About

I’m Lara Cunningham, an operations leader and Chief of Staff with a career spanning more than 20 years working alongside founders, chairmen, CEOs, principals and senior leadership teams.

I started my career in a law firm, working in executive support while also qualifying as a paralegal. I went on to spend around a decade in senior executive support roles, including working as an Executive Assistant to chairmen and founders. Those years gave me an early understanding of how senior leaders operate, how decisions are made and the judgement, discretion and anticipation required when working closely with people at the top of an organisation.

Over time, my remit moved well beyond traditional executive support and into the operation of the businesses themselves. For the past decade, my career has focused on operations, strategy, finance, people and complex projects, often acting as the link between a founder’s priorities and the people responsible for delivering them.

I spent seven years helping build the operational infrastructure behind a growing property investment, development and asset management business, joining as its first employee and supporting its growth from approximately £65m to more than £500m in assets under management. As the business evolved, so did my role, ultimately spanning operations, finance, asset management, people, marketing, communications and the personal affairs of the founder.

I then spent two years as Chief of Staff and Operations within a complex, high-intensity UHNW private family office, partnering directly with the principal and overseeing sensitive business and personal priorities across multiple jurisdictions.

Across my career, I’ve built and led teams, managed significant budgets, improved operating structures, reduced costs, established reporting and governance, and led complex projects through to delivery. I’m comfortable moving between the strategic and the practical, from helping shape a decision with a founder or CEO to taking ownership of the detail required to make it happen.

That breadth of experience has shaped the way I work today. I understand both what it means to support a senior leader at close quarters and what it takes to build and run the operational infrastructure around them. I’m at my best when there are lots of moving parts, the answer isn’t immediately obvious and someone needs to take ownership, work out what needs to happen and get it done.

Through LJC Global, I bring that experience to founders, CEOs, principals and leadership teams on a full-time, interim, fractional or project basis.

UK-based, working internationally.