For private equity-backed growth companies, delivering against a value creation plan is both an opportunity and a challenge. Institutional investment brings high expectations for growth, performance, and efficiency – requiring agility, alignment, and disciplined execution to meet ambitious goals. As businesses scale, managing cross-functional teams, strategic initiatives, and operational execution becomes increasingly complex. This is where a Chief of Staff (CoS) can be a strategic advantage, turning growth potential into measurable success.
What Is a Chief of Staff?
The Chief of Staff role isn’t new, but it has evolved into a strategic position for investment-backed growth businesses. Acting as a trusted right-hand to the executive leadership team, the Chief of Staff plays a key role, ensuring the company’s strategy is translated into actionable steps that drive growth and achieve results.
Unlike other senior talent within an organisation, a CoS doesn’t typically have direct reports. While they may be part of the senior leadership team and work closely with the C-suite, the role itself is not a traditional C-suite position. Instead, the CoS influences, coordinates, and collaborates across the organisation, ensuring strategic initiatives and day-to-day operations align seamlessly with the company vision.
This unique positioning allows a CoS to bring a broad perspective and operate with both strategic insight and operational focus, making them a valuable asset to the business.
Why Companies Need a Chief of Staff
For scale up leaders, time is one of the most limited resources. Between fundraising, managing investors, setting strategy, and keeping operations on track, their attention is pulled in multiple directions. This limited bandwidth can lead to stalled strategic initiatives, slower decision-making, and misaligned teams.
How Hiring a Chief of Staff addresses these challenges:
- Maximising the C-Suites’s Impact: Acting as a force multiplier, the CoS ensures the executive leadership priorities are executed efficiently, enabling them to focus on high-level decisions
- Enhancing Decision-Making: By gathering, analysing, and presenting critical data, the CoS accelerates informed decision-making across the leadership team
- Driving Cross-Functional Collaboration: They oversee projects that span departments, ensuring seamless communications and alignment with company goals
- Streamlining Operations: The CoS identifies inefficiencies, implements OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) and ensures operational discipline across teams
What Does a Chief of Staff Do?
While the specifics vary depending on the company’s stage and needs, the CoS role often includes:
- Strategic Execution: Ensuring the company’s strategic plan is actionable and measurable by co-ordinating transversal projects
- Project Management: Leading key growth initiatives such as mergers and acquisitions (M&A), post-merger integration (PMI), and market expansion
- Operational Oversight: Providing a bird’s-eye view of operations to identify risks, gaps, or opportunities for improvement
- Leadership Support: Acting as a sounding board for the CEO and supporting senior leaders in achieving their objectives
Who Makes a Great Chief of Staff?
The ideal Chief of Staff is a dynamic blend of analytical thinker, strategist, and operator. They often have a background in management consulting, corporate strategy, or M&A, paired with industry-specific experience. Skills to look for include:
- Expertise in business valuation, due diligence, and operational excellence
- The ability to manage complex, cross-functional projects
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills to influence without authority
- A proactive mindset with an eye for problem-solving and risk mitigation
This role suits ambitious early-career professionals who bring a high level of adaptability, curiosity, and a hunger to learn at the executive level. While it’s demanding, the exposure to senior decision-making, governance, and strategy makes it an ideal stepping stone for future leadership roles.
The Untapped Potential of the Chief of Staff Role
Despite its increasing adoption, the Chief of Staff role is often underestimated in terms of its strategic value. It is far more than a supporting or administrative role; it represents a forward-thinking investment in a company’s success, ensuring the leadership team operates with focus and efficiency.
For growth businesses, where resources are tight and leaders are juggling numerous priorities, a Chief of Staff can bridge the gap between ambition and execution. They help transform a company from one that simply moves fast to one that moves purposefully and effectively toward its goals.
Why Now?
Over the past year, Alex Partners Executive Search has seen a rise in demand for Chief of Staff roles in Europe. This reflects a broader trend: modern businesses recognise that integrating strategic, cross-functional roles early in their growth journey drives efficiency, collaboration, and ultimately, competitive advantage.
By recruiting a Chief of Staff, startups can increase productivity, improve decision-making, and create the conditions for sustainable growth – all while empowering the executive leadership team to focus on what they do best.
