Title: Chief of Staff (Remote)

Department: COO Group

Reports To: Chief Operating Officer

Job Type: Permanent Full Time

Salary: USD $135K - $155K

Location: Remote - US Based Candidate
(Requires some travel every other month to the New York or Toronto Office and to other cities once a quarter)

Description:

WES is looking for a Chief of Staff to work closely with the COO in executing the overall mandate of the COO Group and driving cross-functional strategic work across our organization. This role will work with the COO Group’s leadership to set strategic priorities, ensure strong execution and follow-through for department initiatives, strengthen coordination within the COO Group team and linkages with other WES departments, and manage key strategic planning, knowledge management, governance, and cross-functional projects. The Chief of Staff will have a strategic view of the operating organization, with insight into the operations of a leading social enterprise working at the intersection of higher education, global mobility, and workforce development, and serving international students, immigrants, and refugees.

The Chief of Staff reports to WES’ Chief Operating Officer and will work closely and collaboratively with all department leads within the COO Group including Global Operations, Marketing, Technology, Product and Global Education and Knowledge, as well as other WES Social Impact departments, WES’ Office of the CEO, and other functional teams. They will have significant exposure to WES’s Executive Team and members of the WES Board of Directors.

Location and Work Environment:

This is a remote-first role, as the COO Group team is a distributed, hybrid team working virtually from cities in the U.S. and Canada. We are also open to candidates working out of WES’ NYC and Toronto offices or looking for candidates that are willing to attend in-person meetings in NYC, Toronto, or other cities at least once a quarter.

Duties included but not limited to:

Direct Support for COO and Department Leads within the COO Group

• Facilitate the effectiveness of the COO and COO Group Department Leads, including heads of Global Operations, Marketing, Technology, Product and Global Education and Knowledge
• Serve as a critical sounding board for the COO, helping to set and refine priorities by defining and assessing strategic choices, conducting scenario planning exercises, and identifying and managing strategic risk
• Support COO and Department Leads with strategies, approaches, risk mitigation and prioritization of initiative needs
• Provide oversight and direction to a Third-Party Management program to ensure a consistent approach to the identification and mitigation of risks associated with the use of Third-Party providers of business and technology services
• Serve as liaison between Departments and work to find connections, intersections and gaps across COO Group and other functional teams
• Lead COO preparation for high priority meetings, such discussions on strategic initiatives and key initiatives and serve as proxy for COO where needed
• Develop analytics, presentations and reporting for the COO Group

Strategic Planning & Operational Improvement

• Drive planning, development and execution of strategic initiatives
• Propose the creation of new systems and processes to streamline the COO Group’s operations
• Manage cross-functional processes and meeting governance
• Lead examination of annual and quarterly Departmental reviews and assist in leading prioritization processes. Focus on identifying areas to improve and ensure alignment across teams on the organization’s highest priorities
• Drive consolidation of COO Group annual processes (including discussions on prioritization, performance monitoring, and budgeting)
• Manage communicating issues and decisions to stakeholders
• Manage COO Coordinator and Enterprise Portfolio Manager positions

The Ideal Candidate will:

• Be able to work independently with minimal supervision and within tight deadlines
• Build informal working relationships, quickly establish credibility in new areas of work, and mobilize people at all levels towards collaborative goals
• Have experience managing teams and working with a variety of senior stakeholders
• Foster a team atmosphere and encourage team members to contribute to innovative solutions
• Have a high degree of comfort with rapidly changing ambiguous contexts and an ability to help craft a clear path forward in these environments
• Bring both an entrepreneurial mindset to generate new approaches, spot opportunities, and initiate action
• Be excited about WES’ mission
• Bring a “can-do” attitude and have a willingness to stretch up and down in their role as the organization’s needs evolve
• Thrive in an environment that values transparency, collaboration, and a learning orientation

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree and 10 or more years of relevant work experience with strong preference for experience in consulting and/or business operations
• Track record as an excellent problem-solver who enjoys taking on new challenges and demonstrates strong decision-making skills and judgement
• Ability to use independent judgment and work under pressure on competing responsibilities with resilience, and a high level of ownership
• Poise, confidence, and maturity in interacting with key stakeholders
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills that convey complex information to a range of stakeholders in compelling formats, including via PowerPoint slides
• Demonstrated qualitative and quantitative analytical skills to assess situations, break down complex problems, identify strategic tradeoffs, and apply learnings in a larger context
• Experience utilizing models for strategy development, planning, decision-making, and/or budgeting within organizations and/or with external partners a plus
• Good interpersonal skills, including tact, diplomacy, and flexibility, and demonstrated experience building trust with diverse stakeholder groups
• Ability to build strong relationships and work with individuals at all levels of the organization
• Commitment to confidentiality and discretion in appropriately handling sensitive information is required
• Strong command of technology tools, including but not limited to Microsoft Office suite (especially Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneDrive), Salesforce or other CRM systems, Jira and Confluence

EOE Statement: World Education Services provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, World Education Services complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training