Chief of Staff

Applause is raising the bar for digital quality and employee experience. Recognized as a Top Workplace, Applause provides award-winning software testing and UX research solutions to top brands. Our fully managed services leverage a global team and the world's largest independent testing community. We improve digital experiences for global innovators like Google, Microsoft, PayPal, Starbucks, Vodafone, and BMW.

As the Chief of Staff at Applause, you will serve as a force multiplier for the CEO, helping drive execution across the company's most important priorities and initiatives. This role requires deep program management expertise, the ability to drive accountability across senior leaders, and the judgment to operate independently in a fast-paced, high-growth environment. The ideal candidate combines an AI-first mindset with a passion for technology, operational excellence, and helping teams execute at their highest level.

Key Responsibilities: 

• Track complex cross-functional initiatives across the business, ensuring progress, alignment, accountability, and follow-through from senior leaders and stakeholders.

• Hold senior leaders accountable for commitments, milestones, and deliverables, while proactively surfacing blockers before they become larger problems.

• Help the CEO prioritize ruthlessly across competing demands, ensuring focus remains on the highest-impact opportunities and challenges.

• Prepare the CEO for high-stakes conversations, meetings, and decisions by synthesizing information, identifying key issues, and ensuring the right context is available.

• Ensure nothing falls through the cracks across a demanding leadership agenda by maintaining visibility into priorities, dependencies, risks, and execution progress.

• Operate with significant autonomy, exercising sound judgment and driving outcomes in a fast-paced and often ambiguous environment.

• Proactively identify how AI is transforming Applause, our customers, and our industry, and help drive awareness, adoption, and application of AI across the business.

• Stay current on AI adoption across departments and functions, sharing best practices and helping teams leverage new capabilities to improve efficiency and impact.

• Serve as a connective tissue between Applause and Vista Equity Partners, bringing back best-in-class examples, operational practices, and AI-driven innovations from across the Vista ecosystem.

• Partner closely with leaders across the organization to improve communication, alignment, and execution against strategic priorities.

• Drive special projects and strategic initiatives on behalf of the CEO as business needs evolve.

Job Requirements and Preferred Skills:

• Deep program management expertise, including experience tracking and driving complex cross-functional initiatives at the executive level.

• Proven ability to hold senior leaders accountable, drive alignment, and influence outcomes across multiple stakeholders and functions.

• Exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to manage competing priorities and ensure consistent follow-through.

• Strong business judgment and the ability to operate independently with significant autonomy.

• Experience supporting senior executives, founders, CEOs, or executive leadership teams in fast-paced and evolving organizations.

• Excellent communication, relationship-building, and executive presence skills.

• Demonstrated ability to earn trust quickly and build credibility with executive stakeholders.

• Comfort navigating ambiguity, creating structure where needed, and driving clarity across complex situations.

• Strong interest in AI, emerging technologies, and how they can transform business operations, customer outcomes, and organizational effectiveness.

• Genuine passion for the intersection of technology and operational excellence.

• Advanced degree and/or relevant experience supporting executive leadership teams in high-growth technology organizations preferred.

Why Applause?

We’re proud to cultivate an inspiring, engaging employee culture that’s consistently reflected in high employee retention rates and satisfaction. Our talented team – known as Applause Nation – is set up for success with the latest collaboration and learning tools, opportunities for career advancement, and more.

• We have a flexible work environment with top talent from across the globe

• Collaborate with an international team of 450+ passionate, talented co-workers

• Expand your portfolio with exciting, hands-on projects providing exposure to well-known, global brands

• Learn and grow through structured onboarding, in-house knowledge sessions and access to thousands of virtual courses available on demand

• Incorporate AI and other exciting technologies into your work, to help you prioritize and boost productivity

• Experience a supportive culture that emphasizes teamwork, innovation and transparency

• Share your voice! Contribute and integrate creative and innovative ideas across roles and departments 

Applause Core Values: 

As a global employee community, we strive to uphold the following core values, which are critical to business success and how we measure individual and team performance. Do you share our core values? 

• Be Accountable: You love to take ownership, and hold yourself and others accountable to increase empowerment and success.

• Celebrate Authenticity: You love bringing your true self to work and creating genuine and trustful relationships within a diverse environment.

• In It Together: You have a team-first mindset and love collaborating with your peers.

• Create Value for Our Customers: You love delivering meaningful business impact and being a release partner for all aspects of digital quality.

• Crush Your Goals: You always strive for excellence and constantly seek ways to be better, more effective and more efficient.

Compensation: 

Beyond Applause’s award-winning culture, our employee-centric benefits and competitive compensation strategy are designed to support your physical and mental well-being, promote work-life balance, and fuel your professional growth. 

The total salary range for this position is $220,000 - $325,000.

Accommodations: 

Applause is a place where everyone belongs and where we believe everyone deserves the exceptional. We continue to celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive, equitable environment for our employees. If you believe you require a reasonable accommodation und.er any of the legally protected characteristics, please click here to complete an accommodation request. Please note, Applause will only review requests for applications that have been submitted. We will review your qualifications and follow up with you regarding your request if your qualifications meet our current needs.

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