Chief of Staff to Core GM

Role Description

As the Chief of Staff for our Core VP/GM, you will unlock the potential of our Core leadership team.  You'll get to work on a wide range of strategic and meaningful projects that have the potential for impact across the entire organization. Driving these projects will leverage your experience as a leader and push you to hone your analytical abilities, strategic intuition, and your people skills.  As a trusted advisor to the VP/GM of Core, you’ll have daily exposure to the entire Core leadership team (engineering, product, design & data science) as well as cross-functional senior leaders across Dropbox, observing the business from a unique vantage point.

In this role, you are expected to be a self-starter and independent thinker with exceptional analytical and communication skills, capable of handling highly sensitive and confidential information while supporting a rapidly changing organization. You will excel in this role if you do not shy away from rolling up your sleeves and building creative solutions to problems that have not been tackled yet. You recognize where processes can be improved, and take the initiative to improve them, end-to-end.

You’re comfortable interacting across the organization at all levels, including senior leaders and executives across all functions at Dropbox. You’re a team player, and relish collaborating with colleagues across the org - understanding that the biggest problems at the global level can only be solved by cross-functional teams.

While you thrive in ambiguity, you’re highly organized, detail-oriented and are passionate about designing and implementing processes to keep everyone on track and grow a global business.

You’ll be working in a fast-paced environment with passionate team members who are focused on quality and execution. If you are a dynamic and detail-oriented individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment and possesses a strong ability to bring order to chaos, then this is the role for you.

Responsibilities

While exact workload will vary depending on current organization and company priorities, responsibilities will include:

Ownership of Business Rhythms:

• Lead the development and maintenance of quarterly and annual rhythms, including annual planning, OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), roadmap reviews, and quarterly reporting.
• Coordinate with executive leadership, including the Office of CEO (OCEO), to ensure alignment of Core’s rhythms with overall company strategies and priorities.
• Prepare content and provide relevant information and insights to the Board of Directors.

Financial Management:

• Manage Core’s budget allocations, ensuring that headcount and hiring plans are in line with financial targets and strategic objectives.
• Collaborate with finance teams to track and optimize spending, identifying opportunities for efficiency and investment.

Leadership of Special Projects:

• Lead and oversee special projects identified by the Core leadership team, driving cross-functional collaboration and delivering impactful outcomes.
• Provide strategic guidance and execution support for initiatives aimed at enhancing platform capabilities or addressing key challenges.

Stakeholder Engagement and Representation:

• Act as a key liaison between the Core leadership team and other internal stakeholders, building strong relationships and ensuring alignment on goals and priorities.
• Represent the Core GM and Core LT in cross-functional projects and discussions, advocating for resources and support as needed.

Interactions:

• All functions within EPD, G&A and GCO.
• Others business managers and Chiefs of Staff

Success in this role is measured by:

• Becoming a trusted advisor to the Core VP/GM & Core Leadership Team
• Delivering on all regular reporting rhythms and creating a strong partnership with cross-functional teams across Dropbox.
• Operating independently to improve Core’s operating rhythms

Requirements

• 10+ years experience; background in top tier management consulting and/or high growth technology organization strongly preferred
• MBA or Bachelors Degree in Business, Engineering or related field preferred 
• Creative problem solving (i.e. excels at identifying trends and patterns, developing root cause diagnoses, and using a diverse toolkit to address the root causes)
• Strong verbal and written communication skills with the ability to present ideas with clarity, brevity and at the right altitude for the audience.
• Excellent  interpersonal skills, with the ability to interact effectively with stakeholders at all levels of the organization.
• Proven ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously, prioritize effectively, and drive results in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to draw insights from unorganized information and help drive process improvements accordingly

Traits:

• Growth mindset — deeply curious; hungry to learn; seeks out feedback and uses it to become a better version of themselves
• Responsibility mindset — takes end to end ownership of a task/project/job; willing to “knock down walls” to get something done; accepts accountability and seeks to look for what they contributed to a situation as opposed to externalizing blame
• Humility — recognizes they don’t know what they don’t know
• Integrity — has the best intentions in mind for Dropbox; understands the potential for negative impact based on misused information; exercises strong judgment and discretion
• Courage — willing to push back execs; able to work with minimal guidance in ambiguous situations
• Patience — needs to invest time in understanding context & the role and needs to earn trust
• Strong project management skills — can keep on top of lots of things in flight, knows how to sort which steps are difficult/require time and navigate the people involved, etc.
• Analytical, structured thinking — quickly understands the task at hand, the relevant context, and is able to synthesize the main considerations; good at framing decisions and unearthing the critical logic
• Strong verbal communicator — listens actively; presents material with accuracy, brevity, and poise
• Strong writing skills — able to translate high-level guidance and thoughts into coherent outlines, drafts, or speaking points
• Excellent time management, intentional prioritization, ability to maintain and curate backlog (both for self and for VP/GM)
• Experience in working with cross-functional partners to achieve goals at scale