Own procurement planning and coordinate respective leads to execute and deliver materials to avoid build blockers.
• Enable smooth handoffs across design, validation, testing, and production readiness phases
• Coordinate with global and distributed teams across time zones

Operating Cadence & Governance

• Establish and run execution rhythms including program reviews, roadmap syncs, and leadership updates
• Prepare dashboards, KPIs, and executive-ready materials for CTPO and leadership forums
• Ensure decisions, actions, and dependencies are clearly documented and owned

Risk, Quality & Compliance Support

• Support tracking of technical, delivery, quality, and compliance risks (e.g., ASPICE, ISO 26262, ISO 21434)
• Provide visibility into readiness milestones, validation status, and escalation items
• Coordinate timely escalation of critical risks and issues

Leadership & Communication

• Act as a thought partner to the CTPO on complex, ambiguous, or sensitive topics
• Prepare briefing notes, presentations, and inputs for executive, board, and investor discussions
• Manage sensitive initiatives with high discretion and sound judgment

Skills & Qualifications

Required

• 6+ years in technology, product, program management, strategy, or systems roles
• Strong understanding of automotive product development lifecycles
• Experience working with softwarehardware integrated systems
• Proven ability to operate with senior technical leaders and executives
• Strong analytical, communication, and stakeholder management skills
• Comfort operating in ambiguity and fast-changing environments
• Ability to support 25% domestic and international travel- India and Kenya required. USA nice to have.

Technical & Domain Exposure

• Familiarity with embedded systems, firmware, vehicle platforms, or automotive software stacks
• Experience with mechanical and electrical automotive systems.
• Experience with Agile, SAFe, or hybrid development models
• Understanding of quality, safety, and compliance expectations in automotive programs

Good to Have

• Experience in OEMs, Tier-1and Tier-2 suppliers, or automotive startups
• Exposure to EV platforms, powertrain, or vehicle electronics. Two-wheelers a plus.
• MBA or equivalent strategic exposure
• Experience working in globally distributed teams
• Data analysis or data science experience

Benefits

• High-visibility role working closely with the CTPO and senior leadership
• Exposure to end-to-end automotive technology and product development
• Competitive compensation aligned with industry standards
• Opportunity to shape execution and operating cadence in an innovative, growing organization
• Flexible work environment