Chief of Staff Intern

Human Computer Lab is a research lab building character robots that feel alive and responsive. Our first robot, LeLamp, explores a new category of consumer robotics where everyday objects become interactive and help us reshape our attachment to technology.

Our goal is to push the frontier of human-robot interaction by making technology more legible, emotionally intuitive, and human-centered. We are building the foundation for a new generation of robots designed for everyday environments.

What to Expect

The Chief of Staff Intern works directly with our CEO and Chief of Staff during one of the highest-leverage stretches in the company's life — the run-up to our first ~1,000-unit production run. This is not a shadowing internship. You will own real workstreams: hiring pipeline hygiene, investor and partner communication drafts, vendor and manufacturing coordination, event and content execution. If you need a lot of structure to know what to do next, this isn't the right fit. If you can take a half-formed task and come back with a plan, it is.

Scope of responsibilities

CEO/Chief of Staff support

• Draft first passes on memos, investor update sections, and partner communications that get edited, not originated from scratch.
• Own scheduling logistics and meeting prep for key external conversations.

Hiring

• Keep the Ashby pipeline clean: candidate tracking, scheduling, re-engaging strong passes.
• Support sourcing outreach (LinkedIn, email sequences) for open roles.

Ops and vendor coordination

• Track manufacturing logistics as we scale toward 1,000 units — BOM tracking, freight/customs paperwork, vendor follow-ups.
• Coordinate
  contract
  execution
  (NDAs,
  services
  agreements,
  IP
  assignments,
  

advisor
agreements);
run
first-pass
redlines
and
escalate
substantive

negotiations.

• Maintain
  the
  cap
  table
  and
  board
  materials.

Growth and content

• Turn technical milestones and pilot progress into content — photos, short-form video, social posts.
• Drive
  partnerships
  with
  universities,
  companies,
  and
  labs.
  
• Support event logistics: hosting, attending, post-event follow-through.

Special projects

• Whatever the company needs that week. At this size, scope moves fast.

Who We're Looking For

The strongest candidates will have

• Built something real, even at student scale — a project, a club, a piece of research, a hack you shipped. We'll ask what you built and what broke.
• Comfort with unglamorous work. Chasing a vendor invoice and drafting an investor update in the same afternoon.
• Sharp writing. You'll draft things that go out under someone else's name.
• Genuine curiosity about robotics and what we're building — not startups as an abstraction.
• Enough organizational instinct to keep several threads moving without being reminded.
• A specific strength beyond generalist COS work that you'd bring to the team — technical, creative, analytical, whatever it is. Tell us what it is and show us evidence of it.

The early team becomes the DNA of the company. We set ourselves and others to a high standard, and we respond with kindness when things get hard but keep everyone accountable. This requires us to be curious, creative, and diverse in our thinking and approach.

We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer and consider all qualified applicants regardless of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. Even if you don’t meet every single requirement, we encourage you to apply. Studies show that women and underrepresented groups often hold back unless they meet 100% of the criteria - we don’t want that to be the reason we miss out on great talent.