Survey on Chiefs of Staff, and how to hire one

Launching partnerships, managing product integrations, people, culture, hiring—these are all things that fall under the umbrella of a chief of staff. So it begs the question. What does the typical role of a chief of staff actually look like?

Today, with Bay Area Times hiring partner Athyna*, we are here to explore what a typical chief of staff does inside of an organization. We ran a small survey with 10 chiefs from Seed to IPO to understand the role a little better. Here is what we found.

30% of Chiefs of Staff came from consulting

Our survey respondents shared a wide array of experiences. 30% of our chiefs came from consulting, with others coming from a sales, marketing, product, and banking background.

40% of Chiefs of Staff expect to be C-Level in their next role

Just as varied as their background is where they seem to be heading next. 40% expect to be C-Level in their next role, with one expecting the top spot as CEO. Others expected to be department heads, GMs and even heading into investing and entrepreneurship in the subsequent roles.

Chiefs of Staff hold power and influence in their organizations

Interestingly, our chiefs reported holding quite a lot of sway inside of their companies, with no one voting less than a 4 out of 5 in relation to involvement in: a) planning and execution of strategic initiatives and b) overseeing and managing key projects.

70% of Chiefs of Staff can quantify the impact of their work

• “I see it as my number one goal to create leverage for our partners' time—that is measured by taking things off their plate and owning respective parts of the business that they were previously owning. We set goals for the year and for the quarter, so I look at whether or not we executed against that goal with the tactics we set out to, or even revisiting goals and taking things off our plates when we may need to course correct.” — Jo Robyn, Black Nova Venture Capital

• “As the Chief of Staff, I’m exposed to the financials every day because I own and manage our budget and forecasting. I recently stood up our treasury management function which will improve yield on idle cash and reduce our foreign exchange cost. This will ideally give us back another $200k a year (or more) which is another 1-2 hires! This might seem boring, but it makes a huge difference to an early stage startup.” — Albert Patajo, Nexl, Series A

When and how to hire a chief of staff

1. Recognize the need: Start by pinpointing where the gaps are. Is your calendar perpetually packed? Do you require someone to help carry the operational weight? Are you finding it difficult to focus on your core responsibilities? If so, it’s time to bring in a chief of staff.

2. Determine experience level: Not every company needs a seasoned strategist. If you’re a lean startup, you might be in search of a younger talent who’s eager to learn. Remember, not all chiefs of staff are the same.

3. Define the ideal candidate: Outline the perfect candidate profile. Think of it like creating an Ideal Candidate Profile (ICP) but for this role. Who are they? What’s their background? What skills do they need, and what tasks will they take off your plate? The details are crucial.
   
   

   

   X: Bill Kerr.
   

4. Craft the job description: Use your candidate profile to build the ultimate job description.

5. Choose your hiring strategy: Your ideal candidate might already be within your ranks—an EA, a product manager, or a sales rep looking for new challenges. While someone with consulting or operations experience fits the bill, a hardworking internal candidate could be ready to step up.

6. Recruit and evaluate: Recruit relentlessly until you find the right person—or at least think you have. Then, put them through some real-world testing to see how they perform and think on their feet.

7. Document, onboard, and transition: Finally, make sure all the responsibilities you’re handing off are well-documented. As soon as your new teammate is onboard, you can transition those tasks smoothly. And just like that, you’ve got your chief of staff.

Summary and offer for our readers

The role of the Chief of Staff today is growing, and for scaling companies, being able to leverage the founders time for the most high-impact initiatives is key to staying ahead of the pack. The good news for you today is, if you are looking to hire an Executive Assistant, Chief of Staff or Operations Manager through Athyna, as a Bay Area Times reader you will get a $2,000 discount if you mention this offer.

Bay Area Times has multiple hires through Athyna right now and can’t recommend them highly enough. Click here to chat with Athyna today.

*Sponsored by Athyna. We have equity in the company. You can read more about this survey here.

Disclaimer: The Bay Area Times is a news publisher. All statements and expressions herein are the sole opinions of the authors or paid advertisers. The information, tools, and material presented are provided for informational purposes only, are not financial advice, and are not to be used or considered as an offer to buy or sell securities; and the publisher does not guarantee their accuracy or reliability. You should do your own research and consult an independent financial adviser before making any investments. Neither the publisher nor any of its affiliates accepts any liability whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss howsoever arising, directly or indirectly, from any use of the information contained herein. Assets mentioned may be owned by members of the Bay Area Times team.

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