Director, Chief Of Staff, Edge Infrastructure Services

Who are we?

Job Summary
The Director, Chief of Staff to the SVP, Edge Infrastructure Services (EIS) serves as a trusted advisor, partner, and source of leverage to the EIS leadership team. The Chief of Staff role regularly acts as proxy for the SVP, EIS in providing tactical direction and execution leadership to drive business planning, operations, and communications activities in support of the EIS and broader Digital Services (DS) organizations. In addition to these defined areas, the Chief of Staff acts as an on-demand resource with the knowledge and capability to quickly deploy to any area of EIS, understand business needs, and effectively facilitate decisions and solutions based on changing priorities. The role is expected to build deep partnerships, analyze nuanced issues, synthesize and strategically communicate, and lead through influence.

This role requires an individual who collaborates well and drives results through others, can be a delegate for the SVP at times, building trust-based relationships internally and externally. They will resolve complex situations and multiple responsibilities simultaneously, appropriately prioritizing long-term projects with the urgency of immediate demands. This person needs to demonstrate a deep understanding of Equinix business processes and operating models and must possess strong communications skills and data analytic / research skills.

Responsibilities

• Provide senior leadership decision making, project and program management, and operational oversight on behalf of the SVP EIS

• Drive process of developing and executing on the EIS vision and overall strategy

• Work with executive administrative and other support areas to optimally prioritize and balance SVP, EIS time and activity among strategy development, customer engagements, internal initiatives and people care

• Act as consolidation and facilitation point for EIS leadership team to drive collaboration, surface critical issues or opportunities, summarize perspectives, and generate potential solutions or resolutions

• Lead and own execution of multiple business initiatives, programs, and operational requirements necessary to ongoing EIS activities

Specific Area Responsibilities

Planning

• Owns the process of development of the EIS vision, including required analysis, discussion and collaboration facilitation, documentation, and communications

• Partners with leaders to define priorities, areas of emphasis, and measurements of success to carry out EIS vision

• Drive and ensure EIS leadership team alignment on objectives and goal-setting process including desired outcomes, status tracking and dashboarding, and quarterly calibration on milestones or adjustments to objectives and key results

• Establishes operating mechanics, rhythm, and overall calendar for EIS leadership team, including strategic communications, expected reporting, execution plans and accountability measures

• Sets expectations, schedules, and agendas to maximize dialogue, decision-making, and effective use of time for all leadership meetings, offsites, and all-employee meeting

Operations and Program Management

• Acts as senior leadership point of contact for EIS to appropriately manage, respond to, and delegate actions and required activities with critical stakeholder organizations across the company

• Takes responsibility and ownership for execution of business-required processes and interactions, e.g., annual budgeting and workforce planning on behalf of EIS

• Partners with HRBP to provide leadership on people initiatives and team health work designed to strengthen EIS leadership team cohesion

• Leads, sets priorities, and provides people care management for EIS internal projects and program team with alignment across DS

• Collaborate closely with the SVP EIS to identify areas of opportunity for process improvement, strategy development, and overall improved effectiveness / efficiency

• Conduct research projects to enable best in class aspirations and appropriate benchmarking to ensure understanding of external standards and practices

• Act as a delegate for the SVP EIS on occasion to lead meetings, etc.

• Leverage data analysis and research insights to present actionable recommendations

• Build and manage a program management environment to ensure effective execution of a product strategy and enable strong partnership across EIS for delivery

• Lead or participate in cross-functional corporate projects and initiatives, coordinating efforts among different teams and ensuring project milestones are met on time and within budget

• Design, organize, and facilitate agendas to ensure dialogue, decisions, follow-up and alignment with priorities and measures. Operating mechanisms can include leading team meetings, extended leadership team meetings, offsites and all-hands meetings

• Ensure there are clear actions at all times and an environment of measured execution and continuous improvement

Communications

• In partnership with the EIS and corporate communications teams, execute an EIS leadership message and platform for all speaking engagements, both internal and external, focused on customer satisfaction, operational excellence, employee engagement and sustainability

• Hold overall responsibility for planning and establishing of EIS Summit in partnership with Events team

• Develop and drive effective communications for SVP, ensuring targeted messaging for audience

• Drive collaborative communication and relationships with key Equinix stakeholders

• Write a variety of executive presentations, including PowerPoint presentations, video scripts, articles, and other communications vehicles

• Develop and operate forums for such communications vehicles may include webcasts, customer meetings, board meetings, and industry panels, forums with other C-level executives, analyst meetings, and sales meetings

• Assist in developing strategic communications methods for the EIS leadership team

Policy and Compliance

• Ensure compliance with Equinix policies, legal requirements, and ethical standards, working to mitigate potential risks as needed

Talent Development and Mentorship:

• Foster a culture of continuous learning and professional growth within the team

• Lead by example to enable a ‘practice what we say’ approach to execute within the team in advance of wider organizational deployment of new practices and policies

• Provide mentorship and guidance to team members, encouraging their development, and promoting a high-performance work environment

Qualifications

• 15 years of experience in business operations, consulting, or product organizations

• Bachelor's Degree Preferred

• Technology B2B space, F500-level company scale, hyper growth environment

• Strong business acumen and systems thinking

• Exceptional stakeholder management skills

• Matrixed leadership background with strong influencer attribute

• Demonstrated program management best practices

• Adept at building strategic content for C-level audiences

• Clear track record of building trust and credibility while successfully managing and resolving conflicts and alternative viewpoints

• Ability to work well under pressure to meet tight timelines

• Passion for customers

• Strong leadership skills with the ability to influence, motivate, and mentor a diverse team

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, able to build relationships with stakeholders at all levels of the organization

• Demonstrated ability to analyze data and use insights to drive decision-making

• Ability to research a wide range of subject matter, analyze research and build proposals that are multi-disciplinary in reach

• Project management experience, with a track record of successfully leading cross-functional initiatives

• Ethical and values driven, who can inspire and lead by example and take appropriate risks

• A strong attention to detail and demonstrated experience of executing to measured standards

• Knowledge of procurement best practices, legal requirements, and compliance standards

• Proactive and innovative mindset, with the ability to adapt to a fast-paced and dynamic business environment

• Strong organizational skills with the ability to prioritize multiple tasks effectively

• Proven years of experience preferred

• Diploma to a bachelor’s degree preferred

Equinix is an Equal Employment Opportunity and, in the U.S., an Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to unlawful consideration of race, color, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, place of birth, citizenship, sex, pregnancy / childbirth or related medical conditions, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or domestic partnership status, age, veteran or military status, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, political / organizational affiliation, status as a victim or family member of a victim of crime or abuse, or any other status protected by applicable law.