Chief of Staff, CEO

About the role

The Chief of Staff to the CEO is one of the most consequential and demanding roles in the organization and one of the most distinct. This is not a traditional leadership role with a defined team, a clear mandate, or visible deliverables. It is a role built on influence without authority, on making others more effective rather than being visibly effective yourself, and on operating with the full trust of the CEO in a highly matrixed, fast-moving environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Coordination and Administration

• Assist in managing the CEO’s agenda, ensuring focus on highest-priority areas.
• Develop agendas for CEO-led meetings: ELT meetings, quarterly meetings, off-sites, etc.
• Work with CEO to identify key themes and topics and solicit input as needed from key stakeholders.
• Disseminate information to participants and coordinate follow-up.
• Cook up other CEO-led events and activities.
• Avoid relying on prior or undated materials. Always go to the source owners to verify information before distributing.

• Strategic Project Management

• Lead and manage high-priority strategic initiatives on behalf of the CEO and executive leadership team, serving as project sponsor or direct project lead as appropriate.
• Drive cross-functional strategic projects that span multiple business units, ensuring alignment with corporate objectives and timely delivery of outcomes.
• Support the ELT in annual and multi-year strategic planning processes, including facilitating planning sessions, coordinating input from business units, and synthesizing strategic recommendations.
• Identify and address critical organizational challenges that require CEO-level attention, developing action plans and mobilizing resources to drive resolution.
• Track progress on enterprise-wide strategic initiatives; create executive dashboards and provide regular updates to the CEO and ELT on milestone achievements and risk mitigation.
• Partner with business unit leaders to accelerate transformation initiatives, remove roadblocks, and ensure strategic alignment across the organization.
• Conduct deep-dive analyses on strategic opportunities — including market entry, partnerships, M&A targets, or new business models — preparing executive-ready recommendations.
• Serve as the CEO’s representative on select strategic workstreams, committees, or task forces, ensuring CEO priorities are reflected and progress is maintained.

Candidate Profile

An early-career to early-mid career, high-performing individual who is potentially being fast-tracked to more senior roles. MBA preferred (not required); newly-minted MBA welcome. Operating experience (internal or external) and/or consulting-firm experience. Potentially, executive support experience.

Qualifications

• Ability to work closely with C-level executives; demonstrated professionalism, integrity, sense of urgency, discretion, and superior organizational skills.

• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment with appropriate technology fluency.

• Outstanding communication skills, both written and verbal.

• High emotional intelligence and ability to navigate sensitive situations with discretion.

• Capacity to listen deeply and learn continuously — this role rewards pattern recognition developed through observation more than frameworks delivered through presentation.

• Resilient and composed under pressure; able to stay grounded during an extended adjustment period (the transition into this role typically takes six to nine months before someone feels fully competent).

• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities with the ability to structure ambiguous problems and drive to actionable solutions.

• Experience with project management methodologies and tools; ability to manage complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives.

• Strategic thinking capability with the ability to connect tactical activities to broader organizational objectives.

• Genuine commitment to professional networking — internally and externally — as a core working discipline, not an afterthought.

Additional Notes

The role requires flexibility, including occasional evening and weekend work. Some travel will be required.

We are proud that our workplace promotes continual learning and internal mobility. Our values support courageous teammates, needle movers, and learning champions all while striving to support the health and well-being of all employees.

We offer meeting-free Friday afternoons allowing more time for heads down work and professional development, and through a robust body of employee programming we facilitate a wide range of opportunities to foster community, learn, and grow.

We are committed to fair, transparent pay, and we strive to provide competitive compensation in addition to a comprehensive benefits package.