Chief of Staff

About the Role

The Chief of Staff (CoS) is a highly self-directed strategic partner who operates in support of the CEO, ensuring the organizational strategy is effectively developed, communicated, and executed across all functions. This role is a key member of the executive team, focused on driving organizational effectiveness and translating the CEO's vision into measurable priorities.

The CoS serves as a proactive catalyst for change, leading critical initiatives and supporting integration across the Executive Leadership Team (ELT). You will hold essential operational and communication duties of the Executive Office while taking the initiative to improve systems and strategic alignment. Working in concert with the Executive Assistant, the CoS oversees all activities for the Executive Office.

Beyond operational alignment, the CoS serves as the cultural bridge between the Executive Office and the broader staff. You will be responsible for translating high-level strategy into a compelling, motivating narrative that connects every team member’s daily work to our mission, fostering a sense of shared purpose and momentum across the organization.

This role requires a unique blend of strategic foresight and meticulous execution—a "doer" who can lead through both influence and authority.

Core Focus Areas

• Strategic Planning & Organizational Direction
  • Vision Translation: Own the process for translating the CEO's vision into annual and long-term organizational strategy and key operating objectives (OKRs/KPIs).
  • Portfolio Discipline: Steward the strategic planning cycle to ensure that goals, KPIs, and project-level work stay clearly connected to impact.
  • Revenue Alignment: As new grants and opportunities emerge, ensure funder commitments align tightly with the strategic plan, using shared goal language internally and externally to avoid "mission creep."
  • ELT Management: Proactively design, structure, and direct the ELT agenda and rhythm of business, ensuring accountability for strategic outcomes and optimal decision velocity.
  • Communication Bridge: Serve as the primary integrator between the CEO and the ELT, ensuring a consistent message and coordinated effort across the policy, program, and development teams.
  • Mission Translation: Distill complex board or ELT-level strategies into priorities that resonate with staff at all levels, ensuring every employee understands how their day-to-day drives the organization’s North Star.
• Executive Team Integration & Leverage
  • Team Cohesion: Move the ELT from strong individual leaders operating in parallel to a leadership team that consistently owns organization-wide decisions together.
  • Conflict Resolution: Surface and work through cross-functional issues and tradeoffs proactively before they escalate to the CEO.
  • Decision Architecture: Clarify how and where decisions are made within the leadership team, ensuring that your perspective and the CEO’s perspective are applied where they are most needed.
  • Strategic Surrogate: Serve as the CEO’s primary representative for organizational development and team management initiatives; translate executive intent into action while maintaining project momentum and alignment without requiring the CEO’s direct presence.
  • Executive Freedom: Over time, step into internal meetings or decisions with confidence to free the CEO to focus on external leadership, fundraising, and strategic influence.
  • Feedback Loops: Strengthen internal feedback loops so the CEO has clear visibility into progress and challenges, enabling high-clarity communication with the board and funders.
• Communications & Board Governance
  • Strategic Board Engagement: Beyond managing meeting cadence, structure board engagement around strategic questions and long-term priorities, cultivating relationships that leverage board members’ expertise more fully.
  • Board Material Excellence: Oversee the finalization of all board meeting materials, synthesizing complex financial and programmatic data into high-level briefings and "Board Books."
  • Thought Leadership: Support the CEO in preparing high-impact internal and external communications, speeches, and policy op-eds, ensuring a consistent voice across all platforms.
• Executive Office Management & Initiative Leadership
  • Project Incubation: Self-direct and oversee the execution of highly complex, cross-functional "zero-to-one" projects, when applicable (e.g., launching a new earned revenue stream or a multi-state advocacy coalition).
  • Internal Communications: Own internal communications as a key lever to ensure the entire staff remains aligned with the core strategy and organizational health.

Who You Are: This role is ideal for someone with the following skills and mindsets:

• Directive & Executive Presence: You possess the confidence to be candid and direct with senior leaders. You are comfortable asserting influence to ensure deadlines and strategic goals are met.
• Owner & Accelerator: You take full ownership of ambiguous, high-stakes problems and relentlessly drive them to resolution, accelerating the pace of critical decision-making.
• Self-Driven Initiative: You don't wait for instruction; you proactively identify organizational gaps and propose solutions.
• Cross-Functional Integrator: You excel at building trust with executive leaders and staff alike, acting as a neutral arbiter to resolve strategic differences.
• Politically Savvy: You are an effective, behind-the-scenes operator who can navigate complex organizational dynamics with ease.
• Inspirational Storyteller: You don’t just communicate data; you craft narratives. You have the emotional intelligence to sense the room and the rhetorical skill to move people toward a common goal.
• Accessible Leader: While you possess executive presence, you are also approachable. You can move seamlessly from a high-stakes board meeting to a casual coffee with a staff member, building trust and credibility at every level.

Qualifications & Experience

• Experience: 8+ years of relevant professional experience, with at least 3 years working directly with or for C-suite/Executive Leadership in a fast-paced environment.
• K-12 Expertise: Deep familiarity with the K-12 education landscape, specifically social studies, civics, or curriculum policy.

Job Details

• Full-time
• $155,000 a year