Chief of Staff I

Position overview:

Reporting to the Chief Finance Officer at IDEA Public Schools, the Chief of Staff, I will assist in providing leadership and oversight for IDEA’s day-to-day functions and staff. This Chief of Staff I will be part advisor, part gatekeeper, part analytical person, and part all-round strategic partner to develop strategy to meet organization goals and advance our mission. The role will have both internal- and external-facing responsibilities, ranging from human capital development to project management (including issue advocacy, communications and media work, fundraising, administrative work, and external events). The Chief of Staff I live in the future and focuses on long term planning to ensure growth of the organization and success of IDEA’s Core Values.

The ideal candidate will manage complex situations and multiple responsibilities simultaneously, mixing long-term projects with the urgency of immediate demands. He/she must also have the demonstrated ability to deal with highly confidential information and function as a liaison between Chief Officers and other constituencies, both internal and external. He/she must exhibit the skills to collaborate with and achieve actionable results through others, the ability to build strong and sustainable relationships and the capability to interact within all levels of IDEA Public Schools.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

This position may or may not have people management responsibilities.

Location:

This is a full-time remote position based in Texas with preference given to candidates who live in Austin, El Paso, Houston, Permian Basin (Midland/Odessa), Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio, and Tarrant County (Fort Worth), or who are willing to relocate.

Travel Expectations are up to 25% at the busiest times of the year.

What You’ll Do:

Essential Duties:

• Acts as strategic thought partner, confidante, and sounding board related to their respective Chief Officer’s area of work.
• Exceptional proxy represents the Chief during absences.
• Coordinates and interacts with senior leaders and executives, external affiliate leadership, and other external partners on a diverse range of strategic, operational, and organizational matters.
• Directs, plans, and implements policies and objectives of the organization or business in accordance with the CEO or Chief direction, charter, and board of directors.
• Directs activities of organization to plan procedures, establish responsibilities, and coordinate functions among departments and sites.
• Prepares and/or contributes with the preparation of reports, proposals, briefing, presentation, and responses on institutional and strategic issues.
• Provides principal management support resulting in the seamless functioning and management of priorities and/or special projects.
• Anticipates problems and are sensitive to issues that require diplomacy.
• Functions as extra eyes and ears by helping to navigate cross-functionally and across geographies.

Additional Duties:

What You Bring

COMPETENCIES

• Build a Culture of Trust: This team member fosters a team culture where individuals genuinely care for one another both personally and professionally. They lead with transparency, encourage open communication, including healthy conflict—and promote reliability and consistency, while regularly Seeking and responding to team feedback to enhance the collective experience.
• Communicate Deliberately: This team member leads inclusive discussions that surface obstacles and drive actionable solutions, ensuring all voices are heard. They communicate key information clearly across multiple channels and establish feedback loops that promote open dialogue, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Grow Self and Others: This team member uses data to assess development needs and designs learning opportunities that align with team goals and individual career growth. They model a growth mindset by being open about their own development and ensure that both personal and team-led learning initiatives are impactful and well-aligned with organizational priorities.
• Make Strategic Decisions: This team member fosters an inclusive decision-making environment by encouraging diverse perspectives, managing disagreements constructively, and creating space for all voices to be heard. They clearly communicate final decisions, providing context and anticipated impact—even when choices are difficult or unpopular.
• Manage Work and Teams: This team member builds and maintains systems to track progress toward team goals, ensuring clarity through defined roles and responsibilities. They implement structured processes that support smooth team operations and strategically allocate time and resources to drive goal achievement.

Knowledge and Skills:

Principles and processes involved in business and organizational planning, coordination, and execution. This includes strategic planning, resource allocation, workforce modeling, leadership techniques, and production methods.

Business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Ability to:

• Brainstorm and discuss options as an effective advisor (not just taking directives)
• Communicate with a variety of audiences within a variety of contexts.

Work Style:

• Leadership—Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
• Integrity — Job requires being honest and ethical.
• Initiative — Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
• Stress Tolerance — Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.
• Dependability — Job requires being dependable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
• Achievement/Effort — Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
• Independence requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
• Self-Control — Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in exceedingly demanding situations.
• Job diligence requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.

Required experience:

Education: Bachelor’s Degree required (master’s degree Preferred).

Minimum experience: A minimum of 8 years of experience or a combination of 8 years of experience in one or more of the following: Education, Human Capital Management, Organizational Administration or Development, Information Technology, Finance & Accounting. Education.

Must have demonstrated experience in strategy, analysis, project management, and interacting/influencing senior leaders.

Certifications: PMP preferred, but not required.

Elevated level of proficiency with Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.

Unilateral leadership skills.

Proven experience translating data and metrics to action.

Demonstrable experience managing high-profile projects.

Robust written and verbal communication portfolio.

Emotional intelligence.

Preferred Experience:

A minimum of 10 years of experience or a combination of 10 years of experience in one or more of the following: Education, Human Capital Management, Organizational Administration or Development, Information Technology, Finance & Accounting.

What We Offer:

Compensation & Benefits:

Salaries for people entering this role typically fall between $108,100 and $128,600, commensurate with relevant experience and qualifications and in alignment with internal equity. This role is also eligible for performance pay based on organizational performance and goal attainment.

Additionally, we offer medical, dental, and vision plans, disability, life insurance, parenting benefits, flexible spending account options, generous vacation time, referral bonuses, professional development, and a 403(b) plan. You can find more information about our benefits at https://ideapublicschools.org/careers/benefits/.

* IDEA may offer a relocation stipend to defray the cost of moving for this role, if applicable.

Application process:

Submit your application online through Jobvite. Please note that applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis until the position is filled. Applicants are encouraged to apply as early as possible.

Learn more about IDEA

At IDEA the Staff Experience Team uses our Core Values to promote human connection and a culture of integrity, respect, and belonging for all Team and Family members. Learn more about our Commitment to Core Values here: https://ideapublicschools.org/our-story/#core-values