Chief of Staff

Chief of Staff

Job Description

About NYC Kids RISE:

Over the last decade, NYC Kids RISE has been working alongside partners in government, philanthropy, business and communities to build a universal wealth building platform for New York City neighborhoods. The Program expands access to mainstream financial products; builds individual, family, and collective financial assets; provides financial education for families and students; and brings schools and communities together to support all their children’s futures. The Save for College Program’s model is intended to drive neighborhood-level changes in economic opportunity and mobility by building individual and collective financial assets, reinforcing college- and career-going expectations, and strengthening social capital, networks, and infrastructure in neighborhoods across New York City.

Next school year, nearly every elementary public school student in New York City will have an NYC Scholarship Account invested in a 529 college savings plan, regardless of income or immigration status. From there, each year moving forward ~75,000 children will be added until nearly all ~1 million NYC Public school students have Accounts. In 2030, the very first students who received NYC Scholarship Accounts by participating in the Program’s pilot in Queens will be graduating high school. Currently, more than 380,000 students have NYC Scholarship Accounts with more than ~$85 million designated for their educational futures.

This past June the City announced an historic investment towards our vision increasing the initial seed amount for kindergartners from $100 to $1,000. The Administration has also included the Program in the Mayor’s Housing Plan calling for philanthropic partners to invest directly into the Accounts of students living in NYCHA developments. At the same time, NYC Public Schools has launched efforts to further integrate the Program as a tool for college and career readiness, strengthening school community ties and financial education & empowerment across ~1000 elementary schools. With a national, state, and local bipartisan recognition of the power of early wealth building and our infrastructure in place, there is a window of tremendous opportunity to realize a bold vision for NYC kids.

Position Summary:

NYC Kids RISE is seeking an empathetic, results-oriented, strategic leader and doer to join our growing team as our next Chief of Staff. Reporting to the Executive Director, the Chief of Staff is a strategic partner and trusted advisor to the Executive Director and a key member of the executive team. The Chief of Staff will assume a strategic, operational, and tactical role that enables the Executive Director to operate at their highest level of effectiveness. Supporting the overall management of the organization, the Chief of Staff coordinates priorities across the leadership team, ensures work presented for executive decision-making is complete and high quality, removes organizational barriers, and helps the Executive Director and leadership team remain focused on the organization’s highest-impact priorities in the development and evolution of the Save for College Program as a decentralized universal wealth building platform for New York City neighborhoods.

The ideal candidate is a resourceful, adaptable, hands on, and strategic leader who is exceptionally organized, a systems thinker and builder, an outstanding project manager, and a strong written and verbal communicator. They thrive in fast-paced, dynamic environments, enjoy solving complex organizational challenges, and excel at translating ideas into high-quality execution. They bring experience and/or a deep interest in collective impact, cradle-to-career initiatives, community wealth building, community organizing, holistic neighborhood economic development, public-private-community partnerships, and creating social impact at significant scale. Some experience working in or with government, building coalitions, and/or community organizing is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities will include, but not be limited to:

Strategic and tactical Support to the Executive Director:

• Directly support the Executive Director in managing and advancing organizational priorities, key initiatives, meetings, and responsibilities by coordinating priorities across the Executive Team, ensuring executive-level work products are complete and high quality, removing barriers to execution, and enabling the Executive Director to remain focused on the organization's highest-impact work.
• Support the Executive Director’s time and bandwidth allocation by overseeing the executive calendar (with support of the Executive Assistant), to reflect the priorities of the Executive Director and the organization, preparing for meetings, and following up on action items.
• Serve as advisor and thought partner to the Executive Director, providing high-level support in decision-making and problem solving by acting as a sounding board for strategic ideas, offering insights and recommendations.
• Develop, coordinate, and refine reports, presentations, and key communications for the Executive Director's review and use with internal and external stakeholders.
• Support the Executive Director in preparing for public appearances, funder meetings, and other engagements by coordinating and as needed developing briefing materials and research.

Organizational Operations and Efficiency:

• Support the Executive Team in achieving its individual and collective objectives through strategic thought partnership, cross-functional coordination, review and refinement of executive deliverables, and project management.
• Oversee the executive project management function for the organization, including well-aligned coordination between all staff and executive meetings, effective strategic planning and goal-setting cycles, and engagement with external facilitators and consultants as needed.
• With the Managing Director of Executive Project Management, design, implement, and continuously improve executive workflows and organizational systems to strengthen coordination, accountability, and execution across a highly matrixed and interdependent organization.
• Build strong relationships and trust to ensure and improve effective collaboration with internal and external stakeholders by driving communication, information sharing, and alignment across communications.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams, managing timelines, and ensuring successful project execution and high quality deliverables.
• Lead and support special projects and assignments.
• Plan, coordinate, and manage “All Staff” events in partnership with senior staff.
• Identify and address operational gaps by providing targeted support and solutions to ensure seamless workflow and project continuity.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Stakeholder Engagement:

• Partner with Executive Team members to support organizational change initiatives by coordinating communications, facilitating implementation, and helping ensure staff are informed, engaged, and equipped at the appropriate stages of planning and execution.
• Support the Executive Director in cultivating and maintaining relationships with donors, partners, and community stakeholders.
• Engage with outside funders, partners, and advisers to advance projects and the overall mission; support fundraising and development initiatives.
• Represent the Executive Director at internal and external meetings when needed, ensuring clear communication of priorities and follow-through on commitments.

Direct Reports: Two initial direct reports: Executive Assistant to the Executive Director; Managing Director of Executive Project Management. In addition to direct supervision of designated staff, this role provides day-to-day coordination, project leadership, and work direction across cross-functional teams. While not all team members formally report to the Chief of Staff, the role is expected to lead through influence, coordination, and accountability across the organization.

Qualifications:

Experience

• 10+ years of relevant professional experience, demonstrated track record of successfully translating strategy into execution and making complex initiatives happen.
• Experience serving as a Chief of Staff or in comparable senior leadership roles.
• Expertise with executive team coordination and support, enterprise-wide strategic planning and execution, project management, stakeholder management, and organizational operations.
• Preferred expertise in place-based community economic development, collective impact, cradle-to-career programming, community organizing, government, and/or public-private-community partnerships.
• Demonstrated leadership experience planning, prioritizing, and executing work in a fast-paced, scaling, and matrixed organization.

Leadership & Collaboration

• Proven ability to build strong relationships and credibility across all levels of an organization while influencing without direct authority.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple stakeholders, foster collaboration across functions, and support leaders in achieving individual and shared organizational goals.
• High emotional intelligence, sound judgment, and the ability to navigate sensitive situations and confidential matters with discretion.
• Comfortable providing direct, thoughtful feedback and serving as a trusted advisor to leaders and staff.
• Thrives in dynamic environments and approaches complex organizational challenges with adaptability, curiosity, and a solutions-oriented mindset.

Project & Operational Leadership

• Demonstrated experience managing multiple concurrent workstreams while maintaining exceptional attention to detail and high-quality execution.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional initiatives, coordinate complex projects, and drive work to successful completion.
• Highly organized with outstanding project management and prioritization skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively under pressure, both independently and collaboratively, while balancing competing priorities.
• Proficiency in Google Workspace and Microsoft Office Suite; familiarity with project management software (e.g., Asana) preferred.

Communication

• Exceptional written, verbal, presentation, and facilitation skills, with the ability to tailor communications for a variety of audiences.
• Strong research, writing, and synthesis skills, with the ability to prepare high-quality executive-level materials, reports, presentations, and briefings.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate with professionalism, diplomacy, and sound judgment while representing executive leadership internally and externally.

NYC Kids RISE currently maintains a hybrid work environment where staff work both from home and in the office, as determined by the staff member's preferences as well as the needs of our organization and the specific responsibilities of individual roles and teams. When the Executive Director is in the office, it may be expected that the Chief of Staff is also in the office. Our offices are based in Long Island City (Queens, NY).

The Chief of Staff must be available to work in person at events across the five boroughs of New York City, Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm, and some weeknights and weekends, with appropriate notice, as needed.

Compensation range is $170,000 -$225,000 per year.

NYC Kids Rise is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate in employment on the basis of basis of gender, religion, race, creed, color, national origin, citizenship status, age, disability, marital status, caregiver status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, unemployed status, or any other characteristic protected by law.