Chief of Staff

The Chief of Staff is the CEO's partner in keeping Ellevation connected, informed, and moving together. Reporting directly to the CEO, you will sit on the leadership team and lead culture strategy, internal communications, champion a culture people are proud of both online and in person, and support our R&D organization.

This role sits at the intersection of people, story, and execution. You will serve as a liaison between the CEO and staff, making sure leadership updates are clear and feedback loops stay active. Success looks like employees who can explain our priorities in their own words and a culture that feels intentional and energizing.

• Key competencies
• A strategist and a doer
• A deeply collaborative relationship builder
• An exceptional writer and communicator
• Strong project management and execution skills

Values aligned

What You'll Do: Internal communications

• You will own internal communications so that every employee understands our strategy, our progress, and their part in it. You will plan and produce all-company meetings, write and edit CEO messages, and build a predictable rhythm of updates across Slack, email, and live forums. You will lead communication around important company announcements and changes, helping leaders anticipate questions and deliver difficult news with clarity and care.
• Culture and in-person connection
• A commitment to belonging is at the heart of our culture, and it mirrors our belief that students from all backgrounds deserve to reach English proficiency and academic success. You will partner with CA’s people team and the executive team to build a culture that reflects that commitment and keeps employees engaged. You will define the purpose of in-office days, design team and company gatherings that build real connection, and oversee the planning of our annual all-company event and leadership offsites. You will help bring our values to life through recognition, rituals, and onboarding, and support leadership development initiatives that grow the next generation of Ellevation leaders. To accomplish this, you will manage our Culture & Events Manager.
• Partnership with the CEO and other leadership team members
• You will serve as a trusted advisor to the CEO, managing the flow of information to and from the executive office and representing the leadership team in meetings when needed. You will coordinate leadership team agendas and next steps and give input into the most important issues we should be tackling. You will also drive special projects from concept to execution, building project plans, tracking milestones, and serving as the coordination hub for the teams involved. In particular, you will partner with the Chief Product Technology Officer to support culture and execution initiatives across R&D.
• Your First Year: Timeframe

What you'll accomplish

First month

Onboard and learn about Ellevation and the work we do to improve outcomes for multilingual learners. Meet the leadership team and directors, understand our products, their value, and the market, and get familiar with our business systems and tools.

Complete a listening tour across the company to understand teams, their needs, and our culture. Run your first all-company meeting, propose an internal communications calendar, and dig deeply into in person engagement.

First 3 months

Evaluate how the leadership team cascades information through the company and recommend improvements.

First 6 months

Introduce a clear purpose and plan for in-office time, set up an ongoing employee feedback loop, and create a vision for hybrid work.

First year

Put lasting systems in place for communications and culture. Deliver an all-company gathering and a leadership offsite, and point to measurable gains in employee engagement and understanding of company priorities.

Who You Are: You bring 8 or more years of experience in roles such as chief of staff, internal communications, strategy and operations, or program leadership, ideally in a growing software or education company. You have worked closely with senior executives and earned their trust by being discreet, direct, and reliable. You are an exceptional writer and communicator who can turn a complex decision into a message that is clear, warm, and honest.

You have a track record of building culture and engagement programs that people value, and you are energized by bringing people together in person. You have enough familiarity with product development to partner credibly with product and engineering leaders.

You have strong emotional intelligence and connect easily with people at every level and on every team. You notice when teams are drifting apart, you are comfortable raising hard topics with senior leaders, and you lead by example. You are entrepreneurial and energetic, you hold yourself to the highest ethical standards, and you champion Ellevation's culture and core values.

Many of our team members come from education, and all of our leaders share an intense curiosity about improving English learning. You do not need an education background, but a deep curiosity about our customers is a must. Experience at a company operating inside a larger parent organization is a plus.

Location and logistics

Because in-person culture is central to this role, we expect the Chief of Staff to work from our office on a regular basis and to travel for leadership offsites, company gatherings, and occasional meetings with Curriculum Associates. Ellevation offers competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits.