Chief of Staff

Position description

The New Practice Lab is a force multiplier for social and economic policies that uplift American families. We make the American safety net simpler, easier to access, and more responsive to the lives of real people.

The big idea behind the Lab is simple: when we make policy away from the people it impacts most, or rely on the tools of past eras to administer it, it tends to fail in delivery. The only way to improve delivery is to bring users back into the process through the use of more modern and participatory design tools. This approach can and does improve delivery, and what we learn along the way offers powerful insights that reshape the way the next generation of policymakers does its work.

With this cycle in mind, our work rests on three critical pillars of activity:

• We run “delivery sprints” (focused, intense discovery engagements) with families and government partners in order to identify changes the government can make to improve delivery and/or uptake of key services within the public benefits system
• We engage deeply with families in an ongoing design research relationship to understand and give clear language to the conditions that will allow them to experience thriving
• We carry the insights of real families into the policymaking process to help policymakers draw on and center effective delivery in the design of new policies

To meaningfully affect change in how policy is designed and delivered, members of the Lab work closely together across the established disciplines of policy, product and design.

For the next three years, the New Practice Lab has committed itself to an ambitious goal and a complex, multi-lane strategy for achieving it. By January of 2027, we aim to improve public benefit outcomes for at least 3M Americans living in economically excluded families with young children while clarifying and advancing the longer-term conditions those families would need in order to thrive. All of our work must flow from and directly advance this objective.

Primary Function: The Chief of Staff is the senior leader accountable for making the New Practice Lab an effective organization. This role leads or manages the finance, operations, and people/talent functions, and is responsible for the relevant Lab systems and the integration of moving parts in support of the Lab’s aim of helping 3 million families. The Chief of Staff is a critical member of the senior leadership team, reporting directly to the Lab’s Executive Director and working closely with the Deputy Director (who is responsible for successful delivery of the Lab’s programmatic goals).

Core Responsibilities:

The Chief of Staff’s job is to make the New Practice Lab the most effective organization it can be, by:

• Directly overseeing the HR/talent, finance, and administrative/operations side of the organization.
• Designing and overseeing the implementation of systems that span across the whole of the organization, like meeting structures, planning cycles, and employee development and performance management, all with an eye to advancing the Lab’s overall strategic priorities.
• Representing and liaising for the New Practice Lab with New America senior leaders, including with New America’s CEO, COO, and President, as well as representing the Lab in directors meetings and other New America forums
• Taking on other priority special projects to help the Lab seize opportunities

Core competencies:

We are looking for a seasoned, energetic, quick-learning, and highly competent generalist and “principal” who can build relationships and execute – directly and through others – on a wide range of responsibilities. More specifically, we seek someone who is:

• An effective and seasoned manager with excellent relational, prioritization, and execution abilities, bringing:
  • Strong planning and problem-solving abilities, working backward from outcomes to manage complex projects and work through hurdles along the way
  • Exceptional judgment in navigating complicated situations and the ability to “see around corners” and anticipate multiple scenarios and risks, and incorporate that awareness into planning.
  • Skills in managing up and sideways effectively, building trust and influence within the team and across the wider New America organization
  • The ability to translate effectively between the detailed and big-picture views, comfortably taking in large amounts of information and distilling and advancing the highest priority items
• A deeply competent generalist with high facility in budgeting, planning, finance, and operations
  • They should work comfortably across contexts, ably ‘speaking finance’ to finance folks, ‘speaking program’ to program folks, etc.
  • They need not be an expert in the Lab’s key issues or disciplines, but they should possess reliable strategic judgment and a particularly rapid ability to learn.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in a related field
• 10-15 years of progressively responsible, relevant experience, with a proven track record of accomplishment in coordinating and leading collaborative efforts, including project or program management, change management, strategic planning and implementation, and executive office operations, including management of people, projects, and budgets
• Strong organizational skills that reflect an ability to perform and prioritize multiple tasks seamlessly, balancing an understanding of the big picture with excellent attention to detail
• Very strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build relationships with stakeholders, including staff, board members, external partners, and donors
• Demonstrated proactive approaches to problem-solving with strong decision-making capability
• Highly resilient and resourceful team player, with the ability to also be extremely effective independently with limited supervision and instruction at times
• Proven ability to handle confidential information with discretion, be adaptable to various competing demands, and demonstrate the highest level of service and response

Compensation and Benefits: 

• Estimated $150K – $170K salary range, based on experience and location. New America provides a comprehensive, competitive, and inclusive benefits package that supports employee well-being:
  • A platinum-level health care plan, plus vision and dental insurance
  • A 403b retirement plan with a 3% matched contribution by New America upon hire, and 7% automatic contribution by NA (no individual contribution needed) after one year of employment
  • Paid parental leave
  • Generous PTO (20 days in year one; higher in future years)
  • The office is closed for all federal holidays including Juneteenth and Veteran’s Day, for about two weeks at the end of December, and also has early closure on Fridays in the summer.
  • 100% remote work for this position with occasional team travel
  • Ability to travel to tech hubs (Bay Area, Seattle, Boston, New York)
  • $2000 annually for professional development stipend

Application instructions

Please be sure to indicate you saw this position on tendersglobal.net