Stream 5 • Chief of Staff Coming Soon
A Chief of Staff is not a senior EA, and this is not a senior EA assessment. It is a strategic week rather than an operational day: a board pack to synthesise, two function heads whose positions have hardened, a memo the board will read, a live escalation, and a priorities brief to the principal at the end of it. Proxy decision-making, influence without authority, board-level writing and strategic synthesis, scored on the evidence. It opens after the EA Manager edition. Register now and we will send the booking link the week it opens, with early bookings honoured at the launch price.
A separate stream
A Chief of Staff extends the principal's operating rhythm rather than administering it. The role is proxy: speaking on the principal's behalf, holding functions accountable to the plan, synthesising board-bound material, and closing decisions in rooms the principal is not in.
That capability does not rise out of an Executive Assistant role on seniority alone. It requires comfort operating on evidence not yet fully formed, the written authority to land a point with the board, and the judgement to know when to escalate versus when to decide. Our Chief of Staff scenario, rubric, and reviewer are all purpose-built around these signals.
If you are unsure whether you are hiring a Chief of Staff or an Executive Business Partner, our guide to the difference has an eight-question test for the role, or speak to the team. The answer changes the assessment, the reviewer, and the shortlist.
A single strategic day, scored against the capabilities that decide whether a Chief of Staff can actually hold the seat, not how they present in a conversation.
Does the candidate know where their mandate begins and ends? Can they decide with conviction when the principal is unavailable, and defer cleanly when the call is above their grade?
Can they bring a hostile function head to resolution without leaning on the principal's name? The best Chiefs of Staff carry weight by credibility, not by title.
Can they write a memo that a board will read carefully? Tight, defensible, appropriately caveated. The assessment produces three short pieces of board-bound writing.
Can they take conflicting inputs from function heads, pressure from the board, and a live operational escalation, and distil it into a recommendation the principal can act on?
Sample scenario preview
The illustration below is an example designed to show the shape of the assessment. It is not the live scenario candidates actually sit. Every commissioned assessment uses a separate composite scenario held only by candidates and reviewers.
Imagine a Chief of Staff stepping into a growth-stage business on a Monday morning. A board meeting is on the calendar for Friday. Two function heads are circling a stalled budget negotiation. Legal has just flagged a regulatory question that needs a position by end of week. The CEO has asked for a strategic memo but has not yet briefed it.
The candidate has a limited window to triage what matters, sequence the week, and leave a written trail the principal can stand behind. Every input the candidate writes is scored against the rubric and expert-reviewed before the report is released.
Not sure which role you are hiring?
In my experience most briefs that start with Chief of Staff turn out, once we talk them through, to be Executive Business Partner roles. The answer changes the assessment, the reviewer and the shortlist, so it is worth settling first. Two short guides:
Illustrative module shape
Turn multiple function-head inputs into a clean board-pack section under time pressure.
Mediate between two leaders whose positions have hardened into conflict.
Draft a short memo to the principal recommending a position on a contested decision.
Respond to an urgent enquiry from a regulatory or legal counterpart: decide, delegate, or escalate.
A short close-out naming the two or three calls the principal must make this week.
All scenarios are fictional composites. The live simulator content is never shown on the public website.
For employers Coming Soon
For CEOs, founders, and boards hiring a Chief of Staff. Tell us about the role, principal, and shortlist now: we'll confirm your slot the week Stream 5 opens and schedule your first report inside 48 hours.
For candidates Coming Soon
Take the candidate edition on your own terms. Receive a full feedback report and a shareable certificate. Use it in applications, in conversations with recruiters, or as a calibrated reference for your own development. Join the early list and we'll send your booking link the week Certified CoS opens.
Early list is free to join · UK VAT-registered via eavolve Ltd · Report guaranteed within 48 hours of completion · US and international employers welcome, pricing in US dollars on request
Commonly asked
Yes. The scenario is drawn to work across founder-led and CEO-led organisations, and the rubric evaluates judgement and synthesis independent of the principal's title. Where the role has specific context, for example an investor-facing Chief of Staff at a late-stage startup, email us and we can flex the scenario weighting.
The default rubric weights strategic synthesis and proxy decision-making most heavily. For operating-model Chiefs of Staff: where the remit is rhythm, governance, and meeting architecture: we can adjust the weighting to surface that capability more precisely. Flag the role type at commissioning.
Not yet. TCS Match is an overlay in development, priced at an indicative £350 +VAT, that will layer personality and compatibility data onto the Core Standard report. Chief of Staff is an unusually intimate working relationship, so the compatibility overlay will be most useful when making the final call. Register your interest to be told when it opens.
Candidates are told upfront that the scenario is fictional and that they are entering the Chief of Staff seat at a composite firm. The rubric and modules are the same regardless of who commissions, which is part of what makes results comparable across candidates and employers.
Yes. The assessment is sat online and scored remotely, so it makes no difference where the candidate or the principal is. Reviewer calls are scheduled for your time zone, and pricing is available in US dollars on request. The Chief of Staff role is more established in the US than in the UK, and the scenario is written to work in either market.
Tell us about the role, the principal, and the shortlist now. We'll confirm your slot the week Stream 5 opens and line up your first report for inside 48 hours of launch.