Chief of Staff and Head of External Affairs

The Lumber Manufactory (TLM) is building the future of sustainable lumber with next-generation sawmill technology. We design and operate state-of-the-art modular sawmills that produce high-grade dimensional wood products with greater efficiency and less waste. Backed by leading investors including Cantos, Slow Ventures, Susa Ventures, Banter Capital, Humba Ventures, and Ravelin Capital.

Key Responsibilities

• Advise the CEO on company strategy, organizational priorities, major decisions, and new market opportunities.

• Establish and manage the executive operating cadence, including leadership meetings, strategic planning, performance reviews, and follow-through on key decisions.

• Track progress against company priorities, identify execution risks and dependencies, and work with functional leaders to resolve them.

• Lead cross-functional initiatives that require coordination across teams or new efforts that lack an existing organizational owner.

• Support organizational planning, including leadership hiring, headcount allocation, organizational design, and other priorities required to scale the company.

• Support TLM’s growth pipeline from market evaluation through deployment, ensuring strategic, financial, operational, commercial, and external-affairs workstreams remain aligned.

• Manage relationships with investors and board members, including board materials, investor updates, meeting preparation, and follow-up.

• Support financing processes alongside the CEO, CFO, and CSO.

• Develop and maintain TLM’s corporate narrative across investor materials, press, public statements, presentations, and stakeholder communications.

• Lead government relations at the state and local levels, including relationships with elected officials, regulators, public agencies, and economic development organizations.

• Support new mill deployments through government engagement, public incentives, community outreach, and local stakeholder relationships.

• Develop and manage strategic partnerships with industry organizations, trade groups, policy coalitions, timberland owners, and other key stakeholders.

• Identify regulatory, political, community, and reputational risks associated with expansion and develop plans to address them.

• Establish repeatable processes for investor relations, government engagement, communications, market entry, and deployment as TLM expands nationally.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in a role combining strategic operations/chief of staff work with government relations, public affairs, policy, or community engagement — startup, political, or high-growth operating environments strongly preferred

• Track record of building relationships with government officials, regulators, or community stakeholders, ideally in natural resources, manufacturing, energy, infrastructure, or a similarly regulated/physical industry

• Strong operating instincts: able to run a rigorous internal cadence, manage competing priorities, and drive projects to completion without heavy oversight

• Excellent written and verbal communicator who can represent the company credibly to a CEO, a board, a state legislator, and a rural community meeting

• Bias toward action and comfort with ambiguity; TLM moves fast, and this role will often be defining its own playbook as it goes

• Willingness to travel regularly to mill sites, including in Mississippi and other expansion markets

• Genuine interest in domestic manufacturing, forestry, rural economic development, or the housing supply chain is a strong plus

Candidates must live or relocate to Seattle, Boston, Philadelphia or Washington, D.C.

Salary will be determined based on your location and experience. The salary range expected for this role is 100,000 USD - 160,000 USD.

We offer competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits, including:

• 100% employer-paid health coverage for employees and dependents (medical, dental, and vision)

• 100% employer-paid life insurance and disability coverage

• Paid time off and company holidays

• The opportunity to help build something from the ground up in an essential, evolving industry

Join our team as we modernize timber from forest to finished product.

The Lumber Manufactory is an equal opportunity employer committed to building an inclusive team. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.