We are working with our client, a leading security company working across UK and Europe, to seek a Chief of Staff to act as a right-hand to the CEO. This Chief of Staff will facilitate effective communication internally and with external parties, owning and driving special projects and acting as a barometer within the organisation. This role will work closely with the CEO to provide high impact, operational, and strategic support.
Key Responsibilities
Organisational and confidential support – Acts as a gatekeeper and keeps a constant finger on the pulse of the organisation by prioritising actions and follow up, whilst also anticipating and preventing road blocks
* Support the CEO to facilitate their ability to effectively lead the organisation, through assisting with special projects; designing and producing strategic documents reports/overviews and presentations; collating and preparing information for meetings with staff and outside parties
* Attend and record minutes and actions from strategic meetings with the board and investors, the C-Suite and Operational Management teams, following up to ensure closure and actions taken post-meeting
* Act as a conflict trouble-shooter, making judgements and recommendations to the CEO based on a thorough understanding of business operations and interpersonal dynamics across the organisation
* Drive a culture of accountability in which performance is optimised by identifying the appropriate ownership of activity, holding people to account, and keeping track of delivery and results
* Act as a confidential advisor and sounding board on matters spanning business performance, organisation design, leadership alignment and M&A
* Owner of the CEO’s KPI dashboard across the organisation, ensuring key metrics are collated and analysed to understand the health of the business, proposing key actions to mitigate risk and drive growth
* Support management of the CEO’s agenda, ensuring time is used effectively and efficiently
* Coordinate logistics for the CEO for international travel and events
* Oversight of people management of Tier 1 and Tier 2, including supporting senior hiring and onboarding/offboarding/remuneration activates
* Ensure all Tier 1 and Tier 2 staff have up to date role profiles with clear KPI’s, and manage any performance related activities and documentation
* Champion the CEO’s wellbeing by protecting focus time, promoting work-life balance and coordinating resources to sustain peak performance and resilience, and enabling the CEO to act as a role model to others
* Drive efficiencies within the business through utilising appropriate tools to enable strong organisation of documentation and confidentiality and identify smarter ways of working
Communication and Key relationships – act as a consistent conduit on behalf of the CEO ensuring that key stakeholders feel adequately informed and prioritised at all times
* Support and facilitate interaction between the CEO and internal stakeholders across the organisation in UK, France and Germany on a regular basis to maintain strong awareness of operational aspects of the business and support decision-making
* Distil and synthesize inputs across a range of disciplines (Finance, H&S, Commercial, Operations, Legal and HR) to support timely executive decisions and to alert CEO of any matters requiring their attention
* Manage organisational-wide communications on behalf of the CEO by creating and implementing a communications strategy that is timely, considered, structured and consistent
* Ensure that all data, narratives and messaging are aligned with value creation plans and strategic objectives, also reflecting company values
* Provide the CEO with the necessary preparation for key meetings including KPI overviews, reports, performance metrics, background documentation and securing completed business cases to enable decision-making processes
* Facilitate communication between the CEO and external stakeholders in UK, France, and Germany
* Work with the C-suite and Operational Management Team to coordinate external outreach activities, developing warm relationships to enable easy, rapid communications
* Attend meetings/calls with the CEO as required, ensuring minutes and actions are captured, distributed and followed up in a timely manner
Strategic projects – Keeps an informed overview of all strategic projects, moving things on or escalating as appropriate
* Monitor and support the execution of all strategic projects, ensuring multiple stakeholders are clear on their roles; anticipate and flag potential roadblocks; and help maintain momentum on critical deliverables to create conditions for success
* Act as a conduit for potential strategic relationships and M&A information on behalf of the CEO and C-suite, summarising relevant reports and documents to shorten decision making cycles
* Translate ambiguity into structure, helping to clarify options, model trade-offs and prepare briefing materials with an eye for strategic impact
* Assist with research, analysis and creation of key presentations and briefing documents to facilitate decision making, document company actions and move issues along with pace and precision
Attributes, Skills and Experience:
* Proven experience as a Chief of Staff, or similar role, preferably within an international property, construction or security organisation.
* Ideally experience within a PE-backed organisation
* Diplomatic, calm and insightful.
* Highly organised and always strategic, seeing the big picture
* Highly motivated and self-assured, driving their own performance and that of others
* Comfortable with data and research. Strips out ambiguity. Creates a tight audit trail with strong record keeping being second nature
* High level of emotional intelligence, with the ability to form multiple trusting relationships through effective listening
* Highly organised and always strategic, seeing the big picture, with demonstrable strong project management skills
* Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal – can create quality content, presentations, reports and documentation
* Batchelor’s degree – ideally in Business Administration, Finance, Economics or a related field.
* AN MBA or other relevant master’s degree is desirable – especially with a focus on strategy, operations or organisational transformation
* An understanding of Health and Safety and Risk is desirable
* Multilingual abilities: fluency in English essential with business level French and/or German speaking skills
Location
* Location flexible: based in the UK, France or Germany
* Prepared to travel frequently with the CEO, to UK, France, Germany, and other international locations as required
* Availability to work across different time zones
Competitive salary and package on offer.