Chief of Staff to Chief Administrative and People Officer

Overview

The Chief of Staff (CoS) to the CAO is a force multiplier—helping drive People strategy, operating cadence, and cross-functional execution across the HR function and its partners (Finance, Legal, IT, and business leaders). This role blends sharp strategic thinking with hands-on operational rigor to keep the CAO office running at a high bar: ensuring leaders are prepared, decisions turn into action, and the People organization stays aligned on measurable outcomes.

What You’ll Do

• Own the CAO office operating cadence (weekly/monthly/quarterly rhythms), including agenda-setting, pre-reads, decision logs, action tracking, and follow-through.

• Run the People function Business Management System (BMS) and QBRs end-to-end: define timelines, coordinate inputs, develop narratives, ensure data integrity, and drive accountability for commitments.

• Develop executive- and Board-ready materials for People topics (e.g., workforce, org health, talent, engagement, transformation): reporting, dashboards, and compelling presentations that synthesize complex information into crisp insights, options, and recommendations.

• Support People strategy development and execution: translate strategy into plans, operating mechanisms, and measurable goals; identify risks, dependencies, and trade-offs early.

• Drive cross-functional alignment across HR COEs and HRBPs (Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, People Ops, L&D, Employee Relations, DEI, People Analytics), ensuring consistent narrative, prioritization, and delivery.

• Partner with Finance to manage the budget, including programs and headcount—bringing analytical rigor and clear recommendations.

• Serve as a trusted thought partner to the CAO: bring “outside-in” perspective, provide bottom-up insights, and pressure-test plans, communications, and stakeholder strategy.

• Establish operational rigor: improve processes, templates, and standards for planning, measurement, and executive communications across the People organization.

• Bring AI proficiency for productivity and quality: identify high-value People use cases (e.g., insights synthesis, policy/knowledge retrieval, manager enablement), standardize workflows, and deploy tools that improve cycle time, insight quality, and operational efficiency.

Who You Are & What Makes You Qualified

• Bachelor's degree required
• 10–15+ years of experience in strategic consulting, People/HR strategy & operations, business operations, or Chief of Staff roles; experience supporting a CHRO/People executive and operating in a matrixed environment strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to run operating mechanisms (e.g., BMS/QBRs), build People analytics and executive reporting, and deliver high-impact presentations for ELT/Board audiences.
• Strong fluency across core People domains (e.g., org design, workforce planning, talent, engagement, performance, total rewards) and comfort partnering with Legal/Employee Relations on sensitive topics.
• Exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail; consistently produces accurate, polished work products under tight timelines.
• Strong strategic thinking with practical execution skills—able to move from ambiguity to clarity and from plan to delivery.
• Influential and collaborative: proven ability to lead through influence, build trust quickly, and align stakeholders across functions and levels.
• AI fluent: understands how to evaluate People/HR use cases, manage data/privacy considerations, and embed AI into operating workflows to improve outcomes.
• Experience supporting a tech company through transformation (operating model changes, system/process modernization, scaling) is a plus.