Chief of staff job description template

A chief of staff

JD that is not generic.

One short, opinionated template. 280 words, not 1,800. Below: a side-by-side teardown of the typical job description and what to cut, the template ready to copy, and a one-click button to post it via Picked.

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The teardown

Side by side. Cut everything in red.

A typical JD · 1,847 words

scroll-killing

Chief of staff (typical posting)

About us · cut

Founded in 2019, ACME Inc is a fast-growing, mission-driven, customer-obsessed scale-up empowering the modern hiring loop. We have been featured in TechCrunch, won several awards, and our culture has been recognised by Best Places to Work.

About the role · cut

You will be joining a passionate, collaborative team of self-starters in a dynamic, fast-paced environment. We are looking for a high-performing professional who is excited by ambiguity and ready to wear many hats.

Responsibilities · cut

- Collaborate with cross-functional partners to align stakeholders - Drive impact across the business - Champion excellence - Be a culture ambassador for the team - Wear many hats - Lots more bullets like this

Requirements · cut

- 5+ years of professional experience - Strong communication skills - Self-starter - Team player - Comfortable with ambiguity - Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Nice to haves · cut

- A laundry list of every tool anyone on the team has ever used - MBA / advanced degree - Previous experience at a high-growth startup

Benefits · cut most of this

- Competitive salary - Equity - Health, dental, vision - Unlimited PTO (which no-one takes) - Free snacks (in office) - Annual offsite - Pet-friendly office - Pinball machine

Picked template · 266 words

ships

Chief of staff to the CEO, London

We are hiring our first chief of staff. You will sit alongside the CEO, run the operating cadence of the leadership team, write the memos that turn into decisions, and own the calendar problem nobody else owns. We are 140 people, post Series B. You will partner with our COO and our head of finance day to day.

One paragraph, not six sections

Context. What the role owns. Team size. How you ship. Everything else is noise until the interview.

Skip the company overview

They found your JD. They can find your website. They will skim it. They will learn about you in the interview if they are still interested.

Bullets only where they earn their place

A list of "responsibilities" tells the candidate nothing they cannot guess.

Post the comp band

You will filter the wrong people anyway. Either pre-application or after offer. Pre is cheaper.

The template · plain text

Copy. Paste. Replace the bracketed bits.

Post with this · 30s

chief-of-staff.md

266 words · 3 min read

# Chief of staff to the CEO, [city] or hybrid

We are hiring our [first/second] chief of staff. You will sit alongside the [CEO/founder], run the operating cadence of the leadership team, write the memos that turn into decisions, and own the calendar problem nobody else owns. We are [N] people, [stage]. [Who you will partner with day to day].

## You will be good here if

- You have been a chief of staff or a senior operator at a [stage] company before, and you can describe in one paragraph what your CEO did with their last hour on a Friday.
- You write a one-page memo that lands a decision in one read. You have killed a recurring meeting as recently as you have set one up.
- [The third trait you actually care about].

## What you will not get

A team to delegate this to. The role is a force multiplier on the CEO, not a function in its own right.

## Compensation

[Currency][low] to [high] base. [low] to [high] percent equity. We post the band because we mean it.

## How we hire

30-second post, screen plus assessment via Picked, 20-minute interview via Picked, one on-site half-day with the CEO and one direct of theirs. We aim to give a yes or no in 7 days.

## What is the rubric

Pattern recognition, comms across the org, operational triage, discretion, quiet ambition. Not your last title.

That is the JD. Apply via [link] or just send a paragraph about the last process you ran that retired itself.

[Your name], [your title]

Tone rules

Eight phrases to delete
from every JD you ever write.

"Rockstar / ninja / wizard"

Nobody respectable applies to this. Replace with: nothing.

"Self-starter"

Means: we have no plan and no manager. Replace with: name the actual autonomy.

"Comfortable with ambiguity"

Same thing again. Replace with: tell them the specific ambiguity they will face.

"Fast-paced environment"

Means: chaotic. Replace with: name the cadence, sprints, ship-day, on-call.

"Champion"

A verb that means nothing. Replace with: the actual outcome.