Deputy Chief of Staff - CMU Office of the President

Carnegie Mellon University•Pittsburgh, PA

53d•Onsite

About The Position

Carnegie Mellon University’s Office of the President is hiring a Deputy Chief of Staff whose primary focus is presidential preparedness. The Deputy leads the work of bringing together information, briefings, context, and risk from across the University so the President is prepared for meetings, decisions, public engagements, and emerging issues. The role also serves as a force multiplier for the Chief of Staff and is the Chief of Staff’s primary backup, extending their reach and judgment across a high volume of work. Strategic initiatives may be part of the role where they intersect with preparedness, but the central mandate is to keep the President ready, informed, and ahead of developments. Working closely with the Director of Administrative Operations, the Deputy owns the strategic readiness layer: determining what matters, how issues should be framed, and what the President needs to know and do. The role requires both detailed attention to identify problems before they arise and a broad institutional perspective on how decisions affect different parts of the University. Over time, the Deputy is expected to become a trusted extension of the Chief of Staff’s and President’s judgment. The successful candidate will be curious, creative, capable of handling high information throughput and frequent context-switching, and skilled at anticipating needs and judging the appropriate pace and sequence for decisions and meetings. They will work across internal and external collaborators with integrity and contribute to Carnegie Mellon University’s mission and values. The position is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is a regular, full-time staff role. Carnegie Mellon offers benefits-eligible employees comprehensive medical, prescription, dental, and vision insurance; retirement savings with employer contributions; tuition benefits; paid time off and observed holidays; life, accidental death, and disability insurance; a free Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus pass; access to a Family Concierge Team for childcare navigation; fitness center access; and other benefits.

Requirements

10 or more years of progressively senior experience in executive operations, chief of staff functions, government relations, or strategic operations; ideally across more than one sector, such as higher education, government, or complex private-sector organizations.
Demonstrated experience as a trusted deputy to a senior executive, including exercising delegated judgment in ambiguous situations.
Strong project and budget management skills across concurrent, high-stakes initiatives.
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to draft in another leader’s voice.
Ability to handle confidential and sensitive information and exercise sound judgment about when and with whom to share it.
A combination of education and relevant experience demonstrating comparable knowledge may be considered.
Executive judgment and political acumen, including understanding formal and informal power, governance, and stakeholder dynamics in a complex institution.
Ability to synthesize complex, incomplete, or conflicting information into clear, concise, decision-ready advice.
Ability to influence without authority, build trust, secure cooperation, and move work across organizational boundaries.
Operational discipline in creating reliable systems for preparation, assignment, follow-through, and escalation while remaining flexible.
Exceptional discretion with sensitive institutional, personnel, trustee, donor, government, and reputational matters.
Composure and adaptability amid ambiguity, competing demands, changing facts, and high-stakes situations.
Ability to work across academic, administrative, governance, external-relations, and public-facing contexts and adapt tone while preserving substance.
Ability to engage skillfully with diverse internal and external collaborators, demonstrate strong integrity, and align with the University’s values and mission.

Nice To Haves

An advanced degree is preferred, but not required when offset by equivalent experience.
Deep familiarity with research universities or complex, highly decentralized institutional settings.
Advanced literacy in media-tracking technology stacks and a forward-thinking understanding of responsible use of artificial intelligence tools to accelerate communication efforts.
Outstanding public presentation skills and the emotional intelligence to navigate high-stakes executive scenarios.

Responsibilities

Lead the end-to-end system for preparing the President for meetings, decisions, public engagements, and emerging issues, including briefing materials, research, talking points, stakeholder context, and risk flags.
Maintain a forward-looking view of major demands on the President, including board and faculty-governance matters, public and media engagements, government relations, donor engagements, and campus issues; work backward to ensure timely preparation.
Monitor academic, financial, political, reputational, and operational developments to identify issues early and present them as well-framed briefings rather than surprises.
Debrief significant presidential engagements and capture commitments, lessons, and implications for future preparation.
Ensure actions arising from presidential meetings and decisions are assigned, documented, and monitored; escalate stalled or at-risk items to the Chief of Staff or an appropriate leader.
Identify gaps, conflicting advice, and unresolved questions that could impede presidential decisions, and coordinate clarification before matters reach the President.
Set direction for presidential correspondence involving strategic, reputational, or political sensitivity.
Integrate work across the President’s Office and executive leadership by identifying dependencies, unresolved issues, and decisions requiring presidential or Chief of Staff attention.
Serve as the principal backup to the Chief of Staff and represent the President’s Office in selected delegated meetings.
Take on discrete assignments and time-sensitive matters designated by the Chief of Staff, with clear scope, decision rights, and handoff to the accountable university leader.
Support the operating rhythm of the President’s Office, including agenda development and preparation for Executive Management Team and University Leadership Council meetings and leadership retreats.
Bring forward issues, materials, and context proactively so the President and Chief of Staff can focus on matters requiring their judgment.
Synthesize high volumes of information across domains and translate essential issues for different audiences while preserving accuracy and nuance.
Develop concise, decision-ready materials that clarify the question, context, stakeholder perspectives, options, risks, and recommended next steps.
Assess which issues require the President’s attention, should be directed to another leader, or can wait; make and communicate this judgment with limited information.
Test assumptions, identify missing perspectives, and reconcile conflicting accounts before advice or materials reach the President.
Help sustain a President’s Office culture of discretion, rigor, responsiveness, sound judgment, and low ego.
Document key decisions, commitments, and repeatable processes to preserve institutional knowledge.
Build trusted relationships with senior university leaders, trustees, faculty leaders, and academic and administrative partners to understand emerging issues and inform presidential readiness.
Serve as a discreet intermediary when the President’s Office needs clarification, alignment, or resolution on matters requiring presidential or Chief of Staff attention.
Anticipate stakeholder reactions that may affect presidential decisions, communications, or institutional positioning.