Deputy Chief of Staff - CMU Office of the President

Carnegie Mellon University is a private, global research university that stands among the world’s most renowned education institutions. With ground-breaking brain science, path-breaking performances, creative start-ups, big data, big ambitions, hands-on learning, and a whole lot of robots, CMU doesn’t imagine the future, we invent it. If you’re passionate about joining a community that challenges the curious to deliver work that matters, your journey starts here!

Our Office of the President is excited to search for and hire a Deputy Chief of Staff.

This role's prime focus is presidential preparedness: ensuring that whatever room, decision, or crisis the President walks into, they have already been equipped for it. This role functions as the conductor of that readiness, pulling together intelligence, briefings, context, and risk from every part of the University so the President is never caught flat-footed and never has to ask for something that should have already been on his desk.

The Deputy is also a force multiplier for the Chief of Staff, extending the COS reach and judgment into the volume of work that no single office can carry alone. The Deputy will overlap with strategic initiatives where preparedness intersects with execution, but that is secondary to the core mandate: keep the President ready, informed, and ahead of what is coming.

This role works in close coordination with the Director of Administrative Operations, who owns day-to-day logistics, correspondence execution, and initial triage of incoming requests to the Office. The Deputy Chief of Staff owns the strategic readiness layer above that: determining what matters, how it should be framed, and what the President needs to know and do about it.

This person will work at two altitudes simultaneously: deep enough into the detail to catch what will break before it breaks, and high enough above it to see how a decision in one part of the University lands in another. They will serve as the primary backup to the Chief of Staff and, over time, as a trusted extension of both the Chief of Staff's and the President's judgment.

The ideal candidate:

• Has relentless curiosity. Asks why, not just what, and keeps digging past the first explanation.
• Has the ability to thrive with high information throughput and frequent context-switching.
• Sees around corners. Processes and prepares what the President needs before he has to ask for it.
• Brings the creativity!
• Has good judgment about pacing and sequencing. Knows when to push and when to slow other people down, including senior leaders, so decisions and meetings happen at the right speed and cadence.

Core Responsibilities

Presidential Preparedness

• Lead the end-to-end system that prepares the President for meetings, decisions, public moments, and emerging issues, including briefing materials, background research, talking points, stakeholder context, and risk flags.
• Maintain a forward-looking view of major demands on the President - including board and faculty-governance matters, public and media moments, government relations, donor engagements, and campus issues - and work backward to ensure timely readiness.
• Scan academic, financial, political, reputational, and operational developments to identify issues early enough that they reach the President as a well-framed briefing rather than a surprise.
• Debrief significant presidential engagements to capture commitments, lessons, and implications for future preparation.
• Ensure that actions arising from presidential meetings and decisions are clearly assigned, documented, and monitored; surface stalled or at-risk items to the Chief of Staff or appropriate leader.
• Identify gaps, conflicting advice, or unresolved questions that could impede presidential decisions and coordinate the clarification needed before they reach the President.
• Set direction for presidential correspondence involving strategic, reputational, or political sensitivity.

Force Multiplier to the Chief of Staff

• Serve as an integrator across the President's Office and executive leadership, identifying cross-functional dependencies, unresolved issues, and decisions requiring presidential or Chief of Staff attention.
• Serve as the principal backup to the Chief of Staff and represent the President's Office in selected meetings when delegated.
• Take on discrete assignments and time-sensitive matters designated by the Chief of Staff, with clear scope, decision rights, and handoff to the accountable university leader.
• Support the operating rhythm of the President's Office, including agenda development and preparation for Executive Management Team and University Leadership Council meetings and leadership retreats.
• Bring forward issues, materials, and context before they are requested, enabling the President and Chief of Staff to focus their time on the matters requiring their judgment.

Information Synthesis and Decision Support

• Absorb high volumes of information across domains, identify the essential issues, and translate them for different audiences without losing accuracy or nuance.
• Develop concise, decision-ready materials that clarify the question, relevant context, stakeholder perspectives, options, risks, and recommended next steps.
• Assess which issues require the President's direct attention, which should be directed to another leader, and which can wait; make and communicate that judgment with limited information.
• Test assumptions, identify missing perspectives, and reconcile conflicting accounts before advice or materials reach the President.

Office Leadership and Relationship Management

• Help sustain a President's Office culture defined by discretion, rigor, responsiveness, sound judgment, and low ego.
• Document key decisions, commitments, and repeatable processes so that institutional knowledge does not reside with one person.
• Build trusted relationships with senior university leaders, trustees, faculty leaders, and academic and administrative partners to understand emerging issues and inform presidential readiness.
• Serve as a discreet intermediary when the President's Office needs clarification, alignment, or resolution on a matter requiring presidential or Chief of Staff attention.
• Anticipate stakeholder reactions that may affect presidential decisions, communications, or institutional positioning.

Adaptability, excellence, and passion are essential characteristics at Carnegie Mellon University. We seek a colleague who can skillfully engage with a diverse group of internal and external collaborators while demonstrating strong integrity. We want an individual who aligns with our values and will contribute to the university’s mission through their efforts.

Qualifications:

• Advanced degree preferred but not required if offset by equivalent experience.
• 10+ years of progressively senior experience in executive operations, chief of staff functions, government relations, or strategic operations, ideally spanning more than one sector (higher education, government, or complex private-sector organizations).
• Demonstrated experience operating as a trusted deputy to a senior executive, including exercising delegated judgment in ambiguous situations.
• Strong project and budget management skills across concurrent, high-stakes initiatives.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication; able to draft in another leader's voice.
• Comfort with confidential and sensitive information, and sound judgment about when and with whom to share it.
• A combination of education and relevant experience from which comparable knowledge is demonstrated may be considered.

Preferred Knowledge and Skills

• Deep familiarity with research universities or complex, highly decentralized institutional settings.
• Advanced literacy in media tracking tech stacks and a forward-thinking grasp of how artificial intelligence tools can responsibly accelerate communication efforts.
• Outstanding written, verbal, and public presentation skills, with the emotional intelligence to navigate high-stakes executive scenarios.

Desired Skills and Attributes

• Executive judgment and political acumen: Understands formal and informal power, governance, and stakeholder dynamics in a complex institution; navigates competing interests while protecting the President's ability to make sound, independent decisions.
• Synthesis and strategic communication: Turns complex, incomplete, or conflicting information into clear, concise, decision-ready advice; writes effectively in another leader's voice.
• Influence without authority: Builds trust, secures cooperation, and moves work across organizational boundaries without relying on formal control.
• Operational discipline: Creates reliable systems for preparation, assignment, follow-through, and escalation while remaining flexible in a fast-moving environment.
• Discretion and confidentiality: Exercises exceptional care with sensitive institutional, personnel, trustee, donor, government, and reputational matters.
• Composure and adaptability: Maintains perspective and effectiveness amid ambiguity, competing demands, changing facts, and high-stakes situations.
• Institutional range: Moves fluently among academic, administrative, governance, external-relations, and public-facing contexts and adapts tone without changing substance.

Joining the CMU team opens the door to an array of exceptional benefits.

Benefits eligible employees enjoy a wide array of benefits including comprehensive medical, prescription, dental, and vision insurance as well as a generous retirement savings program with employer contributions. Unlock your potential with tuition benefits, take well-deserved breaks with ample paid time off and observed holidays, and rest easy with life and accidental death and disability insurance. 

Additional perks include a free Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus pass, access to our Family Concierge Team to help navigate childcare needs, fitness center access, and much more!

For a comprehensive overview of the benefits available, explore our Benefits page.

At Carnegie Mellon, we value the whole package when extending offers of employment. Beyond credentials, we evaluate the role and responsibilities, your valuable work experience, and the knowledge gained through education and training. We appreciate your unique skills and the perspective you bring. Your journey with us is about more than just a job; it’s about finding the perfect fit for your professional growth and personal aspirations.

Are you interested in an exciting opportunity with an exceptional organization?! Apply today!

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More Information: 

• Please visit “Why Carnegie Mellon” to learn more about becoming part of an institution inspiring innovations that change the world. 

• Click here to view a listing of employee benefits

• Carnegie Mellon University is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Disability/Veteran. 

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