Chief of Staff to CEO

Agile People and Payroll•Richardson, TX

About The Position

The Chief of Staff serves as a strategic and operational extension of the CEO of Agility Holdings Group, LLC (“AHG”). The role helps the CEO maintain visibility across the portfolio, strengthen accountability among business-unit leaders, organize enterprise priorities, vet significant recommendations, and coordinate initiatives that span multiple companies or functions. This is not an administrative Chief of Staff position and is not intended to replace the leadership of any business unit. Each business-unit leader remains directly accountable for the strategy, people, operations, financial performance, and results of his or her business. The Chief of Staff becomes deeply familiar with each business, challenges assumptions, identifies risks and gaps, connects issues across the portfolio, and brings the CEO clear facts, sound analysis, and well-developed recommendations. The role supports decentralized leadership while improving enterprise visibility, organization, coordination, and follow-through. A significant objective of the position is leadership development. Over time, the Chief of Staff should gain sufficient operating exposure and responsibility to be considered for leadership of a business unit or other major operating organization.

Requirements

Deep understanding of the CEO’s priorities and decision framework.
Awareness of significant developments across each business.
Ability to determine which matters require CEO involvement.
Ability to prepare the CEO for important meetings and decisions.
Ability to organize significant information coming from multiple business units.
Ability to attend selected meetings alongside or on behalf of the CEO.
Ability to follow up on important CEO commitments and decisions.
Ability to identify emerging issues before they require urgent CEO intervention.
Ability to prevent routine organizational issues from consuming CEO attention.
Ability to maintain appropriate oversight of each business without assuming responsibility for operating that business.
Detailed understanding of business strategy, financial and operating performance, customers, major initiatives, organizational capacity, technology priorities, material legal and compliance matters, competitive developments, risks, and growth opportunities.
Ability to review business-unit performance with the CEO and business-unit leadership.
Ability to understand the drivers behind material variances and identify trends requiring attention.
Ability to challenge assumptions when appropriate.
Ability to ensure major commitments have clear owners and timelines.
Ability to follow up on matters requiring additional action.
Ability to distinguish normal operating issues from matters requiring holding-company involvement.
Ability to reinforce business-unit leader accountability while helping those leaders become more effective.
Ability to ensure agreed objectives are clearly documented.
Ability to track major commitments and monitor progress against key priorities.
Ability to identify missed commitments or deteriorating performance.
Ability to understand the reasons behind performance gaps.
Ability to help surface solutions and recovery plans.
Ability to provide the CEO with an independent perspective when appropriate.
Ability to create and manage a consistent management cadence across the portfolio.
Ability to ensure management forums produce clear decisions, defined ownership, specific commitments, measurable outcomes, and appropriate follow-up.
Ability to guard against unnecessary meeting proliferation and reporting bureaucracy.
Ability to develop a concise holding-company view of key performance indicators.
Ability to maintain a concise CEO-level portfolio dashboard.
Ability to compare businesses where comparisons are meaningful.
Ability to identify unusual performance trends and surface emerging opportunities or risks.
Ability to connect financial performance with operational drivers.
Ability to translate reporting into implications, options, and recommended next steps.
Ability to review and challenge significant proposals.
Ability to coordinate projects that span multiple business units.
Ability to identify opportunities for collaboration involving shared resources.
Ability to recognize when businesses should remain independent.
Ability to maintain significant visibility into major technology, AI, and automation initiatives.
Ability to understand the business case, problem being solved, expected costs and benefits, and organizational impact of technology initiatives.
Ability to challenge timelines and assumptions for technology initiatives.
Ability to identify cross-business opportunities and redundant investments in technology.
Ability to help determine whether a technology initiative should remain business-specific or become an enterprise capability.
Ability to monitor major technology milestones and evaluate whether expected benefits are realized.
Ability to maintain visibility into important organizational matters.
Ability to participate in discussions involving material contracts, regulatory matters, compliance, litigation, corporate governance, strategic partnerships, significant transactions, and enterprise risk.
Ability to understand significant legal and risk matters sufficiently to evaluate their business implications.
Ability to develop a strong understanding of how capital is deployed across the portfolio.
Ability to assist the CEO in evaluating various investment and strategic decisions.
Ability to lead a major cross-company initiative or acquisition integration.
Ability to own a new business initiative, revenue opportunity, operating plan, or defined P&L.
Ability to develop a business plan and manage a budget.
Ability to lead a team and make resource-allocation decisions.
Ability to present performance to the CEO or board.
Ability to assume temporary responsibility for a business or major operating area when appropriate.

Nice To Haves

Gain sufficient operating exposure and responsibility to be considered for leadership of a business unit or other major operating organization.
Develop the operating experience necessary to potentially lead a business unit in the future.

Responsibilities

Serve as a trusted extension of the CEO across the holding company.
Develop a deep understanding of the CEO’s priorities and decision framework.
Maintain awareness of significant developments across each business.
Help determine which matters require CEO involvement.
Prepare the CEO for important meetings and decisions.
Organize significant information coming from multiple business units.
Attend selected meetings alongside or on behalf of the CEO.
Follow up on important CEO commitments and decisions.
Identify emerging issues before they require urgent CEO intervention.
Help prevent routine organizational issues from consuming CEO attention.
Assist the CEO in maintaining appropriate oversight of each business without assuming responsibility for operating that business.
Develop a detailed understanding of business strategy, financial and operating performance, customers, major initiatives, organizational capacity, technology priorities, material legal and compliance matters, competitive developments, risks, and growth opportunities.
Review business-unit performance with the CEO and business-unit leadership.
Understand the drivers behind material variances and identify trends requiring attention.
Challenge assumptions when appropriate.
Ensure major commitments have clear owners and timelines.
Follow up on matters requiring additional action.
Help distinguish normal operating issues from matters requiring holding-company involvement.
Reinforce business-unit leader accountability while helping those leaders become more effective.
Ensure agreed objectives are clearly documented.
Track major commitments and monitor progress against key priorities.
Identify missed commitments or deteriorating performance.
Understand the reasons behind performance gaps.
Help surface solutions and recovery plans.
Provide the CEO with an independent perspective when appropriate.
Help create and manage a consistent management cadence across the portfolio, including leadership meetings, business-unit operating reviews, monthly financial reviews, quarterly business reviews, annual and strategic planning, capital-allocation reviews, KPI reviews, major initiative reviews, and board preparation.
Ensure these forums produce clear decisions, defined ownership, specific commitments, measurable outcomes, and appropriate follow-up.
Guard against unnecessary meeting proliferation and reporting bureaucracy.
Develop a concise holding-company view of revenue, profitability, cash generation, growth, customer trends, sales productivity, operating performance, staffing, technology performance, major risks, strategic initiatives, and capital requirements.
Maintain a concise CEO-level portfolio dashboard.
Compare businesses where comparisons are meaningful.
Identify unusual performance trends and surface emerging opportunities or risks.
Connect financial performance with operational drivers.
Ensure the CEO understands both results and causes.
Translate reporting into implications, options, and recommended next steps.
Review and challenge significant proposals involving capital investment, hiring, acquisitions, technology, AI and automation, organizational changes, new products or markets, major contracts, strategic partnerships, pricing, cost reductions, significant vendors, and major operational changes.
Coordinate projects that span multiple business units or do not naturally belong to one business leader.
Serve as project leader, executive coordinator, holding-company representative, facilitator, escalation point, or organizer of decision-making and accountability for cross-business projects.
Identify opportunities for collaboration involving shared customers, distribution, technology, vendors, data, marketing, recruiting, finance, legal, compliance, procurement, operations, real estate, or administrative services.
Recognize when businesses should remain independent.
Maintain significant visibility into major technology, AI, and automation initiatives affecting the portfolio.
Understand the business case, problem being solved, expected costs and benefits, and organizational impact of technology initiatives.
Challenge timelines and assumptions for technology initiatives.
Identify cross-business opportunities and redundant investments in technology.
Help determine whether a technology initiative should remain business-specific or become an enterprise capability.
Monitor major technology milestones and evaluate whether expected benefits are realized.
Maintain visibility into important organizational matters.
Participate in discussions involving material contracts, regulatory matters, compliance, litigation, corporate governance, strategic partnerships, significant transactions, and enterprise risk.
Understand significant legal and risk matters sufficiently to evaluate their business implications.
Develop a strong understanding of how capital is deployed across the portfolio.
Assist the CEO in evaluating growth investments, technology investments, hiring, acquisitions, new business opportunities, major capital expenditures, cost-reduction opportunities, and business-unit funding priorities.
Lead a major cross-company initiative or acquisition integration.
Own a new business initiative, revenue opportunity, operating plan, or defined P&L.
Develop a business plan and manage a budget.
Lead a team and make resource-allocation decisions.
Present performance to the CEO or board.
Assume temporary responsibility for a business or major operating area when appropriate.
Other duties as assigned.