Chief of Staff (to the CEO) in London

Palladium is a global company working to design, develop and deliver positive impact on the lives and livelihoods of people around the globe; broaden access to health, water, power, and infrastructure; build enduring, sustainable, and transformative institutions and market systems to address global challenges; and conserve the natural world. We operate in over 90 countries and have a workforce of 2,100 talented, motivated, and diverse staff of all religions, races, languages, and gender identities.

This opportunity involves acting as the global CEO’s primary integrator and execution partner, extending their capacity across strategy, performance, governance, client engagement and delivery. Operating at the centre of the organisation, the role exists to improve the quality, pace and coherence of executive decision‑making, ensuring strategic priorities are clearly defined, translated into action and followed through, in alignment with GISI Consulting Group’s ownership and governance framework. The role also provides structured support to the COO on cross‑functional operational priorities, reinforcing alignment between CEO‑level decisions and operational delivery. The ideal candidate is someone who can add execution capacity to the CEO and COO, drive agendas, hold them accountable, prioritise quickly, remain politically aware, all while keeping a calm and structured demeanour.

The position will be based in Palladium’s London office. Please note that applicants must have the right to work in the UK, as visa sponsorship is not available for this role. Palladium follows a hybrid working model, with three days in the office and two days remote.

The Chief of Staff will report directly to the CEO (UK based) with a strong dotted line to the COO (US based). This role will work closely with GISI Consulting Group leadership and functions, Group finance, business development, people and culture, operations and communications, and other leaders involved in strategy, planning, governance and performance processes.

Primary Responsibilities

• Design and maintain the CEO–COO operating rhythm, prioritisation and follow‑through.
• Triage and protect CEO time against highest‑value decisions, clients and issues.
• Track actions, surface risks and prepare decision‑ready analysis and narratives.
• Provide integrated strategic, financial and commercial insight to support enterprise decisions.
• Maintain mapping of priority clients, partners and stakeholders across the business and GISI.
• Shape and manage the CEO’s external engagement agenda to support growth and positioning.
• Integrate client and market intelligence into pipeline, pursuits, M&A and investment decisions.
• Ensure disciplined follow‑up from senior client and partner engagements.
• Translate CEO‑level priorities into coordinated, cross‑functional execution with the COO.
• Maintain a unified view of performance, delivery risks, interdependencies and priorities.
• Support strategy execution, planning, targets, KPIs and incentive alignment with finance.
• Monitor margin, pipeline, backlog and EBITDA drivers to inform growth and risk management.
• Own framing, quality and sequencing of executive forums, pre‑reads and board materials.
• Produce clear, insight‑led presentations for boards, clients and senior leaders.
• Translate executive decisions into clear, actionable internal and external communications.
• Support preparation for key internal and external speaking engagements.
• Lead or coordinate priority projects on behalf of the CEO and COO.
• Use AI to enhance analysis, research, briefing and workflow efficiency.
• Exercise delegated authority to resolve routine issues and triage requests.
• Escalate only strategic or high‑risk issues, while keeping executives sighted on emerging themes.

Essential Criteria

• Significant prior experience in management consulting or a comparable senior role requiring structured problem‑solving and executive‑level delivery.
• Experience operating with executive‑ and board‑level stakeholders in complex environments, ideally in professional services or government‑facing sectors.
• Strong commercial capability and ability to translate concepts for non‑commercial audiences.
• Experience supporting multi‑year strategy, planning, investment or transformation processes.
• Experience working within complex group or multi‑entity environments.
• Proven ability to produce high‑quality board‑level presentations.
• Practical experience using AI and digital tools for analysis and document production.

Core Skills

• Exceptional judgement and discretion, capable of operating at the centre of senior decision‑making.
• Strong strategic and financial acumen, with the ability to synthesise complexity into clarity.
• Ability to integrate diverse perspectives and develop clear options and recommendations.
• Strong delivery focus and disciplined follow‑through.
• Outstanding written and visual communication skills.
• High political awareness, with sensitivity to government clients, investors and internal dynamics.
• Strong relationship‑building and influencing skills.
• Evidence of strategic judgement and potential to take on increased scope as the business grows.

Applications

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. We encourage you to apply early as the position may close once a suitable candidate is found.

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion - Palladium is committed to embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion into everything we do. We welcome applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success and good practice.

Accessibility - Should you require any adjustments or accommodations to be made during the recruitment process (due to disability, neurodiversity, or for any other circumstance), please email our team and we will be in touch to discuss.

Safeguarding - We define Safeguarding as “the preventative action taken by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm”. We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse. All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding-focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process.