The Chief of Staff to the Chair (“Chief of Staff”) is an exciting opportunity for an exceptional individual to meaningfully contribute to African Energy Chamber’s differentiated strengths by supporting engaged and authentic leadership; driving operational excellence, and fostering an inclusive, collegial culture.The Chief of Staff’s key responsibility is advancing the Chair’s priorities and values, both independently and as a member of project teams. Paramount for success are strong organizational and project management skills, commitment to internal and external client service, and a high degree of drive, initiative and judgment.
Bachelor’s degree with 10+ years of experience in professional services, financial services, strategy, or consulting environment as Chief of Staff, Business Director or similar roles supporting executive leadership. Master’s degree a plus but not required.Positive energy, sense of humor and confident, can-do attitude.Low ego, openness to feedback and commitment to excellence.Ability to travel with firm leadership as needed, offering on-the-ground support.High level of professional maturity and integrity, demonstrable good judgment in sensitive and/or complex situations and unwavering discretion with confidential information, i.e. “a vault.”Ability to forge strong relationships and inspire trust quickly, collaborative work style, persuasive and influential at the executive level, and proven ability to manage and follow-through on situations and/or events successfully across business units, levels, and regions, i.e., “high EQ.”Excellent verbal and written business communication skills with extensive experience creating presentations, visual and verbal.Ability to compile, review, analyze and synthesize data – financial, demographic or otherwise – to determine logical conclusions or provide recommendations based on data and information that is varied in context, content, and format.Self-starter with a high level of initiative and a bias for action who takes ownership, prioritizes, manages multiple complex and time-sensitive projects, and can meet competing deadlines with little guidance or oversight; ability to bring together multiple stakeholders to help drive decision; eager to learn through hands-on hard work and adapting to new responsibilities, i.e. “a doer”.Demonstrated ability to solve problems or propose solutions with creativity, innovation, and confidence; ability to see opportunities within, and form structure out of, ambiguity. Thriving in an ambiguous environment and a penchant for bold thinking is a must.Opportunity-spot across the firm by recommending improvements. Regularly evaluate the efficiency of procedures that merit the Chair’s involvement according to firm objectives and apply improvement.
Serve as a trusted adviser to the Chairman, staying current on a wide range of topics, including industry intel, cultural trends and relevant thought leadership. Contribute ideas and propose change for the betterment of the African Energy Chamber.Promote the Chair’s vision to the broader firm, to strengthen connectivity and ensure both alignment with and productive action toward African Energy Chamber’s core business and strategic goals.Engage in the Chair’s wide-ranging priorities related to communications, operational matters, financial results, and strategy. Enable the Chair to deliver against their agendas by recommending and setting priorities, working and communicating on their behalf, leveraging tools for tracking projects and workstreams, fielding inquiries as their proxy, and conveying requests and feedback to teams across the firm.Act as “eyes and ears” for firm leadership, proactively looking around corners to ensure that they have relevant information and are well prepared for anything they are slated to lead/deliver.Under the guidance of the Chair, plan Chamber’s management committee meeting content and liaise with management committee members. Leverage the unique vantage point of this role to recommend important and timely topics. Own meeting design and development, including preparing speakers, alerting stakeholders, identifying support resources, reviewing materials, capturing post-meeting deliverables and applying learnings to future action.
When appropriate, recommend topics and design agendas for Chamber regional and country leaders or other meetings based on known Chair priorities.
Synthesize the most important elements of the Chair’s vision, values and priorities to support a communication cascade throughout the firm. Work with Marketing Communications team to develop internal and external communications that reflect Chair’s objectives and voice, such as remarks for standing partner meetings. Incorporate known leader priorities and communication preferences and advise on final product.Lead and participate in distinct initiatives commissioned by firm leadership. As project manager or team member, help define and prioritize objectives, meet with stakeholders, source and analyze data, coordinate participants, monitor milestones, drive progress against plan and provide updates to sponsors and other relevant leaders. Keep Chair informed on significant high-impact annual processes, including performance evaluations and year-end compensation.
