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WHO YOU ARE

The Chief of Staff will work directly with the CEO and provide high-level support across the organization on emerging initiatives and opportunities. You are motivated to join us at a crucial juncture in our growth when we are investing in expansion via government and donor coalition building, and generating evidence about village cash and facilitation models. You do not want to do ‘development as usual’ and care about expanding high impact work through unique modalities. You will thrive in a highly dynamic role, managing a range of responsibilities. The ideal candidate is motivated by working in a fast-paced, global impact focused environment.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The Chief of Staff will serve as a critical partner to the CEO, ensuring strategic priorities are executed, cross-functional initiatives move forward effectively, and the leadership team operates with strong alignment. This role blends strategic insight, project management, and communication excellence to enhance organizational and executive effectiveness.

1. Strategic Initiatives

Support the CEO on strategic initiatives, developing and implementing high-potential projects and assessing them as they roll out.

Year One Goal: Strategic initiatives are launched and delivered on timewith high quality, staff are able to report out on where they stand against annual goals at any moment, CEO has 30% more strategic focus time.

Duties:

1. Drive the annual and multi-year strategic planning processes and monitor performance against them
2. Gather, analyze, and prioritize information for the CEO and executive team, ensuring they receive timely and relevant data to make informed decisions, especially ensuring the CEO has early visibility into wins and potential bottlenecks
3. Drive execution on cross-functional initiatives, ensuring goals are met, stakeholders are informed, and potential risks are attempted to be mitigated

2. Board and Stakeholder Engagement

Develop high-quality board and partner materials.

Year One Goal: 100% on-time delivery of board materials with positive board feedback on presentations.

Duties:

1. Support preparation for Board of Directors meetings: decks, notes, follow-ups
2. Ensure timely and aligned communication with key external stakeholders
3. Maintain an accurate calendar of leadership deliverables

3. Organizational Planning and Performance

Facilitate organizational alignment and performance tracking across teams.

Year One Goal: OKR review, updating, and coordination with budgets are completed quarterly. Effective cross team coordination, senior leaders can speak at ease about what other teams are working on.

Duties:

1. Facilitate annual planning, goal setting, and OKR development
2. Track organizational performance metrics and ensure alignment across teams
3. Support people leadership and organizational design efforts

4. Communications

Internal and external communications drafting on behalf of the CEO.

Year One Goal: CEO total communication increases 25% with positive feedback from partners

and staff.

Duties:

1. Draft high-level communications including donor updates, strategic announcements, and stakeholder correspondence
2. Coordinate messaging across departments to ensure consistent organizational voice
3. Manage quarterly all team calls and cross organization communications

Months 1-3

• Build strong relations across the team
• Become fluent in organizational language
• Complete organizational diagnostic and develop strategic alignment plan
• Establish CEO office systems and communications protocols
• Design executive team meeting cadence and decision-making processes
• Establish organizational health metrics and baseline
• Draft executive dashboard for key metrics tracking

Months 4-6

• Launch an update to the organizational OKR system and quarterly review process
• Update quarterly reporting development process with team leads to optimize its utility for internal learning sharing

• Lead mid-year strategic plan review and adjustment
• Develop leadership development framework for country directors in partnership with them

• Complete annual strategic planning process for following year

REQUIREMENTS:

Qualifications, experience & skills:

• 5–7+ years of experience in executive operations, strategy, or chief of staff roles.
• Strong understanding of nonprofit or international development organizations.
• Track record of managing complex projects with multiple stakeholders.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; skilled at synthesizing information for action.
• High emotional intelligence and discretion; trusted with sensitive information.
• Deep commitment to community-driven development and Spark’s mission.

SAFEGUARDING

Spark Microgrants is committed to conducting its programs and operations in a manner that is safe for those we serve and work alongside.

OTHER INFORMATION

Job Location: NYC, USA or Kigali, Rwanda Preferable, and flexible.
How to Apply: https://sparkmicrogrants.bamboohr.com/careers/145