Chief of Staff

$129,200 - $273,400/Yr

Microsoft - Redmond, WA

Full-time - Mid Level

Redmond, WA

Publishing Industries

About the position

The Chief of Staff position at Microsoft Research (MSR) in Redmond, Washington, is a pivotal role designed to enhance the effectiveness of the Corporate Vice President (CVP) and the Leadership Team (LT). This role requires a close collaboration with these leaders to optimize their time, streamline information sharing, and facilitate effective decision-making processes. The Chief of Staff will primarily work on-site at the Redmond campus, contributing to a multidisciplinary global organization that aims to create scientific knowledge and deliver innovations with a positive human impact at scale. The mission of MSR is to empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more, and the culture is centered around a growth mindset, encouraging teams and leaders to bring their best each day. In this role, the Chief of Staff will be responsible for maximizing and extending leadership capabilities by leading various workstreams such as workforce planning, culture initiatives, and business health assessments. This includes building and cultivating relationships with leaders and executives, acting as a proxy for the CVP, and ensuring alignment within partnerships by providing an objective point of view. The Chief of Staff will also lead executive-level communications, optimizing the CVP's time by structuring communication strategies and managing daily communications, including email triage and ghostwriting. Additionally, the Chief of Staff will drive business operations by developing and executing the rhythm of business, collaborating with partners to articulate mutual benefits, and ensuring adherence to privacy and compliance standards. This role will also focus on organizational health, leading culture initiatives such as Diversity and Inclusion (D&I), and partnering with Human Resources to enhance team culture and health. The Chief of Staff will track compliance training and ensure a healthy compliance scorecard for the organization, embodying the company's culture and values throughout their work.

Responsibilities

• Lead in conjunction with stakeholders and the leadership team on multiple workstreams (e.g., workforce planning, culture, business health).
• Leverage key partnerships to drive the agenda for the leadership team and ensure follow-up.
• Build and cultivate relationships with leaders and executives, acting as a proxy for the leader.
• Create alignment within partnerships by providing an objective point of view, ensuring all voices are heard, synthesizing ideas, and creating an action plan.
• Lead executive-level communication with a variety of internal audiences, optimizing the leader's time by structuring the communication strategy for the business.
• Organize the daily communication of the leader; perform triage and ghostwriting on behalf of the leader to expedite responses to emails.
• Develop presentations and messaging to articulate the team's mission, key projects, organizational/company strategy, and vision on behalf of the leader.
• Drive the architecture, development, and execution of the rhythm of business, collaborating with partners to develop plans and articulate potential benefits of partnerships.
• Drive business review cadence and inform direction for processes related to adherence to privacy and compliance.
• Contribute to organizational design conversations and drive successful implementation of organizational plans and strategies.
• Drive team culture and health by assessing organizational health and leading culture initiatives (e.g., D&I, hiring, onboarding).
• Capitalize on team strengths and identify development areas, strategizing, planning, and executing training. Track compliance training and ensure a healthy compliance scorecard for the organization.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in relevant field (e.g., Liberal Arts, Business Administration, Management, Computer Science) AND 8+ years of experience in financial management, business planning, operations management, strategy, project management, human resources, or a business-related role OR equivalent experience.
• Master's Degree in relevant field (e.g., Liberal Arts, Business Administration, Management, Computer Science) AND 7+ years of experience in financial management, business planning, operations management, strategy, project management, human resources, or a business-related role OR equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of people management experience.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience in a technology-focused organization.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

Benefits

• Industry-leading healthcare
• Educational resources
• Discounts on products and services
• Savings and investment options
• Maternity and paternity leave
• Generous time away
• Giving program
• Opportunities to network and connect