Last updated 10 October 2026

Chief of Staff

One opening.

Apply for this role. Reading the page is not applying. The application is the only way to be considered, and it is the whole first step.

Why this role exists

We need someone to oversee these items:

• The Interim CEO's day holds only the decisions nobody else can make.
• Confidential information stays confidential without anybody having to ask.
• A note that is still in pieces, or a voice message, becomes a clear plan the same day.
• The people supporting the Interim CEO know what they are doing, because you told them.

Logistics

• Company stage: Small, growing accounting firm with a lean leadership bench.
• Start: Agreed with you before either of us signs.
• Location: Remote. Eastern Europe.
• Reports to: the Interim CEO.
• Direct reports: The assistants and administrative staff supporting the Interim CEO.
• Video: On for every team call.
• Stability standard: we want someone who plans to stay with the same company for at least three years.
• This is not a work when you want role. We all work at the same time, in different places.
• Contract: Contractor. The standard terms show every one of them on its own.

Work hours

Our clients are in the United States, so this role runs on US Central time. That is not negotiable. Read this part twice before you apply.

• Full time is 7 am to 4 pm Austin time.
• That is 2 pm to 11 pm in Warsaw, Belgrade, and Skopje.
• Monday through Friday, year round.

Full time here

You are passionate about your work. Full time here means 8 to 10 hours a day, because you want to see things through to finished.

Who we want here

• Women. We want more of them here.
• Autistic people. The rules are written down. Nobody has to read a room.
• Direct communicators.
• People who think in systems. When something breaks, they look for what caused it instead of fixing only the part they can see.
• People who enjoy executing work and are focused on results.
• People who are optimistic about the outcome when they are under stress or facing a challenge.
• People who move fast and get a lot done.
• People who are all in.
• People who want the company to grow and are excited to help make that happen.
• People who, when they are stressed, notice what they are feeling, then say what they need and write it down. Stopping at the feeling, with nothing written down, is not a fit here.

Who should not apply

This is not the role for you if you:

1. Wait for somebody else to pick a thing up, or need the work handed to you tidy and already decided.
2. Report a problem and stop there.
3. Try somebody once, get no answer, and give up.
4. Go quiet when something needs raising, or find telling the truth consistently hard.
5. Read hidden meanings and office politics instead of the plain words.
6. Overstate what you can do, or are different before you are hired and after.
7. Have changed jobs every year or two, or want short projects and a work whenever schedule.

Who this role is for

1. You take a pile of notes, a voice message or a half finished thought, all still early and unorganized, and turn it into a clean checklist, a table or a plan.
2. Organizing something still in its early stages into something that runs is the part of the work you enjoy, not the part you put up with.
3. You keep what you are told to yourself, without anybody reminding you.
4. You pick up a phone and keep picking it up until the thing is done, whoever is on the other end.
5. You read a bill before you pay it, and you ask for a better price without it being a fight.
6. You are comfortable being the person nobody outside the firm has heard of, while everything runs because of you.
7. You get bored when you are paid to do nothing.
8. You want the work to get more complex over time rather than the title to get bigger.
9. You plan to be in this role for three years.

The technology you need to work here

The setup is the same for every role here. The technology you need to work here lists the computer, the internet, the power backup, the audio and the workspace.

How your results are measured

• Nothing reaches the Interim CEO that somebody else could have handled.
• Nothing confidential has left the places it belongs.
• Final KPIs are agreed after you are hired.

Role summary

• You take friction, clutter and administrative load off the Interim CEO, in the business and outside it.
• You supervise the assistants and administrative staff supporting her.
• You handle confidential material, and you are trusted with it from the first week.
• You review what the firm spends and negotiate what it should be paying.
• Everything you do exists so that her working day holds only the decisions nobody else can make.

What you own

Running the ecosystem

• Multi step processes that need continuous follow up, phone calls and paperwork, run to the end without being chased. Insurance, medical providers and the service animal's own appointments are the ones that need it most.
• Turning a data dump of text or audio into a clear grid somebody can act on.

Confidentiality

• Corporate strategy, financial records and personal information stay where they belong.
• Nobody has to remind you which of those is sensitive.

Your own time entries

• Name the client or the work, and what came out of it, on every entry.
• Five minute increments.
• Do not use increments smaller than five minutes.
• Only logged time counts as work for the firm.

What this role does not do

• Client work. Bookkeeping, tax returns, and month end close sit with the delivery team.
• Deciding who joins the firm and who leaves.
• Approving a payment.
• Setting prices.

How SMB Numbers works

We move fast, and we organize things as they come in. We do consistency. We are becoming a firm that runs on systems thinking.

How we work together

• We work at the same hours most of the time, and some of the work is done asynchronously. You will not always have somebody online to ask, so you write things down and you keep going.
• Written, asynchronous communication is modeled as part of the company's culture. Things are read in writing before a live call is requested, and writing is used to prevent the need for calls.
• Trust through Truth. If you do not tell the truth, we do not trust you.
• We are a low context company. Direct talk is how trust gets built here. Vague, high context, or indirect language erodes trust.
• Tell the truth early. If something is late, stuck, or going wrong, say it early and clearly.
• Be proactive.
• Keep records clean enough that someone else can step in, so you can take time off.
• Protect client information and handle sensitive material carefully.
• Track your time correctly and on time.
• When you see a repeat problem, fix the system.

Software we use

• Canopy, for the client record, calls logged against it, and time.
• A hosted remote desktop, which is how you reach our systems.
• Google Workspace, for mail, chat, and documents.
• Our internal site, for the SOPs and daily priorities.
• Your own sandbox, which is your own copy of the internal site. You change a page there, check it works, and send it for approval.
• Zoom phone

What we need from you

• You have worked directly for one senior person before, and they relied on you.
• You have supervised administrative staff, and the standard held.
• You have negotiated a price down and can say what you saved.
• You have handled confidential material and nothing left the room.
• All firm work happens in our software. Your own tools stay out of it, with no exceptions.

Pay

How pay works here. The parts, how each one grows, the coverage bonus and sales commission.

Career growth

• Tell us what you want over the next three years. We will help.
• You book a career conversation with your manager every quarter. It's your meeting to run, and it's where we plan what you learn next.
• The complexity of the work grows as the firm grows. The problems you are solving in year three are harder than the ones in year one.

Every step of our process, in order

Every step of our process, in order. Read it before you apply, so you know what is coming and when.

How to apply

Fill in the application. It is the whole first step.

It asks for a web address for a short video recording answering both of these questions. Put the video anywhere we can open without an account, and paste the address into the application.

1. What do you do when you get a task/project you do not understand?
2. From a logistics standpoint, when is the earliest that you could start full time if you were to be accepted?

Apply now. If you have read this far and it sounds like you, send it. We read every one.