Operating Executive Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

- - -

RDI is a specialty IVD contract research organization based in Van Nuys, CA. We run 15-20 concurrent clinical trials for the world's largest diagnostics manufacturers - the companies whose tests sit on benches in hospitals, doctor's offices, and labs. We're roughly 50 people and growing. It's a good business that helps scientists do their work, doctors make better calls, and patients get accurate answers faster.

- - -

This role reports to the CEO. The primary goal is to help the CEO stay close to the right details in a growing company. This person will convert the CEO's instinct, attention, standards, and urgency into action for the rest of the team. The focus is still CEO time - but the work isn't saving it with admin tasks. It's leveraging it.

THE BASICS

Location & work mode: Onsite, full-time, Van Nuys, CA

Hours: Project-based business - hours flex with demand. Most weeks run around 9-6. Some run longer when a client visit, a board cycle, or an audit stacks up. You're expected to take time back when the work allows. We don't track hours.

Benefits: Health, dental, vision, 401k. Discretionary annual bonus.

Compensation: $85-$125K

KEY PROBLEMS AND ACCOUNTABILITIES

The main focus is to maximize the return the company gets on the CEO's time. That means getting the CEO involved where it's critical for the company and handling it when it's not - in all cases, protecting the company's resources, reputation, and team the way the CEO would.

This problem spans complexity. It runs from handling a door vendor to making time for a $5 million client.

You'll manage the CEO's attention across clients, board, employees, vendors, and prospects. That means managing the calendar, and also using it strategically to achieve the company's goals.

Eventually, you become the CEO's operating interpreter: close enough to understand the founder's instincts, disciplined enough to separate signal from noise, and trusted enough to move the organization without becoming a shadow executive.

AUTHORITY

The role's authorities are explicit. So are the failure modes that kill it.

You have authority to:

Organize. The CEO's operating cadence - meetings, agendas, pre-reads, clear outcomes, named owners. Skip-level access without changing reporting lines.

Track. Commitments and open loops across the company. Founder signals routed to named owners.

Direct. Communications drafted on behalf of the CEO.

Propose. New initiatives, process changes, and operating standards.

Leverage the CEO's time. Accept, reject, and reshape meetings against stated priorities.

This role fails when it becomes:

Pure task-doer - runs lists, doesn't write them

Corporate gatekeeper - rations access to the CEO as power

Political operator - plays the internal politics they should be neutralizing

Strategic plans with no action - builds decks, doesn't move work

WHO YOU'LL WORK WITH

The CEO, COO, CMO, the team in the office and lab, and our PH team.

We've had a mix of part-time, freelance, and virtual assistance to date. We've grown to the point where we have clients in our office frequently, and that requires a full-time onsite presence. This is that seat.

THE PATH

This role will grow in responsibility as the business grows, as the demands on the CEO's time expand, and as you master accountabilities and level up your skills and scope. It will expand into a larger operations role.

WHAT THE FIRST 30 DAYS LOOK LIKE

We have a company dashboard of projects, emails, and key initiatives tracked in our project management system. We'll split our routine issues by period - weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually. This includes things like monthly investor updates, taxes, and marketing reviews. We'll then pick one or two initiatives you can own outright, like coordinating the installation of new lab equipment or running a recruiting search.

WHO DOES WELL, AND HOW DO THEY KNOW

Good judgment, fast, comfortable being the one who closes the loop. You don't need credit for your work to find it satisfying. You can leverage technology, vendors, and people to put things in action quickly.

You'll know this is you if you're the problem solver in your friend group - the one people come to with their tech problems. You'll know you're good if you've worked alongside other high-performers and consistently been the one founders or principals asked for.