Chief of Staff

About Kairos

Communities of color and queer communities have been fighting for justice and liberation since before our country was called the United States. The need to build power for our communities is as important as it has ever been, as big tech regulates and reorganizes our lives at the individual, community, economic, political, and cultural levels. Kairos is creating an affirmative vision of the type of tech that enables liberation, while at the same time fighting for stronger internet governance as we develop and campaign for policy to limit the power that Big Tech companies hold over our lives. We envision a world in which the digital realm supports every one of us to be in community, celebration, and work with each other. This requires both technological fluency and relational organizing strategy. As we develop and strengthen that for ourselves, we also support frontline organizing groups around the country to develop their own digital campaigning strategies to accomplish goals such as ending police surveillance of Black and brown communities. 

While we strive for true liberation, we believe in living and working as though we already have achieved it. Our organizational values of interdependent leadership, rigor and discipline, no lone wolves, durability, principled struggle, curiosity, resiliency, fighting for Black and trans liberation, and growth drive a culture where we support each other, center our humanity, and improve ourselves and our communities. 

Our Ideal Candidate

As part of the Executive Team, the newly created Chief of Staff will act as strategic advisor and thought partner to the Executive Director, while acting as the “internal CEO.” They will report directly to the Executive Director and will be responsible for implementing internal strategy development and cross- team collaboration within Kairos, leading the entire team (10 people) from strategy towards action. 

The Chief of Staff will bring deeply rooted leadership, communication, relational, budgeting and project management skills to the team. They are a strong problem solver who can regularly bring insightful analysis to conversations. 

The Chief of Staff leads by example in their actions, celebrates wins and intervenes when agreements are missed, is able to pause and pivot conversations to a values check when necessary and regularly assess organizational values alignment across the organization. The Chief of Staff is deeply practiced in giving and receiving feedback in ways that honor humanity while leading with rigor & accountability.

Salary & Benefits Package:

Kairos staff work roughly 40 hours a week, understanding that the schedule must flex to accommodate the necessary ebbs and flows of the work and everyday life, such as multi-day trainings, breaking news moments that are crucial for our communities, and personal matters that may require a shift in regular working hours. 

The starting salary for this position is $137,000, and increases by $1,000 from there based on years of relevant experience. Basing compensation on someone’s willingness and ability to negotiate or on their prior pay rates leads to vast inequities and bias in how people are paid, particularly for groups experiencing historical oppression. Therefore, we do not ask for prior pay history from our candidates, and our offer-making process is negotiation-free. We also have a progressive compensation philosophy that guides salary increases and role promotions for our staff.

Our salary and benefits are an extension of our organizational values, and we endeavor to remain competitive while centering the humanity and needs of our people. To that end, our benefits package includes generous vacation (including three weeks of office closures each year); full health, dental, vision, and flex benefits; 403b retirement plan; ongoing training opportunities; funds for setting up home office and professional development; and incidentals related to the role.

Responsibilities

Organizational Leadership & Strategy (30%) 

• Lead their direct reports, which include: Director of Learning and Analysis, Senior Communications Specialist, Director of Organizing (1 direct report), Senior Campaigners

• Embodies Kairos’ values, modeling them for the team while holding the standard for others.

• Leads organizational culture by supporting staff to feel connected, effective & powerful working together, workplanning, leading retreats, and setting goals. 

• Sets the standard for communication practices.

• Collaborates with the Executive Director to ensure development of strategic plans with clear priorities, timelines, measurable outcomes, and ensure they are refined to respond to evolving contexts. 

• Ensures that internal strategy is connected to overarching organizational strategy.

• Supports the team in translating high level strategy into team-specific strategies, work plans and goals. 

• Acts as a Kairos spokesperson/ambassador as needed.

• Sets and holds team accountable for agreed-upon deadlines, while keeping an eye toward organizational priorities.

• Streamlines internal processes and workflows to meet organizational vision and strategy, and refine as needed.

• Assesses and reforms internal practices to ensure alignment with organizational values and strategic plans. 

• Sets the tone with regards to giving and receiving feedback.

• Partners with relevant consultants to identify & design strong drafts of work plans across the organization.

• Responsible for compliance with rules for c3 and c4.

Team Management and Development (30%)

• Develops strong relationships across the organization.

• Manages external relationships when ED needs support.

• Leads and manages Kairios’ internal strategy, including direct supervision of team leads.

• Assesses organizational capacity and lead staff planning, evaluation processes, and team structure development. 

• Manages process to ensure all staff have development and support plans to cultivate a sustainable, leaderful and rigorous organization. 

Evaluation and Impact (20%)

• Implements and manages systems for tracking progress of strategic goals and outcomes, identifying blockers, and supporting accountability.

• Facilitates consistent evaluation and reporting to strengthen organizational impact, reach and accountability.

• Assesses organizational culture and facilitates strategic adjustments to org culture and behaviors, as needed
  

Infrastructure and Compliance (15%)

• Works with operations, finance, and human resources to ensure compliance needs are identified and met (internally and externally). 

COVID Policy 

Kairos is a remote organization but participation in in-person gatherings are integral to the success of all roles. Therefore all staff must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to maximize collective safety when staff gatherings occur. Medical and religious exemptions will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Application Process

Simply complete the application questions and upload a resume. We are not looking for a cover letter, the application questions comprise what we are looking for at this stage of the process. As a tech justice organization, we appreciate applicants not using AI to assist in writing their application responses.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commitment 

Kairos Fellowship is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, ethnicity, national origin, immigration status, sexual orientation, religion, HIV serostatus, disability, height, weight, veteran status or marital status.

Competencies Expected

Job duties describe what each role must do. Competencies are the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to be successful in doing those duties.  Of the following competencies, everyone, regardless of position, will have different strengths and growth edges.  All staff are expected to strive to be competent in all of these dimensions, but expectations increase as seniority, responsibilities, and management responsibilities increase.

Members of the Executive team are expected to: 

• Develop a comprehensive understanding of the overall organizational vision (including Kairos’ theory of change, strategy and goals), values and culture of the organization and the larger field of play. They are also expected to lead the evolution and sharpening of the organization’s analysis, and have the ability to coach others as they grow in their understanding. 

• Bring effective, high-level project management skills that include: reach milestones and final deliverables on time, understand and meet strategic purposes of each project, use judgement in prioritizing work to reach goals, spotting obstacles in advance, and recommending solutions as needed. They will manage multiple projects at a time and support others in managing projects of their own, as they consider the whole of the organization, and exercise resilience when problems emerge. 

• Have the ability to engage in a strong culture of feedback– giving feedback regularly and strategically, receive feedback gracefully and adapt based on feedback. They will regularly model feedback exchanges, coach others in how to give and receive feedback, and develop practices that enrich Karios’ culture of feedback in collaboration with others. 

• Exercise anticipatory thinking and visioning– facilitate cross-team communication to ensure there are strong and clear strategies at large that align with Kairos’ overall theory of change.