How to apply for Chief of Staff / Managing Director

About High Impact Professionals

High Impact Professionals helps working professionals use their money, time, and skills to create positive impact. The team is small and growing from 5 to 14 people. This is a chance to shape how a young organization scales its programs and resources.

About the role

As Chief of Staff or Managing Director, you run high-priority projects from start to finish. You support the Executive Director with research, briefs, and logistics. You turn decisions into action by preparing meetings, triaging requests, and tracking follow-through. You also document strategy, relationships, and decisions as the team grows.

A typical day

A typical day might include preparing a briefing for the Executive Director, triaging incoming requests, and moving a high-priority project forward. You could also document a recent decision or update a relationship map so the team stays aligned. The exact routine depends on current projects. Ask about the team's meeting rhythm and project management tools in your interview.

Who High Impact Professionals is looking for

• Has run projects end to end, such as hiring rounds, conferences, or strategic analysis.
• Can support an executive with research, briefs, and logistical coordination.
• Is organized enough to prepare meetings, triage requests, and ensure follow-through.
• Can document strategy, relationships, and decisions in a way that scales with a growing team.

Tips for this application

• In your application, describe a specific project you executed end to end. Include the goal, your actions, and the result.
• Explain how you have supported a senior leader before. Give an example of research, a brief, or logistics you handled.
• Show how you turn decisions into action. Describe a time you prepared a meeting, triaged requests, or tracked follow-through.
• Give an example of how you documented strategy, relationships, or decisions for a team. Mention the tools or formats you used.
• Connect your work to HIP's focus: helping professionals use money, time, and skills for impact. Use one concrete example.

What to cover in your cover letter

Focus on your experience running projects end to end. Describe how you have supported an executive with research, briefs, and logistics. Explain how you turn decisions into action through meeting prep, request triage, and follow-through. Show how you document strategy and decisions for a scaling team.

Research before applying

• Read the High Impact Professionals website to understand their programs and resources.
• Find out what 'high-priority projects' means at HIP right now. Ask about current hiring rounds, conferences, or strategic analysis.
• Ask how the Executive Director currently uses a Chief of Staff or Managing Director. What does support look like day to day?
• Ask what systems HIP uses to document strategy, relationships, and decisions. Check if they have a knowledge management process.

Likely interview topics

Based on the job description, expect questions about:

• Walk us through a project you ran end to end. What was the goal, and what was the result?
• How have you supported an executive's external work with research, briefs, or logistics?
• Describe a time you turned a decision into action. How did you prepare, triage, and follow through?
• How do you document strategy, relationships, and decisions so a growing team stays aligned?
• Why do you want to help High Impact Professionals scale its impact from 5 to 14 people?

Common mistakes to avoid

• Talking only about your interest in impact without showing how you execute projects end to end.
• Giving vague examples of supporting a leader instead of naming the research, briefs, or logistics you handled.
• Ignoring the scaling context. Not addressing how you document strategy and decisions for a team growing from 5 to 14 people.