Chief of Staff placement for leaders who can’t afford to get it wrong.
Your Chief of Staff hire carries outsized impact and asymmetric risk.
That’s why Elevation doesn’t just “find talent.”
We help you de-risk a very high stakes hire. We do this by rigorously refining the scope, pressure testing assumptions, and assessing factors that don’t show up in interviews.
Our discernment protects your time, your culture, your bottom line, and your momentum.
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Elevation is a boutique executive search firm dedicated exclusively to the Chief of Staff role.
Our perspective is shaped by over 15 years inside the profession, building one of the largest global Chief of Staff training platforms, and coaching hundreds of Chiefs of Staff and the executives they support.
That depth gives us a clear view into what makes these partnerships work, and where they quietly break down.
We’re trusted by leaders who understand that this role is uniquely consequential and requires a level of judgment, alignment, and discernment that traditional search cannot provide.
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Hiring a Chief of Staff is not a sourcing issue.
It’s a judgment issue.Many candidates look impressive on paper. Far fewer are equipped to succeed in the realities of your specific role. Our work begins by defining those realities clearly.
Elevation approaches search by first clarifying the true scope of the role and then assessing candidates beyond credentials. This role involves a unique relationship aspect that is too often overlooked. To solve for this, we engaged a Data Scientist to create a proprietary Chief of Staff Match Assessment designed to surface leadership alignment and working dynamics that don’t appear in interviews, but ultimately determine success in the role.
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We partner with founders, CEOs, and senior leaders who view the Chief of Staff as a strategic extension of their leadership, not simply a functional hire.
Our clients are typically navigating growth, complexity, or transition and recognize the importance of making the right choice when it comes to their Chief of Staff.
They value clarity over speed, alignment over optics, and long-term partnership over short-term convenience.
A Search Process Built Around You
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STEP ONE: SCOPING
In-Depth Discovery + Alignment
We begin by deeply understanding your organization: your business model, culture, leadership style, strategic priorities, and how you work. This clarity allows us to define not just the skills required, but the type of Chief of Staff partnership that will be most effective for you.
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STEP TWO: SOURCING
Targeted, High-Caliber Candidate Sourcing
We tap into our curated network of over 1,000 vetted strategic operators, integrators, and leaders who understand the complexity of the Chief of Staff profession and the level of partnership success in the role requires.
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STEP THREE: SCREENING
Proprietary Assessment + Strategic Evaluation
Every candidate undergoes Elevation’s proprietary Chief of Staff assessment, designed to evaluate how they think, lead, communicate, and operate. This assessment, combined with in-depth interviews and reference insights, is a key driver behind our industry-leading 98% one-year success rate for placed Chiefs of Staff.
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STEP FOUR: INTERVIEWING + HIRING
High-Touch Interview Support & Offer Strategy
We partner closely with you through interviews and decision-making, ensuring each conversation is focused, relevant, and revealing. We also support offer strategy and candidate alignment so expectations are clear on both sides before a decision is made.
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STEP FIVE: ONBOARDING
Intentional Onboarding + Partnership Enablement
Once a hire is made, we help design an onboarding experience that accelerates trust, clarity, and impact. This includes guidance on early priorities, communication rhythms, and expectation-setting to establish a strong, durable CEO–Chief of Staff partnership from day one.
Why Founders and CEOs Choose Elevation Search
We speak the language of executives because we’ve lived it.
Our founder, Melanie Jones, spent over 15 years as a Chief of Staff across high-growth companies, nonprofits, and venture-backed environments before becoming a Chief of Staff Coach. She built Elevation Chief of Staff Training, one of the leading Chief of Staff training programs in the world, with alumni now supporting CEOs across tech, government, and Fortune 500 companies.
This firsthand insight gives us something traditional recruiters can’t match.
We know exactly what you need, often before you can articulate it.
We understand the chemistry.
The leadership dynamics.
The subtle nuances.
And the difference between someone who supports you…
and someone who elevates you.