Chief of Staff

Our mission is to make higher education accessible and affordable for everyone. We empower students with financial support and supercharge their ability to pay down their debt, so they can get on the right financial track, fast.

We build tools that help people feel in control of their financial future, including:

• Private student loans - low rates, people-first service, and flexible payments.
• Student loan refinancing - break free from high-interest rates or monthly payments.
• Scholarships - access to thousands of scholarships to help students pay less.

Earnies are committed to helping students live their best lives, free from the stress of student debt. If you’re as passionate as we are about our mission, read more below, and let’s build something great together! 

The Chief of Staff position will report to Earnest’s Chief Executive Officer. 

As the Chief of Staff, you will:

• Serve as a critical advisor to the CEO, offering strategic guidance, sound judgment, and thoughtful insights to inform decision-making on critical business decisions.
• Drive cross-functional, high-impact initiatives that align with the company’s strategic priorities, ensuring seamless execution and fostering collaboration across all parts of the organization.
• Craft compelling, data-driven materials for senior internal and external stakeholders and refine the CEO’s work to enhance quality and impact by distilling complex information into clear, actionable insights to support discussions and decisions. 
• Play a central role in executive-level discussions by ensuring the CEO and Executive Team receive the right information in an appropriate format and quality. Contribute to strategic conversations, facilitating productive dialogue and ensuring alignment and follow-through.

Your Impact:

• By providing leverage for the CEO, you will accelerate progress on short-term and long-term strategic objectives. You’ll streamline decision-making, prioritize critical initiatives, and ensure smooth execution, allowing the CEO to focus on high-level priorities while driving the company’s overall growth and success.

About You: 

• 10+ years of experience in strategy consulting, investment banking, or Venture Capital/Private Equity.
• Experience operating in a high-growth technology company.
• Proven history of taking on expanded responsibilities and leadership roles, consistently delivering results.
• Demonstrated exceptional analytical capabilities with a proven track record of leveraging data and insights to drive strategic decisions and solve complex business challenges.
• Possesses superior communication skills, with the ability to convey complex ideas clearly and concisely internally across all levels of the organization and externally, ensuring alignment and clarity in written and verbal communications.
• Exhibit a high level of senior presence, with the ability to engage and influence senior stakeholders, lead confidently in high-pressure situations, and represent the leadership team with professionalism and credibility.
• Exemplifies the highest level of integrity and discretion, managing sensitive information with absolute confidentiality. Trusted to handle confidential communications, strategic decisions, and executive-level matters with professionalism and care.

Even Better:

• ~5 years post MBA from Top Tier Program
• Experience in lending and/or Fintech

Where:

• This role is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
• You will be expected to be in person at our headquarters in Oakland, CA, 2-3 days per week. Additionally, occasional travel may be required outside of the San Francisco Bay Area, including trips to our Earnest office in Salt Lake City, UT, and other locations as needed.

#LI-JP1

A little about our pay philosophy: We take pride in compensating our employees fairly and equitably. We are showcasing a range of your potential base salary. The successful candidate’s starting pay will also be determined based on job-related qualifications, internal compensation, and budget. This range may be modified in the future.

Earnest believes in enabling our employees to live their best lives. We offer a variety of perks and competitive benefits, including: 

• Health, Dental, & Vision benefits plus savings plans
• Mac computers + work-from-home stipend to set up your home office
• Monthly internet and phone reimbursement
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan
• Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)
• 401(k) plan to help you save for retirement plus a company match
• Robust tuition reimbursement program
• $1,000 travel perk on each Earnie-versary to anywhere in the world 
• Competitive days of annual PTO
• Competitive parental leave

What makes an “Earnie” culture: 

• Drivers – Drivers are satisfied by making things happen, not coming along for the ride. They feel a strong sense of ownership for their projects and teams and demand high standards from themselves and others.
• Humility – Humble team players check their egos and consider the team’s needs above their own. They are self-aware of their strengths and opportunities for improvement.
• Growth Mindset – People with a growth mindset approach challenges and failures as learning opportunities. They seek feedback to improve, give feedback to others, and genuinely want to perform well. 

At Earnest, we are committed to building an environment where our employees feel included, valued, and heard. Our belief is that a strong commitment to diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging enables us to move forward with our mission. We are dedicated to adding new perspectives to the team and encourage anyone to apply if your experience is close to what we are looking for.  

Earnest provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability or genetics. Qualified applicants with criminal histories will be considered for the position in a manner consistent with the Fair Chance Ordinance.