Chiefs of staff · job description
Chief of staff job description
The short answer · updated
A chief of staff job description should name the leader the role serves, why the role exists now, the decisions it may take alone, the leadership-team and project work it owns, and what the first year must deliver. Write it with the leader: the remit is theirs to delegate. The template below covers each heading.
Job purpose
Start with the leader and the reason.
A chief of staff exists to make one senior leader, usually the chief executive, and their team more effective.
Say which leader, and what has changed: a new chief executive, a company that has outgrown informal management, a transformation, or a leader whose time is consumed by coordination.
Acas publishes an outline job description template whose headings (the main duties and who the post reports to) work for this role.
For the role itself, see what does a chief of staff do.
Key responsibilities
Order the duties by importance and start each with a verb.
A typical chief of staff job description covers:
- setting the leader’s priorities with them, and shaping the calendar and agenda around them;
- running the leadership team’s meeting cycle: agendas, papers, decisions and follow-up;
- leading or coordinating cross-functional projects that sit with the chief executive;
- preparing board packs and investor updates, and tracking the actions from them;
- filtering and briefing the information that reaches the leader;
- drafting the leader’s internal and external communications;
- acting for the leader in meetings and decisions they delegate;
- giving the leader candid feedback from across the organisation.
Reporting line and scope
A chief of staff reports to the leader they serve.
Say so, and say how they work with the leadership team: as a member, or alongside it.
State whether anyone reports to the role, such as an office of the CEO, strategy or programme managers, or the executive assistants.
Name the level.
Chiefs of staff work at very different levels of responsibility, from time and information management to a full member of the leadership team driving change; our page on what a chief of staff does sets them out.
A brief that mixes levels attracts the wrong candidates.
Draw the line with the executive assistant.
A chief of staff leaves routine correspondence and the day-to-day schedule to the EA; if the role should do them, it is an executive assistant job description.
Skills, experience and qualifications
No qualification is required.
Ask for evidence of the work, described specifically:
- cross-functional projects delivered without formal authority over the people doing them;
- experience close to a chief executive, a board or a leadership team;
- structured thinking and clear writing, shown in board papers, plans or briefings;
- business and financial understanding at the scale of the company;
- judgement and discretion with confidential information;
- credibility with senior leaders, earned rather than conferred by title.
Fractional chief of staff job description
A fractional chief of staff works a set number of days a week or month, so the job description narrows.
Name the days, the rhythm the role runs (the weekly leadership meeting, the monthly board pack), the outcomes expected in the first six to twelve months and who covers on the other days.
Our pages on the fractional chief of staff and how to hire a fractional chief of staff set out how the engagement works.
A fractional chief of staff working through their own company may fall within the off-payroll working rules (IR35).
Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, not on the wording of the job description, and a medium or large client makes the determination.
Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.
Chief of staff job description template
Job title: Chief of staff to the chief executive.
Reports to: the chief executive.
Works with: the leadership team, the board secretary and the executive assistant.
Purpose: to make the chief executive and the leadership team more effective, by running their priorities, meetings and cross-functional projects.
Responsibilities: set and protect the chief executive’s priorities; run the leadership team’s meeting cycle and follow-up; lead the strategic projects the chief executive owns; prepare board and investor material; brief the chief executive and communicate their decisions; act for them where delegated.
Requirements: a record of delivering cross-functional work at senior level; strong writing and analysis; judgement with confidential information; the trust of senior colleagues.
Terms: the location, the hours and the pay.
The written statement of employment particulars an employee receives on their first day must include the job title or a description of the work, so keep the two consistent.
Our chief of staff salary page sets out published pay with sources.
Questions people ask
What should a chief of staff job description include?
The leader the role serves, the purpose, the main responsibilities, the reporting line and level, the requirements and the terms.
The template on this page covers each.
What are the main responsibilities of a chief of staff?
Setting the leader’s priorities, running the leadership team’s meetings and follow-up, leading cross-functional projects, preparing board material, and managing the information and decisions that pass through the leader’s office.
Who does a chief of staff report to?
The leader they serve, usually the chief executive.
Is a chief of staff job description different from an executive assistant’s?
Yes.
An executive assistant manages the diary, inbox and logistics; a chief of staff works on priorities, decisions and projects.
See the executive assistant job description.
Can a chief of staff role be part-time?
Yes.
A fractional chief of staff works set days a week or month.
Name the days and the outcomes in the job description.
How do I hire a chief of staff?
Agree the remit with the leader, write the job description, and test candidates on a real problem.
We send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
