Chief of Staff

Northwest Administrators, Inc; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 172,000 - 233,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health flex spending

Dependent care assistance

Pet insurance

Paid vacation

Sick leave

Holidays

401k match

Work-Life Balance

Job summary

Northwest Administrators, Inc. is seeking a Chief of Staff in the United States to serve as a trusted execution partner across departments, translating priorities into action and driving initiatives with measurable results.

The role emphasizes governance, collaboration, and operational excellence over formal authority. The ideal candidate has 8–12+ years in operations or consulting, a business degree (MBA preferred), and experience with ERISA and pension/health plans.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business or a related field required; MBA or equivalent graduate degree preferred.
• 8–12+ years of experience in business operations, management consulting, and program leadership required.
• Experience with ERISA regulatory requirements, Taft-Hartley pension/health and welfare plans, and vendor contracting is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead the planning and execution of strategic initiatives by developing project plans, milestones, and tracking progress.
• Partner with leaders across departments to drive cross-functional collaboration and ensure successful execution of objectives.
• Coordinate leadership operating rhythms, including meetings, agendas, action items, and follow-ups.
• Support organizational change initiatives by implementing new processes and driving adoption of improvements.
• Identify and address execution risks, dependencies, and escalate issues with proposed solutions.
• Establish performance metrics, improve reporting processes, and translate data into insights.
• Provide decision-making support by facilitating discussions, evaluating options, and documenting decisions.
• Lead special projects from concept to implementation with measurable outcomes.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Stakeholder management

Cross-functional leadership

Executive communication

Data fluency

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business or related field

MBA or equivalent graduate degree

Job description

Are you a trusted advisor who excels at building relationships, bringing people together, and turning priorities into results? Do you enjoy creating structure, improving processes, and helping leaders navigate complex challenges across teams? If so, our Chief of Staff opportunity may be the perfect fit.

What You Will Be Doing…

The Chief of Staff serves as a trusted execution partner, helping leaders translate priorities into action and ensuring strategic initiatives move from concept to measurable results. This is a highly collaborative, relationship-oriented role that influences through trust, diplomacy, and operational excellence rather than direct authority.

Success in this position requires the ability to quickly learn the business, understand organizational context, build credibility with stakeholders, and introduce effective processes, decision-making frameworks, and accountability mechanisms that support long-term success.

As a neutral facilitator, program leader, and problem-solver, the Chief of Staff works across departments to improve organizational effectiveness, strengthen collaboration, and drive execution of key business priorities. You will:

• Lead the planning and execution of strategic initiatives by developing project plans, defining milestones, tracking progress, and ensuring alignment with organizational priorities.
• Partner with leaders across departments to drive cross-functional collaboration, remove obstacles, and ensure successful execution of business objectives.
• Coordinate leadership operating rhythms, including recurring meetings, agendas, action items, and follow-up activities that support organizational effectiveness and accountability.
• Support organizational change initiatives by helping leaders implement new processes, improve ways of working, and drive adoption of operational improvements.
• Identify and proactively address execution risks, organizational challenges, and cross-functional dependencies, escalating issues and recommending solutions when needed.
• Partner with leaders to establish meaningful performance metrics, improve reporting processes, and translate data into actionable insights and recommendations.
• Provide decision-making support for key initiatives by facilitating planning discussions, evaluating options and tradeoffs, documenting decisions, and ensuring clear communication of next steps.
• Lead special projects from concept through implementation, defining success measures, testing solutions, and delivering measurable business outcomes.

Who You Are…

• Ethical and Credible. Low-ego, high-accountability operator with resilience, discretion, and strong follow-through; trusted with sensitive information and able to earn confidence across long-tenured teams while still driving needed change.
• Educated. Bachelor’s degree in business or a related field required; MBA or equivalent graduate degree preferred. 8–12+ years of experience in business operations, management consulting, and program leadership required. Experience with ERISA regulatory requirements, Taft-Hartley pension / health and welfare plans, and vendor contracting is a plus.
• Strategic Partner. Demonstrated ability to build strong relationships, leading cross-functional delivery without formal authority (stakeholder management, influencing, and disciplined follow-through).
• Effective Communicator. Strong written and verbal communication: can create clear executive and stakeholder updates, decision frameworks, and meeting materials.
• Data fluent. Comfortable working with analytics and systems teams. Familiar with the use of AI to support workflows and data analysis.

Who we are...

Northwest Administrators, Inc. is an industry leader in third-party administration of employee benefits. We administer one of the largest multi-employer pension plans in the country, along with numerous large health and welfare plans. As part of our team, you will benefit from many training and development opportunities and can expect a better-than-market benefits package. See what our associates are saying about us at Northwest Administrators Inc. | Careers (nwadmin.com)

If hired, you can expect...

• Starting salary range of $15,400 - $20,840 per month. Pay is dependent on experience, skills, and qualifications.
• Optional benefits include health flex spending & dependent care assistance plans, pet insurance
• Paid Vacation (10 days), Sick Leave (10 days) and Holidays (10 days)
• Generous 401k plan with company base contribution & match
• Work-Life Balance

NWA is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. All employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, amnesty, veteran status, citizenship, family medical history or genetic information or any other characteristic protected by local, state, or federal laws. NWA prohibits any discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact Human Resources at [e-mail] to request accommodation.

Northwest Administrators Inc. | Privacy Policy (nwadmin.com)