Chief of Staff to the President and CEO (Denver/Colorado preferred)
TPL seeks an experienced, collaborative leader to serve as Chief of Staff to the President and CEO (COS). Reporting to the President and CEO, the COS serves as an operational partner, accelerating organizational effectiveness and decision-making while supporting alignment across national initiatives requiring CEO or board attention. The role is designed to increase the CEO’s effectiveness and create clarity and efficiency without adding a management or approval layer.
The COS will anticipate the CEO’s needs, develop recommendations, and coordinate preparation and follow-through for their work with the governing board, national advisory groups, fundraising activities, strategic relationships, public engagements, and internal staff priorities. They will connect the CEO’s external work with TPL’s priorities and capacity.
A central responsibility is optimizing coordination between and among the CEO and senior organizational leaders. In close partnership and allyship with the Executive Management Team. the COS will align the Office of the President with strategic and operational goals, procedures, and frameworks by:
- Contributing relevant perspectives and data-informed advice to decisions.
- Synthesizing and coordinating information shared with or by the CEO.
- Proactively connecting issues and opportunities across a complex, distributed organization.
- Surfacing matters that require delegated or shared attention.
- Partnering with accountable executives to identify and improve processes and handoffs between them and the CEO.
The COS will also coordinate the Office of the President’s support for the governing board in partnership with the Board Chair, accountable executives, and field leaders. This includes working closely with the Events team and directly managing the Board Relations and Volunteer Engagement (BRAVE) team to anticipate information and decision needs, coordinate clear recommendations, and bring significant opportunities, risks, and tradeoffs to the appropriate board members and committees in a timely manner.
WORKING RELATIONSHIPS AND AUTHORITY
TPL operates through a distributed national network of programs, functions, offices, and community partnerships. Success requires sound judgment, respect for colleagues’ expertise, and the ability to earn trust across organizational boundaries. The COS will oversee select CEO-assigned initiatives and special projects with clearly defined responsibilities, timelines, and authority.
The COS complements the Executive Vice President and other executive leaders by focusing on CEO partnership and preparation, cross-organizational coordination, and board alignment. The COS works through established leadership structures and in partnership with accountable executives, rather than assuming operational oversight.
The COS will connect the CEO’s and Executive Management Team’s priorities to the organization’s work by prioritizing items needing attention, management, coordination, and follow-through. The COS may gather agreed-upon input, convene appropriate individuals on CEO-assigned matters, synthesize recommendations, document decisions, and track commitments and deliverables. Changing priorities, committing resources, redirecting another executive’s team, altering accountability, or adding approval requirements requires express authorization from both the CEO and the responsible executive.
TRAVEL (30%)
This role will require regular travel with the CEO and independently to TPL offices and field locations.
SUPERVISION
The COS will supervise a total of three FTE including: the Executive Assistant (1) in the Office of the President and the Board Relations and Volunteer Engagement (BRAVE) team (2).
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
CEO Partnership and Executive Effectiveness (estimated: 30%)
- Serve as a trusted thought partner to the CEO, offering candid advice and practical recommendations on challenges, opportunities, organizational bottlenecks, and sensitive matters.
- Anticipate upcoming decisions, opportunities, and commitments; anticipate needs and coordinate overlapping commitments.
- Ensure the CEO has timely information, relevant perspectives, clear options, and recommendations on next steps and resources needed to advance their work.
- Coordinate, prioritize, and align the CEO’s time allocated to board duties, donor strategies, national positioning, thought leadership, and travel with assigned administrative and programmatic support staff across the organization.
- Review and synthesize analyses and briefings prepared for the CEO that outline issues, options, recommendations, implications, and required decisions or delegations.
- Review, edit, and prioritize documents requiring the CEO’s attention, ensuring consistency in brand, voice, and style.
- Maintain short-term, long-term, and holistic visibility into the CEO’s major commitments, ensuring timely preparation, coordination, and follow-through.
- Prioritize and synthesize matters requiring CEO attention, communicate their decisions and requests, and coordinate follow-through with clear owners and expectations.
- Coordinate key external advisory groups that work closely with the CEO.
- Staff the CEO at events, meetings, and other in-person engagements as needed.
- Support clear, timely communication between the CEO, EMT, and governing board in partnership with the Board Chair, BRAVE and Events teams, and executives responsible for board committees and subject matter.
- Anticipate board discussions and decisions, connecting the governance calendar with organizational priorities and emerging issues.
- Recommend matters for board information, discussion, or approval, with final determinations made by the CEO, Board Chair, and responsible executives consistent with established governance responsibilities.
- Coordinate board and committee materials that clearly present progress, risks, options, resource implications, and recommendations.
- Prepare the CEO and executive presenters for coordinated, polished, substantive board discussions, including likely questions, concerns, and decisions sought.
- Ensure material risks, changing assumptions, and significant opportunities reach the CEO and appropriate board leaders in time for meaningful consideration.
- Coordinate responses to board questions and requests with accountable executives and relationship managers, ensuring clear, consistent communication.
- Track board decisions and executive commitments and communicate them to leaders responsible for implementation.
- Support board planning, orientation, education, and engagement through the BRAVE team and established governance leads.
- Build strong relationships with EMT members and prepare the CEO for substantive discussions, meeting preparation, clear decisions, and reliable follow-through.
- Distinguish emerging ideas from agreed priorities so leaders understand when exploration, recommendations, or action are expected.
- Maintain a clear record of executive decisions and commitments, including accountable leaders, next steps, timelines, and unresolved issues; surface delays or concerns with responsible executives and, when appropriate, the CEO.
- Partner with philanthropy, communications, marketing, program, and other leaders to prepare the CEO for fundraising activities, speeches, major donor conversations, partnerships, and public engagements.
- Align external opportunities with organizational priorities and capacity before commitments are made.
- Establish clear agendas and objectives for significant meetings and convenings, drawing on relationship owners and subject-matter experts.
- Document and communicate commitments arising from the CEO’s external work and coordinate follow-through with the appropriate leaders.
- Strengthen coordination across the CEO’s work while respecting established donor, partner, and community relationships.
- Lead or support CEO-assigned initiatives that are organization-wide, time-defined, and lack a natural temporary owner, with clarity of scope, resources, decision authority, outcomes, completion date, and a continuity plan.
- Develop practical action plans, engage relevant expertise, and maintain progress toward agreed milestones.
- Identify risks, dependencies, and resource needs early and bring recommendations to appropriate decisionmakers.
- Engage affected leaders and staff in shaping the work and communicating its purpose and progress.
- Transition initiatives to the responsible function or program for ongoing implementation.
FIRST-YEAR PRIORITIES
During the first year, the COS will:
- Build trusted relationships with the CEO, EMT, BRAVE team, board members, and national advisors and volunteers.
- Develop a strong understanding of TPL’s mission, strategy, organizational and leadership structure, financial and fundraising priorities, programs, and culture.
- Establish dependable preparation and follow-through for the CEO’s major commitments and discussions with executive leaders.
- Improve how issues spanning executive portfolios are tracked, advanced, prepared for decisions, and closure is achieved without adding an approval layer.
- Coordinate preparation for board discussions, with clear recommendations and timely visibility into significant issues.
- Strengthen tracking and communication of executive and board commitments.
- Advance select initiatives with clear ownership, milestones, and transitions to ongoing leadership.
Required
- At least 10 years of demonstrated leadership experience advising a CEO, senior executive, or elected official; coordinating cross-functional and/or cross geographic projects or initiatives; or leading an executive office in a complex organization.
- Substantial experience supporting board governance, board relations, or executive engagement with governing boards.
- Demonstrated ability to anticipate executive needs; build and model unconditional trust and partnership with a CEO, elected official, or the equivalent; exercise independent judgment; and translate complex information into clear recommendations.
- Ability to understand and interpret financial information, fundraising priorities, program outcomes, and organizational capacity and connect their implications to CEO preparation and decision-making.
- Strong analytic, facilitation, and presentation design and delivery skills, including preparation of executive briefings and substantive discussions.
- Excellent writing, communication, editing, proofreading, and organizational skills.
- Exceptional discretion and sound judgment in handling sensitive relationships and information.
- A record of earning trust across a distributed organization, working constructively through disagreement, and following through on commitments.
- Deep commitment to inclusive leadership and effective engagement across diverse communities, identities, disciplines, and geographies.
- Strong commitment to TPL’s shared values (Belonging, Creativity, Collaboration, Impact, and Hope) to effectively work across the organization.
- Demonstrated ability to achieve results with limited supervision, prioritize competing demands, manage multiple tasks efficiently, and respond promptly to a high volume of requests.
- Flexibility and adaptability, with the ability to maintain accuracy and effectiveness amid frequent interruptions, shifting priorities, and unexpected assignments; strong attention to detail.
- Bachelor’s degree.
- Supervision of direct reports.
- Ability to continually develop skills in evolving technology and administrative best practices; proficiency with Microsoft Teams and other professional video conferencing platforms; advanced knowledge of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and project management tools; and familiarity with databases and other software.
- Maintain reliable records and handle confidential information with discretion.
- A team player with a sense of humor and care for others.
- Direct experience as a Chief of Staff or the equivalent in a comparable strategic executive support role within a complex regional or national organization.
- Experience in a national nonprofit, foundation, public agency, elected official’s office, or similarly multi-faceted, mission-driven organization.
- Knowledge of and experience with fundraising campaigns, strategic partnerships, and significant external relationships.
- Advanced degree or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
- Experience in conservation, parks and public lands, national polling efforts, community engagement, or related work.
- Familiarity with Trust for Public Land.
- Project management certification.
- An entrepreneurial mindset and skill set.
The successful candidate will bring sound judgment, intuition, curiosity, humility, flexibility, and a practical understanding of how organizations work. They will offer candid advice, listen carefully, and advance work through effective coordination and trusted relationships. They will respect colleagues’ expertise and responsibilities, share credit, and recognize when to act independently and when a decision belongs with another leader.
MEASURES OF SUCCESS
Success will be reflected in:
- A consistently well-prepared CEO, focused on high-priority matters and external relations.
- Clear executive decisions, named accountable leaders, and efficient and reliable follow-through without unnecessary approvals or displaced executive accountability.
- A board that receives succinct, coordinated, timely, and useful information with well-developed recommendations.
- External commitments aligned with organizational priorities and capacity.
- Successful CEO-sponsored initiatives that achieve agreed outcomes.
- Useful executive information, reliable handoffs, and clear accountability without duplicate reporting.
Trust for Public Land is a hybrid work environment. This role will ideally be located near a major TPL office, preferably in Denver or Colorado. As a full-time employee, you will be eligible for TPL’s comprehensive benefits program which includes medical, dental, and vision insurance, vacation and sick pay plus holidays, a year end office closure, and a 403(b)-retirement plan, currently with up to a 7% company match. We offer competitive salaries commensurate with experience; the anticipated hiring range for this position is $190,000 - $220,000.
Trust for Public Land’s active goal is to be an inclusive and equitable place to work and build community. As the organization actively works to eliminate racial and other disparities it welcomes candidates with diverse backgrounds and/or multicultural skillsets. We are open to the possibility that a great candidate for this job may not precisely meet all the above criteria; if you believe you are the right person for this job and can persuasively make that case, we encourage you to apply.