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Chief of Staff
Why this is a great job
A great opportunity for a mid-career move into a space that affects all of us.
The nitty gritty
CommonBond is building a values-driven, customer-centric financial services company. Our mission is to change the way people think about student loans. We accomplish this with lower interest rates, a state-of-the art technology platform, and caring customer service. We also are the only financial services company with a 1-for-1 social program: For every loan funded, we fund the education of a child in the developing world. CommonBond has been named to the World's 50 Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company, the 50 Best Places to Work by Inc., and the Forbes Fintech 50. We are backed by great investors, have an awesome team, and are looking for our next great team member.
CommonBond is looking for a Chief of Staff to play a pivotal role in driving key strategic objectives for the organization by working directly with our CEO, as well as stakeholders across the organization to communicate, facilitate, and deliver on our vision. The ideal candidate is someone who has a passion for solving real problems in a simple, efficient, and effective manner. No task will be too big; no task will be too small.
This role is for you, if you are highly effective at:
Change Management: With growth inevitably comes change. You will act to ensure the success of any transformation you are tasked with. You will set the tone, get things started, and see things through. You will play a major role in driving lasting change in our organization.
Executive Prioritization: You will work directly with our CEO to prioritize the right things organizationally. You’ll also develop a deep, behind-the-scenes understanding of what is happening across the business. You will work with our CEO on company priorities; provide key information and analysis that allows for maximum productivity and efficacy; and work on tactical next steps to drive forward projects and strategic initiatives.
Process & Accountability:You’ll participate in a wide range of meetings across the organization, to keep a pulse on our business and to help the CEO and key stakeholders connect dots across the company. You will ensure we have clear action items and follow-up after meetings, and ensure accountability. You will help plan leadership events such as our quarterly offsite and coordinate our quarterly planning process across the leadership team.
Strategic Program Management: We’re always exploring new ideas to accelerate our growth. You’ll be tasked with a variety of projects for which you’ll need to develop an action plan and execute on it quickly and efficiently. You’ll be a driving force behind these strategic initiatives, with and on behalf of our CEO and leaders across the organization. There is no recipe or regularity with these initiatives. The best projects generally have three traits in in common:
They’re highly important to the leadership team and to the company;
They drive significant progress towards key organizational objectives;
They many times cut across multiple functions and business lines.
Working with Others: Many of our critical business decisions require a savvy around people. Balancing high empathy with high standards will be vital. Although you will not have direct reports, you will be required to be an intuitive leader who can foresee how a decision will impact people and proactively identify solutions to limit business interruption.
You might also become a stunt double. A Chief of Staff creates leverage in a CEO’s schedule. This role may also yield opportunities for the right candidate to be an effective substitute for the CEO in certain contexts (e.g., internally and/or externally).
We are elevating our game, and you’ll help continually raise the bar for the entire company. You'll do so by providing effective feedback on ideas and proposals from team members, to ensure that these ideas align with our strategic vision and meet the expectations and level of quality required. When there’s room for improvement, you'll pitch in and help make them better.
Candidate Requirements:
Minimum of 7+ years’ in project management, leadership and/or experience building your own venture.
Ability think strategically and creatively while applying sound business judgment and qualitative and quantitative analysis to complex problems.
Strong PowerPoint and Excel skills. In this role, you will be required to create and update decks as well as analyze data to help identify and solve problems. PowerPoint and Excel will be essential tools to your success.
Demonstrated ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams and thrives in a fast-paced setting that is constantly evolving.
Capably handle ambiguity and can extrapolate and synthesize your way to insightful recommendations even when data is not perfect.
Desired Traits and Behavioral Competencies
Trusting force: This is the foundation of the Chief of Staff role. Gaining the respect of a leadership team and trust among colleagues doesn’t come overnight but earned by sustained strong performance and efficacy.
Multi-tasker: Able to juggle many tasks or responsibilities at one time working across multiple teams and businesses.
Strong communicator: Amplify and improve the CommonBond’s communication. Presentations need to be comprehensive and crisp, particularly for meaningful communications to boards, investors, company-wide meetings and lunch and learns. You must be able to be good sounding board for others in the company — provide open, honest feedback.
“No job too big and no task too small” mindset: We value the big and the small. We must roll up our sleeves and execute, no matter what the problem or the size.
Centered and methodical: A steady hand in turbulent or uncertain situations.
Self-Starter: An entrepreneurial-mindset who can build and evolve processes.
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