Applications will be evaluated on a rolling basis through December 15. The expected start date for the role is January 4, 2027.

LOCATION  

U.S. / Global Office

SUPERVISOR

CEO and President

ABOUT INTERNATIONAL YOUTH FOUNDATION (IYF®)

With 36 years of experience creating impact, IYF is a global nonprofit working with urgency to connect young people to economic opportunities that transform lives, businesses, and communities. We believe a job is one of the most powerful development tools available. When young people have the skills, confidence, and opportunity to earn a steady paycheck, the impact extends far beyond employment, strengthening families, communities, and economies. Since our founding, IYF has directly served more than 8 million young people, working alongside hundreds of local partners around the world.

Our work tackles one of the most persistent challenges facing young people: the transition from education to meaningful employment. IYF brings together young people, employers, educators, governments, funders, and community organizations to make the systems shaping youth employment work better. Together, we build agency, strengthen in-demand technical and life skills, and create inclusive pathways that connect young people to jobs while helping businesses access the talent they need to grow.

Today, IYF is entering an exciting new chapter. With new leadership, strengthened systems, and a renewed sense of urgency, we are rebuilding for growth and greater influence in a rapidly changing global landscape. Our ambition is clear: unlock the potential of millions more young people and build a future where every young person has the skills, confidence, and agency to realize the future they want. 

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

The Chief of Staff (CoS) reports directly to the CEO and serves as a strategic partner and force multiplier, helping translate IYF’s vision and growth strategy into focused organizational action. Working across the Executive and Senior Leadership Teams, the CoS will strengthen the systems, rhythms, and accountability needed to align leaders around shared priorities and deliver measurable results. The role will maintain a constant focus on whether leadership time, organizational resources, and cross-functional efforts are being directed toward IYF’s highest-value opportunities. 

The CoS will help move complex, high-priority initiatives forward by bringing structure to ambiguity, connecting work across functions, surfacing barriers and decisions, and establishing clear ownership and accountability. As a trusted thought partner, the CoS will provide the CEO and other leaders with candid counsel, challenge assumptions, and help strengthen organizational decision-making and performance. The CoS will also incubate selected strategic and growth initiatives, driving them from concept through early execution before transitioning mature work to the appropriate long-term owner. Ultimately, the Chief of Staff will increase the effectiveness of the CEO and leadership team while helping position IYF for its next phase of sustainable growth, influence, and impact.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

 Communications & Project Management:

• Oversee the execution of CEO priorities and Executive Office initiatives, alongside Executive Administrator, translating priorities into defined workplans, owners, and clear deliverables, resolve or escalate barriers and ensure commitments are carried through to completion. 
• Manage the flow of issues and decisions requiring attention of the CEO, ensuring appropriate context, analysis and recommendations needed to make timely decisions or redirecting issues that can be resolved elsewhere within the organization.
• Coordinate organization-wide communications, like newsletters and official messages, related to strategy, priorities, and leadership decisions by partnering with relevant stakeholders to ensure communications are timely, consistent and tailored to key audiences. 
• Lead high-priority, cross-functional initiatives sponsored by CEO, particularly work that requires coordination across teams or does not have a natural organizational owner; define scope, convene stakeholders, establish decision points, and drive work from concept through implementation. 
• Establish transition plans for initiatives, determining when work should remain with the Office of the CEO and when it needs to be moved to a functional or long-term owner; ensure appropriate documentation, resources and handoff. 

Organizational Leadership:

• Serve as an enterprise integrator across leadership and departmental teams, identifying gaps and overlaps, and surface issues before they become barriers to execution by coordinating cross-functional initiatives that require leadership focus or do not rest within a single department. 
• Drive the effectiveness of IYF’s Executive Leadership team (ELT) and Senior Leadership Team (SLT) by establishing clear meeting cycle, targeted agendas, design-making processes and follow-through; ensure leadership discussions result in aligned decisions, accountable owners and timely execution. 
• Own the organization-wide annual and quarterly planning cycle, coordinating priorities, milestones, and resource considerations across functional departments; provide leadership with visibility into progress, blockers, risks and decisions requiring escalation. 
• Design and manage an annual leadership operating calendar, integrating the ELT and SLT meeting cycles, Board involvement, planning and performance review cycles, departmental budgeting and other critical leadership activities to create a cadence for awareness, alignment, decision-making and execution. 

Strategy & Growth:

• Partner with the CEO and Executive Leadership Team to translate IYF’s organizational strategy into actionable growth priorities, connecting revenue ambitions with programmatic strategy, organizational capabilities, resource requirements, and operational capacity.
• Support the development and testing of growth strategies by bringing together market intelligence, pipeline and performance data, programmatic expertise, financial considerations, and leadership perspectives to evaluate opportunities, assumptions, tradeoffs, and organizational readiness.
• Drive cross-functional execution of selected strategic growth priorities, establishing clear objectives, workplans, milestones, decision points, and accountable owners; monitor progress and elevate barriers or decisions requiring executive attention.
• Lead the incubation of high-priority growth initiatives that do not yet have a natural organizational owner, moving opportunities from initial concept through business case development, stakeholder alignment, testing, and early implementation before transitioning mature initiatives to appropriate long-term owners.
• Coordinate the organizational capabilities required to support growth, working across Programs, Business Development, Finance, Operations, and other functions to identify gaps in systems, processes, staffing, partnerships, or infrastructure that could enable or constrain successful execution.
• Provide the CEO and leadership team with clear visibility into the progress and viability of strategic growth initiatives, including key assumptions, risks, dependencies, resource implications, results, and recommendations for continuing, adapting, scaling, or stopping the work.
• Serve as an extension of the CEO by representing priorities, tracking commitments, and reinforcing decisions across the organization when the CEO is unavailable.

Other Duties as Assigned

We value a collaborative and adaptable work environment. Team members may be asked to:

• Support new initiatives and emerging organizational priorities 
• Partner across departments to advance shared goals 
• Step in to assist colleagues during absences or periods of increased workload 
• Contribute to projects beyond core role responsibilities

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience required; advanced degree in business, public administration, public policy, international development, or a  related field is a plus.
• 8+ years of progressively responsible experience in strategy, operations, organizational leadership, consulting, business development,  social impact, international development, or another complex, high-performance environment.
• Demonstrated success serving as a trusted partner to a CEO, acting as an extension of executive leadership to coordinate priorities, drive accountability, anticipate challenges, and ensure organizational alignment and follow-through in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
• Demonstrated experience contributing to organizational growth, revenue strategy, business development, or other initiatives that strengthened an organization’s financial sustainability, reach, or impact.
• Strong understanding of how high-performing organizations operate,  including strategic and annual planning, organizational goal setting, performance management, decision-making, accountability, and effective handoffs across functions.
• Exceptional analytical and problem-solving skills, with demonstrated ability to quickly make sense of complex or ambiguous  situations, synthesize quantitative and qualitative information, identify root causes, and develop practical recommendations.
• Excellent executive communication skills, including concise writing, presentations, facilitation, and the ability to communicate  complex ideas clearly and persuasively to executives, boards, staff,  partners, and other stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to build trust and productive working relationships across functions, levels, cultures, and perspectives while addressing disagreements and performance challenges directly, respectfully, and constructively.
• Strong project and portfolio management capabilities, with experience simultaneously advancing multiple high-priority initiatives, establishing appropriate operating rhythms, and adapting quickly as organizational priorities evolve.
• Experience leading through organizational growth, transformation,  or change, with the ability to bring structure to ambiguity and new ways  of working.
• Highly self-directed and accountable, with strong judgment, discretion, and the ability to independently advance priorities.
• Experience working across cultures, geographies, and diverse perspectives; global or social impact sector experience is valued but not required.
• Genuine commitment to IYF’s mission and expanding opportunity for young people worldwide.
• Strong organizational awareness and political judgment, with the ability to navigate complex stakeholder environments and build alignment across differing perspectives.
• Demonstrated success adapting to diverse executive leadership styles and anticipating executive needs with limited direction.
• Experience with organizational performance frameworks, executive operating systems, or related planning tools is a plus; ability to travel domestically and internationally up to 15%.

Core Competencies

• Strategic Execution
• Executive Agility & Stakeholder Management
• Organizational Effectiveness & Change Management
• Cross-Cultural Communication
• Project & Portfolio Management
• Problem Solving & Decision Support
• Board Relations & Governance Support
• Team Collaboration & Managing Up
• Mission-Driven Leadership and Commitment to Youth Development

Success in This Role Requires…

• Exceptional adaptability in a fast-changing environment.
• Comfort operating independently with limited direction.
• Ability to anticipate needs and solve problems proactively.
• Skill in maintaining momentum amidst shifting priorities.
• Strong judgment regarding when to elevate issues and when to act autonomously.
• Resilience, discretion, and composure under pressure.
• Ability to build credibility and influence without relying on formal authority.
• Comfort supporting a highly mobile executive and adjusting to changing schedules and priorities.

JOB LEVEL

Executive

CLASSIFICATION

Exempt 

CULTURE AND VALUES

At IYF, We seek leaders who are…

• Purpose-driven:  self-motivated by the mission to grow our organization and transform the future for youth globally. 
• Self-accountable: able to deliver on commitments with minimal oversight, thriving in a high-functioning, entrepreneurial team. 
• Growth & learning-oriented: seeking better solutions and improvements to drive growth and innovation across the org. 
• Empathetic and collaborative: skilled at building relationships, working effectively across cultures, and elevating team performance. 

We strongly encourage candidates of all different backgrounds and identities to apply. Each new hire is an opportunity for us to bring in a different perspective, and we are always eager to further diversify our organization. IYF is committed to building an inclusive, supportive place for you to do the best and most rewarding work of your career.