Chief of Staff
About the role
This is a Regular full-time position with full benefits.
Responsibilities
Serve as a trusted advisor to the President and Executive Director, helping to shape priorities, navigate complex decisions, and support their focus on the highest leverage priorities.
Participate actively in organizational strategy, bringing a cross-functional vantage point to bear on how EDF sets direction, allocates resources, and positions itself for long-term impact.
Proactively identify opportunities for short- and longer-term successes.
Synthesize ambiguous information, pressure-test ideas, and contribute original thinking to the organization's most consequential choices.
Anticipate issues before they reach the President and ensure executives are operating with clarity, alignment, and momentum.
Engage directly in hard problems, supporting cohesion and connection across the Executive Management team.
Drive follow-through on organizational priorities, managing commitments and ensuring execution doesn't fall through the cracks of a matrixed structure.
Represent the President and Executive Director’s perspectives and priorities internally and externally with credibility and discretion.
Requirements
Minimum of 15+ years of progressively senior experience, including meaningful time in a Chief of Staff, senior leadership, or senior advisory role within a complex, high-stakes organization — within an advocacy, policy, philanthropy, or comparable environment.
Bachelor’s degree required. A Master’s degree in relevant field may substitute for up to 2 years of relevant experience.
Qualifications
Demonstrated ability to operate at the intersection of strategy and execution, with a track record of getting consequential things done in matrixed organizations.
Intellectual curiosity and the appetite to engage seriously with hard problems across a wide range of domains including science, policy, finance, fundraising, communications, talent, and organizational design.
Exceptional judgment, political acuity, and the instinct to know what needs escalation and what needs resolution.
Outstanding written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to write in the executives’ voices and prepare materials for board-level and major donor audiences.
Strong financial and business acumen, with the ability to engage substantively on organizational and budget decisions.
Exceptional credibility, discretion, and interpersonal range to work effectively with trustees, major donors, senior executives, and staff at all levels.
Demonstrated self-awareness, cultural competency, inclusivity, and ability to work with colleagues and stakeholders across all cultures and backgrounds.
Benefits
We offer a strong total rewards package encompassing competitive salary, robust benefits, and professional development opportunities consistent with a modern global organization. We take into account factors such as candidate experience, skills, training, internal team equity and local norms. Please note that pay ranges are country specific. As a result, the stated currency is not meant be converted into any other currency. 210,000 - 260,000 USD