New York/New Jersey, Chicago, DC, Maryland, Virginia or Texas (preferable) or Remote
SCOPE AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
The Chief of Staff will prioritize, triage, and coordinate the activities of MCCA’s CEO & President ensuring timely follow-up on key leadership activities. The successful candidate will have experience working in administration or leadership capacities in a fast-paced environment. The ideal candidate is a solution builder, an individual thinker, and an analytical strategist. Candidates with a master’s degree or experience in a not-for-profit organization will be given preference.
Specific Responsibilities:
Executive Support:
Planning and facilitating executive team meetings and planning sessions;
Providing decision support with research, analysis, and synthesis;
Managing and executing special projects as designated by the CEO;
Offering general support: correspondence, agendas, minute taking, etc. (note: core administrative support to the CEO is provided by a separate admin role or will be shared with by COS and CEO until one is hired).
Board & External Sponsor Coordination:
Project managing preparation and creation of materials for Board meetings;
Updating the Board on progress against goals and key impact moments; and
Oversee regular financial reports and respond to incoming requests.
Preparing, running, and helping manage fundraising processes.
Executive Communications:
Be a bridge for communication between the CEO and internal departments, with strong collaborative relationships across the organization.
Preparing presentations and updates for internal audiences, such as leadership reports, summaries of board meetings, or presentations for company-wide meetings; and
Working with the communications team to manage speaking requests for the CEO.
Perform other job-related duties as requested.
KEY SELECTION CRITERIA:
Candidates will need to demonstrate (essential capabilities, ordered by importance):
Executional excellence: You have organizational skills, meticulous attention to detail, high sense of responsibility, and generalist skill set to take on a wide range of high priority tasks in support of the CEO and executive team. You are dependable, and always deliver quality work.
Executive level communication skills: Your written (including decks) and verbal communication is compelling and precise. You can quickly take complex concepts and communicate them briefly, simply, and persuasively. You’ve demonstrated the ability to communicate at executive or board levels of large companies or organizations.
Structured problem solving: Strategic thinking, in particular the ability to break complex problems down into component parts. The ability to lead on and enjoy both strategic and tactical work is key.
Analytical capability: You’re confident creating, scrutinizing, and improving everything from revenue models to pivot tables. You’ve repeatedly done the work to make sure complex business reporting data is accurate, but you’re also able to cut out the noise by identifying the 2 or 3 most salient data points to inform decision making.
Additional capabilities we’ll consider (bonus capabilities, demonstrating strong skills/experience in at least 1-2 of these will help the best candidates stand out):
Emotional intelligence and ability to establish strong and trusting relationships with colleagues.
Designing or leading organizational change management around new goals, priorities, team changes or projects.
High initiative, self-starting capabilities; the demonstrated ability to identify and seize opportunities for impact in messy, uncertain contexts without direction or oversight.
Mission and values alignment, demonstrated through a history of actively contributing to the causes or communities that you care about in meaningful ways.
Fundraising: you’ve led or participated in fundraising processes.
Facilitation skills: you design thoughtful meeting processes/agendas and are skilled at chairing or facilitating meetings or sessions that make progress on high stakes discussions with senior stakeholders.
Deep experience and familiarity operating within nonprofit companies or functions, in particular those organizations that are shifting its business model. This might manifest in strong agile project management skills, ease collaborating and influencing across functions, and a strong perspective on what a high performing nonprofit company looks like.
WHAT’S ATTRACTIVE TO THE RIGHT CANDIDATE?
The Chief of Staff will be joining MCCA at key inflection point in its development. The organization operates in a nimble and entrepreneurial fashion similar to the dynamic environment normally associated with high growth startup organizations.
MCCA has a strong staff who are dependable, passionate about their mission, welcoming, and willing to work together. At MCCA, you will have the resources you need to succeed.
Their culture encourages a healthy work/life balance. You will be able to leave work at work and will not be required to be “on-call” once you leave the office.
This role will broaden your horizons. Working at MCCA will give you the opportunity to interact with elite partners of law firms and general counsel of Fortune 500 companies.
MCCA offers a competitive salary and benefits to include medical and dental insurance, transportation allowance, 15 days paid vacation, holidays, short-term and long-term insurance, and more.
TO APPLY:
In a cover letter of no more than one page, outline how your work history demonstrates the a) essential capabilities for the role outlined in the position description and b) anything from the ‘additional capabilities’ list in the position description we should know about or consider.
We especially encourage applicants of different backgrounds, cultures, genders, experiences, abilities, and perspectives to apply. We’re actively working to increase the diversity of experience and perspectives on our team, and we want to hear from you. Remember, no one comes with the entire complement of skills, and no one is the perfect candidate, so don’t let a lack of experience/ skill in one specific area deter you from applying.
Interested applicants should submit a cover letter and resume to Careers@mcca.com with subject line: Interest in Chief of Staff Position. No calls please.
The Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) was founded in 1997 to champion the hiring, retention, and promotion of diverse attorneys in corporate law departments and law firms.
For 25 years, we have pushed the legal industry towards change. Through scholarships for beginning lawyers, we’re supporting the leaders of the future. We‘ve coached executives further along in their careers—and have helped many advances to general counsel. We have published industry-leading demographic information about the profession best-equipped to spearhead greater diversity in corporate America: lawyers. Our data-driven approach holds companies and firms accountable—and illuminates opportunities for growth. We’ve challenged the industry to look past the status quo—to generate the solutions and strategies leaders need to sustain DEI progress for the long run. To do better.
Looking ahead, we will continue to empower not just general counsels, but all of corporate America’s
C-suite executives—from CEOs to CDOs—because advancing DEI is everyone’s responsibility. We’ve seen what works and what doesn’t, and we have a deep understanding of the gaps firms are facing. And we know a successful, c...oncerted push to diversify corporate America requires bringing everyone to the table.
With our advocacy, our solutions, and our innovative resources, we will empower America’s corporate leaders to raise awareness, raise standards, and raise the bar. And the potential is enormous: what starts in the C-suite can change the perspective of leaders and boards, shape policies for employees and outside vendors, and spark the movements that shift industries and markets.
Now, under the leadership of two women of color, we’ve built a coalition of executives and attorneys across all backgrounds, speaking with a united voice to advise some of the biggest names in the business. We are powered by both the truth of our lived experiences and the undeniability of our data and solutions.
As we look ahead to our next quarter-century, we will accelerate the pace of change. We will be informative but impatient. We will not stop until our companies look like our country. We will help corporate America know better, and do better, to lead better.
