Chief of Staff to the President in New York City, New York at Barnard College

Title: Chief of Staff to the President

Location: New York City, NY

Full/Part Time: Full time
Req ID: JR5615

Description:

If you are a current Barnard College employee, please use the internal career site to apply for this position.

Job:

Chief of Staff to the PresidentThe Chief of Staff to the President at Barnard College will serve as a strategic partner, execution driver, and integrator, ensuring the President’s vision, priorities, and commitments translate into aligned, coordinated action across the College.

This role operates at the intersection of strategy, leadership, and execution, bringing clarity, structure, and follow-through to a complex and fast-moving environment. The Chief of Staff will enable the President to operate in her strengths – setting direction, building relationships, and leading the institution – while ensuring priorities are clearly defined, effectively communicated, and executed with discipline and consistency. In addition, the Chief of Staff will play a critical role in strengthening alignment, communication, and trust across key stakeholders, including the Board of Trustees, leadership team, other staff, faculty, and alumnae.

Job Description:

Key Responsibilities

The Chief of Staff will focus on the following five areas:

1. Strategic Prioritization & Focus

• Partner with the President to clarify, sequence, and operationalize institutional priorities.

• Translate high-level vision into clear initiatives, goals, and success metrics.

• Ensure the President’s time and attention are focused on the highest-leverage areas.

• Act as a rigorous filter, helping the President avoid overextension and unnecessary detail.

2. Execution & Cross-Functional Coordination

• Drive progress on key strategic initiatives, ensuring accountability across teams.

• Track progress against priorities and proactively address risks, gaps, or delays.

• Coordinate cross-functional efforts where multiple stakeholders are involved.

• Ensure decisions made by the President and leadership team are implemented effectively and consistently.

3. Organizational Communication & Stakeholder Alignment

• Ensure consistent, proactive communication between the President and trustees, alumnae, and other key stakeholders.

• Translate priorities, decisions, and updates into clear, timely, and accessible messaging.

• Reduce ambiguity and prevent misalignment by maintaining strong communication cadence and follow-through.

• Support preparation of high-stakes communications, including board materials and institutional updates.

4. Decision Support & Thought Partnership

• Prepare the President for key decisions, meetings, and engagements with synthesized insights and recommendations.

• Provide perspective on trade-offs, risks, and organizational implications.

• Serve as a trusted thought partner, helping refine thinking and sharpen priorities before broader communication.

• Offer direct, candid feedback to strengthen decision-making and leadership effectiveness.

5. Special Projects & Institutional Initiatives

• Lead or support high-priority, time-sensitive initiatives on behalf of the President.

• Step in to manage complex or ambiguous projects requiring senior-level coordination.

• Ensure initiatives move from concept to completion with clarity and momentum.

Skills, Qualifications & Requirements:

Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate will have the following strengths and experience in order to succeed and excel in this role.

Core Strengths

• Discernment: Strong judgment; able to prioritize effectively and make sense of complexity.

• Tenacity: Relentless follow-through; ensures initiatives are completed.

• Strategic Thinking: Connects dots across the organization and anticipates downstream impact.

• Influence without Authority: Builds trust and alignment across senior leaders and stakeholders.

• Executive Presence: Confident, credible partner to the President, Board of Trustees, and leadership team.

• Structured and Organized: Brings clarity and systems to ambiguous environments.

• High Emotional Maturity: Maintains composure in high-pressure or emotionally charged situations; able to stabilize dynamics and guide conversations productively.

• Courage & Candor: Willing and able to challenge the President directly and constructively in service of better outcomes, with a firm commitment in disagreeing better.

Requirements

• Experience: 7+ years of professional experience, ideally with 3+ years in a leadership or "second-in-command" capacity.

• Education: Bachelor's degree required; Master’s degree preferred

Preferred Experience

• Experience in strategy, operations, consulting, or senior-level leadership support.

• Experience working closely with leader and executives in complex organizations (higher education, nonprofit, or corporate).

• Strong communication, synthesis, and stakeholder management skills.

Success in This Role Looks Like

• The President’s priorities are clear, focused, and consistently executed.

• Key initiatives move forward with momentum and minimal friction.

• Communication across the College and with the Board of Trustees is timely, clear, and consistent — reducing confusion and increasing trust.

• The President is well-prepared, well-leveraged, and focused on the highest-impact aspects of the role.

• Key stakeholders experience increased clarity, responsiveness, and confidence in leadership.

Salary Range: $200,000 - $225,000 annually

The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to departmental budgets, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, specialty, and training. The above hiring range represents the College's good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.

Company:

Barnard College

Time Type:

Full time

About Us: Barnard is an intellectually stimulating, diverse college community of approximately 800 full- and part-time faculty and staff dedicated to providing an extraordinary educational environment for our 2,600 students.
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