Chief of Staff

Job Description

Chief of Staff (Founding Hire)

Company: The Stringer Foundation (TSF)

Location: India (Remotefirst)

Employment Type: Fulltime

About TSF

The Stringer Foundation is an earlystage nonprofit founded by award-winning journalist, Yale graduate, and ex-McKinsey consultant Anjan Sundaram. The Stringer Foundation funds and supports courageous journalists worldwide. We fill a key gap in the journalism support marketplace by scaling up courageous journalism and nurturing the next generation of brave reporters. We provide three key pillars to journalists: financial stability, media amplification, and safety.

Our flagship prize, The Stringer Prize, will launch in 2026 is intended to become one of the most prestigious prizes in journalism, in line with the Nobel and Pulitzer prizes, but with the media reach of the Oscars. TSF is backed by a major core donor and is on track to accelerate funding raises, enabling multiyear programs and meaningful career growth.

The Role

Reporting to the founder Anjan Sundaram, this founding Chief of Staff (Indiabased, fully remote) will build TSF's operating backbone and run the execution across programs, partnerships, and fundraising. You will set up the PMO cadence, translate strategy into roadmaps, and deliver measurable outcomes with a relatively small, hightrust team, and a broader network of partners and content experts.

In your first 612 months, you will:

- Operationally take TSF to the prize awards in 2026, which includes:
- Managing the jury and awards processes
- Managing a media campaign
- Help organize and run fundraising dinners
- Manage TSF's support pipeline (fellowships, mentorship, partnerships to deliver mentalhealth, legal aid, and publication prospects for courageous journalists)
- Oversee journalist eligibility, selection rubrics, and safeguarding checkpoints.
- Build a donor/grants pipeline (CRM, 2540 prospects) and submit 10 highquality proposals, producing concise board/donor dashboards.
- Close dozens of MoUs with media/NGO partners and run them with defined KPIs and budgets.
- Measure lightweight impact metrics (10 key KPIs).
- Oversee compliance, tax filings
- Oversee a volunteer and expert network supporting TSF pro-bono to design programs
- Conduct research as needed to support fundraising conversations

Success looks like: launched awards and fellowship cycle(s) on time, signed partnerships that deliver, a tracked fundraising funnel with clear next actions, and a repeatable operating cadence that scales.

Why This Role Is Compelling

- Founding scope & high ownership: build TSF's operating backbone from the ground up.
- Fast growth: clear path to Head of Programs/Director in 1836 months based on results.
- Senior exposure: work directly with the founder, board, donors, and global media/NGO partners.
- Realworld impact: enable courageous journalism with tangible safeguarding and support.
- Runway & scale: TSF is gearing to deploy multiyear programs backed by significant fundraising.
- Missiondriven work with global impact; high autonomy and scope; collaborative, lowego culture; direct access to leadership and advisors.

What You'll Bring

- 4+ years of experience as a project manager, management consultant, or chief of staff.
- Experience in the nonprofit sector is a plus.
- Management consulting (Big 3 or equivalent) or PMO background is a plus.
- MBA, master's degree or equivalent top-tier work experience.
- IIMs or other top universities are a plus.
- Excellent written communication and stakeholder management; research and analytical skills.
- Ability to plan, prioritize, and deliver across multiple workstreams with limited supervision.
- Proficiency with technology and lightweight tools and willingness to learn (Google Workspace, Excel, simple CRM, Canva, etc).
- Experience in media, journalism, human rights, or civil society is a plus
- Familiarity with grantmaking, selection panels, and monitoring & evaluation (M&E) is a plus

Compensation & Benefits

- US$ 1,7502,500/month base salary (approx. 1.532.19 lakh/month; 18.4126.30 LPA), commensurate with experience. Salary paid monthly in USD, not adjusted for current INR exchange rates.
- Significant annual bonus based on performance
- Sign-on bonus for certain candidates based on background.

Applications reviewed on a rolling basis. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.