What is the difference between a Chief of Staff and an Executive Assistant?

An Executive Assistant owns time and coordination. A Chief of Staff owns priorities, decisions, and cross-functional execution on the principal's behalf. Many of our Chief of Staff searches begin because a senior EA has quietly been doing the job for two years without the title or the standing.

How long does a Chief of Staff search take?

A retained Chief of Staff search typically runs eight to twelve weeks from kickoff to signed offer, depending on scope, geography, and the principal's availability for finalist working sessions.

Do you replace long-tenured Chiefs of Staff, or only build first-time hires?

Both. Succession searches — replacing a Chief of Staff who has been with the principal for five or more years — are among our most sensitive engagements and are always confidential to the outgoing hire until they choose to disclose.

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Executive

Chief of Staff

The operator behind the principal.

A Chief of Staff extends the reach of a founder or principal — owning cross-functional priorities, translating intent into execution, and holding the operating cadence of the office.

Typical compensation · $180K–$375K + performance

Responsibilities

01Own the principal's operating cadence, priorities, and follow-through
02Prepare briefings, decision memos, and stakeholder communications
03Manage cross-functional projects across investments, board, and internal teams
04Serve as a trusted first read on incoming asks and opportunities

Ideal for

·Founders scaling past 40+ employees
·General partners at emerging and established funds
·Family principals running multi-entity operations

What the role actually is

Beyond the job description.

A Chief of Staff is the person who extends the principal's judgment into the day. They are neither an assistant nor a general manager; they are an operating partner. The role owns cross-functional priorities, translates the principal's intent into execution across investments, board, household, and family operations, and holds the operating cadence of the office so the principal's attention can be spent on the small number of things only they can do. The best Chiefs of Staff make fewer things reach the principal at all — they resolve, decide, delegate, and escalate on a clear framework. In family office contexts, the Chief of Staff typically also serves as the connective tissue across legal, tax, investment, philanthropic, and household leads.

When to hire one

The clearest signal is decision volume, not headcount. When more than a handful of consequential decisions each week are reaching the principal only because no one else has the standing to make them, the office has already outgrown its structure. Common triggers we see include a liquidity event, the formation of a new investment vehicle, the arrival of a second residence, the transition of a long-tenured executive assistant, or the moment a founder steps back from an operating company and needs their private life to run with the same discipline as their business.

Vetting process

Every Chief of Staff we place goes through the same process regardless of geography or scope. Written mandate first, then direct partner-led sourcing (no job post, no third-party sourcers), first-round interviews conducted by the search partner rather than the principal, and a shortlist of three to four candidates presented in working-session format — a real problem, a real document, a real call — rather than traditional Q&A. Every finalist completes third-party background verification and personally conducted reference calls, at least three of which are with people the candidate did not offer as references. Reference calls are the single most important step; we treat them as such.

Compensation

In New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, and Seattle, Chief of Staff base compensation typically sits between $225,000 and $425,000, with a discretionary annual bonus of 20 to 40 percent. Long-term incentives — carry participation in a direct investment vehicle, long-vesting cash bonuses, or founder-office equity — are standard in founder principal offices and increasingly common in family offices building for a five-to-ten-year horizon. Health, retirement, and paid time off follow institutional norms. Chicago and Austin sit modestly below coastal levels on base, though total cash comp often converges.

Common mistakes

What we see fail.

01Hiring a former direct report from the founder's operating company without testing whether they have the judgment for private-life scope.
02Writing a job description instead of a written mandate, and losing the perimeter of the role within six months.
03Skipping formal references because the candidate came through a personal introduction.
04Under-compensating in year one and losing the hire to a peer principal in year two.
05Failing to give the Chief of Staff the standing — publicly, to staff and advisors — to actually do the job.

Frequently asked

Chief of Staff searches.

What is the difference between a Chief of Staff and an Executive Assistant?: An Executive Assistant owns time and coordination. A Chief of Staff owns priorities, decisions, and cross-functional execution on the principal's behalf. Many of our Chief of Staff searches begin because a senior EA has quietly been doing the job for two years without the title or the standing.
How long does a Chief of Staff search take?: A retained Chief of Staff search typically runs eight to twelve weeks from kickoff to signed offer, depending on scope, geography, and the principal's availability for finalist working sessions.
Do you replace long-tenured Chiefs of Staff, or only build first-time hires?: Both. Succession searches — replacing a Chief of Staff who has been with the principal for five or more years — are among our most sensitive engagements and are always confidential to the outgoing hire until they choose to disclose.

Where we place

Chief of Staff search, nationwide.

Ready to open a Chief of Staff search?

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