Role of COS

About

CoS is a rapidly evolving position in the job market, shaped and iterated by talent movements and innovative enterprises, especially the tech startup sector. We’d like to anchor down our understanding based on the dozens of surveys and conversations with CoSs around the world. General Summary of Role: A CoS is the right-hand to the Founder/CEO (or, any hiring manager the CoS directly reports to). He or she is fundamentally a servant leader that manages information flow and communications, align strategic goals within the organization and operates across functional units for cross-collaboration strategic efforts. When in need, a CoS serves as a temporary stop-gap person to a specific business function before the hire is filled. CoS is a strategic generalist. CoSs are (Also offers an explanation as to why they are critical and key to the success of any scaling startup operations): Collector, facilitator, moderator, and curator of information and communication for effective strategic input into specific project or team, ensuring the right result output (A dot connector with a helicopter view while also seeing the sky from the bottom of the well); Leader/Co-leader to strategic or special projects (typically ad-hoc in nature) that are challenging to be bucketed into any existing functional units by the Founders. Key attributes and characteristics: Observant, multi-perspective, and open-minded; Highly operational in action and strategic in thinking; Key contributor to the cultural building and business alignment in the organization;Highly resourceful - Ability to execute and improvise without a formal team and many designated resources around; Ability to build trust and psychological safety around and with every level of people in the organization, especially of other C-suite members. Although they may rise from these functional roles CoSs are NOT: Executive Assistant or Personal Assistant or Secretary to the Founder or the C-suite; Human Resource executives.