--- title: 'Chief Of Staff at Pyka' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/chief-of-staff-pyka-alameda-94g7pz5dw4ee' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-11-04' --- # Chief Of Staff at Pyka - **Company:** Pyka - **Location:** Alameda, CA - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** onsite - **Posted:** 2026-11-03 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-04 - **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/pyka/2c7db323-e4e8-4c07-8ec6-ad351b0f24eb ## Job description ## About Pyka Pyka’s goal is to provide society with a new form of safe, clean, and cost-effective transportation enabled by autonomous electric aviation. To get there, we’re taking a different approach than most. We're applying our technologies to every industry where autonomous electric aircraft can be useful, starting with the highest value and most dangerous jobs. In doing so, we're building game-changing products manufactured at scale, while perfecting the safety, reliability, and capabilities of our autonomy engine and electric propulsion systems. We design, develop and manufacture an ecosystem of technologies including proprietary flight control software, avionics, high power density motors, motor controllers, batteries, and custom carbon-fiber composite airframes. Today, we supply autonomous electric aircraft for cargo transport and crop protection to real-world customers across four separate continents and have secured industry-first regulatory approvals from the FAA. Our cargo aircraft enables remote connectivity, enhances express delivery networks, and ensures fast and reliable shipping of critical supplies to areas in need. Our crop protection aircraft offers agricultural services providers and farmers an autonomous tool to make aerial application safer, more precise, and less harmful to surrounding environments. Both vehicles are highly economical to operate, easy to deploy, and significantly reduce CO2 emissions in their respective industries. What you work on at Pyka makes people’s lives better now and brings the future of electric aviation one step closer each day. ## Responsibilities CEO Partnership and Cross Team Problem Solving - Work with the CEO to identify work and decisions to delegate, clarify the intended outcomes, and establish owners, decision-making authority, and when to escalate. - Investigate areas of concern by gathering data, speaking and collaborating with the people closest to the work, and identifying root causes, constraints, and gaps in ownership. - Workshop options and action plans with the relevant owners. Report back to the CEO with findings, recommendations, tradeoffs, and any decisions that require their input. OKR Planning and Follow Through - Own the company’s OKR process from planning and goal-setting through ongoing maintenance, progress reviews, reporting, and end-of-cycle assessment. - Help leaders translate company priorities into measurable commitments. Maintain a current record of objectives, key results, owners, deadlines, dependencies, and agreed changes. - Follow up with owners, identify commitments at risk, and work with teams on recovery plans. Report progress and unresolved tradeoffs to the CEO, and verify that commitments are completed or explicitly revised. Weekly Leads Scrum - Run Pyka’s weekly leads scrum, including preliminary data collection on the status of operations and key issues, preparing the agenda, and facilitating discussions. Board Materials and Investor Relations - Coordinate and draft board materials with the CEO, Finance, Legal and other functional leaders. Gather and verify inputs, synthesize progress and challenges, and manage preparation and review deadlines. - Join the CEO in complex investor discussions and due diligence, recording action items and observations. Ensure prompt follow through, both contributing directly to due diligence questions, and organizing information from subject matter experts. Special Projects - Lead time-bound projects that address company priorities or gaps between teams, with a clear scope, milestones, and completion criteria. - Work alongside functional experts to implement practical solutions across engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, operations, and business teams. - Identify a permanent owner early, document key decisions and processes, and complete the handoff so the work continues effectively after your involvement ends. Required Qualifications - 5+ years of experience in business operations, strategy, program management, consulting, or a similar role, including hands-on execution within a growing company. - A track record of taking ambiguous problems from investigation through implementation and working across teams to deliver results. - Strong analytical skills and comfort working with operating data, spreadsheets, and financial information to assess options and tradeoffs. - Excellent writing and communication skills, with the ability to turn complex information into concise recommendations, decision memos, and presentations. - Ability to build trust with technical and nontechnical leaders, hold candid conversations, and influence outcomes without direct reporting authority. - Strong organization and follow-through, with sound judgment about priorities, when to resolve an issue independently, and when to involve the CEO. - Discretion, integrity, and good judgment when handling sensitive company, employee, and board information. ## Preferred Qualifications - Experience in aerospace, robotics, manufacturing, or another business developing and deploying complex hardware. - Experience at a growing, venture-backed company or portfolio support at a VC fund, ideally working closely with a founder or executive team. - Experience managing OKR processes, facilitating leadership meetings, or preparing board materials. We understand that candidates bring different strengths and experiences, and you don’t need to meet every qualification to be considered. If this role excites you, we’d love to learn more about you. You may be a great fit even if your background doesn’t align perfectly with the list. ## Compensation & Benefits - Compensation will vary depending on location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Salary ranges are subject to change. - Employer-sponsored health, dental and vision insurance - FSA with employer matching - 401(k) - Paid holidays, generous PTO, and additional unpaid time off - Voluntary short-term disability, long-term disability, and life insurance - Pre-tax commuter benefits - Free catered lunch and plenty of snacks Export Control Requirements This position requires access to technology, software and other information that is subject to governmental access control restrictions, due to export controls.  Employment in this position is conditioned on the continued availability of government authorization to authorize release of such items, to the extent required, including without limitation an export license, or other documentation required to establish authorization to receive access to such items. Company may delay commencement of employment, rescind an offer of employment, terminate employment, and/or may modify job responsibilities, compensation, benefits, and/or access to Company facilities and information systems, as Company deems appropriate, in order to ensure compliance with applicable government access control restrictions. -- We do not work with external recruiters; if you are an external recruiter, please do not reach out. ## About Pyka ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Pyka designs, develops, and manufactures autonomous electric aircraft for cargo transport and crop protection. - **Entity Type**: Private (Series B) - **Headquarters**: Alameda, California, USA - **Founded**: 2017 - **Founders**: Michael Norcia (Co-Founder, CEO), Chuma Ogunwole (Co-Founder, COO), Nathan White (Co-Founder, Head of Flight Operations) ## Core Business - Primary industry: Autonomous electric aviation, aerospace, agriculture, defense & logistics - Target customers: B2B, government (AFWERX, Department of Defense), agricultural service providers, commercial cargo operators - Mission or purpose statement: To provide society with a new form of safe, clean, and cost-effective transportation enabled by autonomous electric aviation, starting with the highest value and most dangerous jobs. ## Products & Services - **Pelican Spray**: A fully autonomous electric crop duster for aerial application, designed to make crop protection safer, more precise, and less harmful to surrounding environments. Certified for commercial operation in New Zealand, Costa Rica, and the US (FAA 44807 Authorization). - **Pelican Cargo**: The world's largest zero-emission autonomous cargo UAS, designed for remote connectivity, express delivery, and shipping critical supplies. Delivered to AFWERX (US Air Force innovation arm) for contested logistics use cases. - **Pelican 2**: Next-generation autonomous aircraft unveiled in February 2025, featuring significant design improvements and securing FAA authorization for commercial operation in the US. - **Proprietary technology ecosystem**: Flight control software, avionics, high power density motors, motor controllers, batteries, and custom carbon-fiber composite airframes. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed - **Key Metric**: Total funding of $95.12M (Series B of $40M raised in 2024/2025; Series A of $37M; Seed+ $8M; initial Y Combinator round $3M) - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Y Combinator (S17 batch), EmbraerX (partnership for Brazil operations), AFWERX (US Department of Air Force), GO-Biz (California tax credit award), SLC Agrícola (major ag customer) - **Growth Signals**: - Secured world's first approval for autonomous night spray operations in Costa Rica - Receiving orders across four continents (Americas, Europe, etc.) - Delivered Pelican Cargo to AFWERX for exploration of contested logistics use cases - Awarded $7M California Tax Credit to expand manufacturing - Surpassed 75 employees (from 50+ milestone) - Signed first major US customer for Pelican Spray ## Competitive Advantages - First-mover regulatory advantage: World’s first autonomous electric aircraft certified for commercial work (2019), first FAA 44807 authorization for commercial autonomous electric crop spraying in the US, and first approval for night autonomous spray operations. - Dual-use technology platform serving both commercial (agriculture, logistics) and defense (AFWERX) markets. - Vertically integrated technology stack (proprietary flight control, avionics, motors, batteries, and airframes) creating deep moats against competitors. - Real-world operational deployment across multiple countries and continents, not just prototypes or test flights. - Strong safety record with regulatory approvals from FAA, New Zealand CAA, and Costa Rican authorities. ## Strategic Focus - Scaling production of the Pelican 2 and Pelican Cargo aircraft lines - Expanding into defense and dual-use applications (contested logistics for US Air Force) - Growing commercial operations in agriculture with major customers like SLC Agrícola in Brazil - Expanding global regulatory approvals to open new markets - Building out manufacturing capacity with GO-Biz support in California - Achieving economies of scale while maintaining vertical integration ## Why Work Here - **Culture**: Pyka started in the founder's parents' garage with a "shoes optional" early culture, and retains a startup ethos focused on building game-changing products. Employees report working on things that make people's lives better now. - **Engineering focus**: You'll work on cutting-edge autonomy, electric propulsion, and aerospace hardware/software. The tech stack spans flight control software, avionics, high power density motors, motor controllers, batteries, and carbon-fiber composites. - **Impact**: "What you work on at Pyka makes people’s lives better now and brings the future of electric aviation one step closer each day." - **Remote/Hybrid**: Some roles are remote (e.g., Flight Support Engineer - Night Shift, Brazil remote), while engineering and manufacturing roles likely require presence at the Alameda/Oakland facilities. - **Location**: Based in Alameda, CA (with manufacturing in Oakland), offering a Bay Area aerospace startup experience. - **Stage**: Series B with ~75 employees—ideal for someone who wants to join a growth-stage company with proven product-market fit and clear regulatory path to scale. - **Current open roles** (via Lever): Senior Account Executive (Brazil), Deployed Flight Test Engineer, Flight Demo & Training Specialist (Multiple Levels), Flight Support Engineer (Night Shift, Brazil remote). ## Sources 1. [flypyka.com](https://www.flypyka.com/about-us) 2. [flypyka.com/careers](https://flypyka.com/careers) 3. [jobs.lever.co/pyka](https://jobs.lever.co/pyka/) 4. [cbinsights.com](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/pyka) 5. [ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/pyka) ## Other roles at Pyka - [Manager, Software Engineering - Cloud infrastructure](https://feeny.ai/job/manager-software-engineering-cloud-infrastructure-pyka-alameda-2r6ea6sm6zp9) — Alameda, CA - [Compensation Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/compensation-manager-pyka-remote-sghedrsgkvxe) - [Integration Technician II](https://feeny.ai/job/integration-technician-ii-pyka-alameda-1zjwgfvmvsp8) — Alameda, CA - [Field Maintenance Specialist (Brazil only)](https://feeny.ai/job/field-maintenance-specialist-brazil-only-pyka-brazil-wba43abh09br) — Brazil - [Composite Technician (Multiple Levels)](https://feeny.ai/job/composite-technician-multiple-levels-pyka-alameda-jbcn67yja75c) — Alameda, CA - [Final Assembly/Prototyping Technician (Multiple levels)](https://feeny.ai/job/final-assembly-prototyping-technician-multiple-levels-pyka-alameda-anm1ck9b3c10) — Alameda, CA - [Mechanical Engineering Internship - Winter/Spring 2027](https://feeny.ai/job/mechanical-engineering-internship-winter-spring-2027-pyka-alameda-y5ktdhzk2wkv) — Alameda, CA - [Electrical Engineering Internship - Winter/Spring 2027 (Early Interest)](https://feeny.ai/job/electrical-engineering-internship-winter-spring-2027-early-interest-pyka-alameda-c7e00ee1v6ev) — Alameda, CA - [Electro-Mechanical Assembly Technician](https://feeny.ai/job/electro-mechanical-assembly-technician-pyka-alameda-w135nz8sxsh3) — Alameda, CA - [Flight Demo & Training Specialist (Multiple Levels)](https://feeny.ai/job/flight-demo-training-specialist-multiple-levels-pyka-california-dkzneb61er2b) — California