Chief of Staff, CEO

About the role

Responsibilities

• Execution Management & Accountability: Own tracking and momentum on the strategic priorities; establish a real-time, visible dashboard with status, blockers, and named accountabilities updated weekly. Drive bi-weekly check-ins with owners to assess progress, surface dependency risks, and unblock impediments before they stall execution. Hold the C-staff to commitments and timeline; escalate slippage immediately and push for corrective action. Ensure no priority gets stalled due to unclear ownership, missing information or cross-functional friction.
• Governance & Board Support: Prepare Board and Board-committee materials in partnership with the CEO and Corporate Counsel; ensure the executive team enters Board sessions with aligned messaging and resolved open items and demonstrated progress on committed initiatives. Give the Board confidence that execution is disciplined and tracked.
• Business & Thought Partnership: Serve as a candid sounding board to the CEO and C-staff, pressure-testing ideas and framing trade-offs before they reach the full executive team; represent the CEO’s intent accurately when delegating across the C-staff
• Executive Operating Cadence & Tempo: Design and continuously improve the executive rhythm – meetings, offsites, CEO communications – so the organisation runs on a predictable, well-governed tempo that prioritizes execution velocity over process comfort. Use this cadence as a tool to maintain momentum and accountability on top priorities.
• Strategy: Assist in driving the dynamic and involving strategy for the enterprise which is an AI/SaaS/Database company. Work closely with the CEO, Product Teams, and Strategy Team to design and deliver insightful and accurate presentations and major talking points for the CEO for clients, industry events, and press interviews. Stay at the forefront on innovation, thinking, and structuring the delivery of Smarsh strategic vision.
• Company Alignment: Own the “Rally Cry” or large annual goals for the company. Facilitate the development of the overall goals across the entire CEO staff team. Ensure proper ownership of each goal across the entire Executive team. Ensure proper and timely measurement of performance to the goals for the company.
• Relationship Building & Forward Planning: Build trusted relationships across the C-staff and wider leadership population, acting as a credible connective layer between the CEO’s office and the business; anticipate emerging priorities and shape the CEO’s agenda ahead of need

Requirements

• 5–10+ years’ experience in a Chief of Staff, strategy, business operations or management consulting capacity, including direct experience supporting a CEO or C-suite principal
• Demonstrated experience preparing Board or Board-committee materials, or operating in close proximity to a governance process
• Track record of driving multi-stakeholder initiatives from strategy through to execution in a matrixed organisation
• Bachelor’s degree required; MBA or equivalent advanced degree preferred
• Demonstrated discretion handling highly confidential, market-sensitive or Board-level information
• Experience in private equity-backed or portfolio company environments; comfortable with rigorous financial discipline, operational metrics, and investor/board reporting cadences
• Builds trust and influence across the organization (and levels) while maintaining objectivity; respected for being fair-minded, not for being liked; earns credibility through follow-through and integrity, not by avoiding hard conversations.
• Based in Atlanta, GA; hybrid (in-office four days a week)

Benefits

• Equity