Chief of Staff, CCO

About Pursuit

Our mission is to create economic transformation. By training low-income adults to launch and advance careers as software engineers, we help our Fellows go from earning $18,000 to over $90,000 starting salary on average, adding an estimated $2M in lifetime earnings. Pursuit partners with leading companies like Blackstone, USV, Citi, Peloton, and Uber to employ Fellows in career-defining engineering roles and supports them with on-the-job training to ensure potential translates to performance. Since 2013, Pursuit has created ~$1B in total lifetime wage gains, creating lasting economic mobility that spans generations. 

Pursuit’s proven solution is built on two interconnected components: training (which includes community development, Core pre-job training, and Commit on-the-job training) and a financial product (known as Bond). However, growing training alone will not meet the magnitude of need nor solve new societal challenges ahead. The typical expectation is to expand our training to other cities, but this will not come anywhere close to creating good jobs for millions of low-income Americans. Instead, our strategy for scaled impact is to evolve our financial product and create tools for other organizations, jobs, and places. We believe that this will not only create good jobs for millions of low-income Americans but will also generate a new trillion-dollar market directly tied to results in the long term.

We are One Big Team

The passionate and collaborative team at Pursuit gives its all to achieve our mission. And it’s not just staff. We work with employer partners that love hiring our Fellows because they are so well prepared, ranging from big financial firms to scrappy startups, and everything in between. We also activate and engage hundreds of volunteers that come from all areas of the tech industry. These experts and professionals help keep our curriculum fresh and our standards for achievement high by participating in our admissions process, as well as program-specific activities such as interview training, DemoDays, Hackathons, and Capstone projects. 

About the Role 

As the Chief of Staff for Pursuit’s Chief Creative Officer and Co-founder, David Yang, you’ll work closely with the CCO and leadership team to drive cross-functional transformative initiatives that shape Pursuit's future. You’ll work on strategic, long-term projects focused on elevating brand presence, driving revenue growth, and fostering network engagement, with a particular emphasis on initiatives demanding cross-team coordination, creative design, and content production. As part of this role, you’ll lead efforts to build out a new Creative business function by creating and optimizing operational processes and workflows that effectively integrate the new team across the organization and enable high-quality project outputs.

As a Chief of Staff, you will be responsible for:  

Strategic Planning and Project Management

• Assist the CCO in developing and executing the creative strategy and vision
• Oversee large cross-functional, strategic projects from concept to completion, including management of timeline, budget, deadlines, individual tasks, etc. 
• Lead efforts to build out the creative team business function
• Manage the network and engagement strategy for our cross-team projects with leaders from Fortune 500 companies, VCs, and leading startups, such as Blackrock, Union Square Ventures, Peloton, and Uber
• Work with vendors and consultants in support of projects

Leadership Support

• Provide strategic support and advice to the CCO, aiding in decision-making, problem-solving, and planning, by providing data and insights for various initiatives and providing honest opinions.
• Serve as liaison between the CCO and other key external and internal stakeholders, fostering collaboration and clear communication 
• Support the creation of presentations, writing, marketing materials, and other content for the organization
• Support management of the brand and creative team:
• Oversee daily operations of the creative team ensuring the team is on track to meet deadlines and goals 
• Indirectly manage individuals on the team, conducting one-on-ones, goal setting and check-ins, facilitate and lead team meetings, etc.

Relationship Management

• Develop and manage relationships for the CCO and creative team across the ecosystem of Pursuit stakeholders—staff, Board and OpBoard, employer partners, volunteers, investors, donors, and Fellows
• Represent Pursuit in various external settings and meetings, preparing agendas, briefings and materials as needed
• Stakeholder mapping and engagement for all teams across Pursuit to connect the tech industry leaders with the right Pursuit team member to further volunteer engagement and uncover new opportunities for our Fellows. 

What you need to be considered for the Chief of Staff role: 

• Professional experience: Prior experience as a consultant, project manager, or Chief of Staff required with a focus on critical cross-org projects. Creative, brand, design initiatives or product marketing strongly preferred
• Exceptional project management skills, with the ability to prioritize tasks, manage competing priorities, and drive projects to successful completion delivering initiatives on time and within budget
• Outstanding writing and presentation skills that go beyond building a beautiful deck (narrative creation, positioning, project planning, etc.)
• Strong communication skills - ability to write and develop audience appropriate content for emails, presentations, organizational collateral
• High EQ with the ability to give and receive feedback and an understanding of how to navigate relationships with stakeholders at all levels
• Structured and organized in your approach to project management with demonstrated experience building strategy and getting hands-on with the details
• Exceptional follow-through and strong eye for details 
• Self-directed and outcomes-oriented, comfortable operating within ambiguity to build something impactful and unique
• Experience applying a data-driven approach to projects, programs and events to measure effectiveness
• Excitement for Pursuit’s mission and business model, and a belief in the potential of anyone to learn to code and become leaders in tech
• While you do not need to be a “creative” you’ll need a strong design sensibility as you’ll be steering the continual advancement of the Pursuit brand in the daily management of the creative team’s projects

Where you’ll work: 

• 4+ days per week in our Long Island City office

Salary & Benefits:

The salary range for this role is $160,000-$185,000 + incentive compensation.

The compensation range above is for the expectations as laid out in the job description, however, we are often open to a wide variety of profiles and recognize that the person we hire may be less experienced (or more senior) than this job description as posted.  If that ends up being the case, the updated salary range will be communicated to you as a candidate.

Pursuit offers: 

• Great culture where transparency, respect, teamwork, and kindness are valued
• Competitive compensation in base, plus bonus and a full benefits package
• 401k Match
• Unlimited PTO and an all-Pursuit summer break the last week of August and a week-long holiday the last week of December
• Flexible, hybrid work schedule with catered lunches once a week and delicious snacks
• An opportunity to work at the intersection of tech and social impact, and make a direct impact on the communities of those we serve.

Pursuit values diversity: 

Our team has a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, and we value the richness that diversity brings to our organization. We welcome new perspectives and affirm that all employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, national origin, age, familial or marital status, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy, gender identity or expression, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other classification protected by federal, state, or local law. Pursuit is an equal opportunity employer.