Chief of Staff, Data

United States

Data Science

About Coursera

Coursera and Udemy are now one company, creating one of the world's most comprehensive skills development platforms for the AI era. This strengthens our ability to accelerate AI-powered innovation and shape how the world discovers and builds skills at a pivotal moment of change. Read more about the combined company by visiting our blog.

Coursera was launched in 2012 by Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller with a mission to provide universal access to world-class learning. Coursera partners with leading university and industry partners to offer a broad catalog of content and credentials, including courses, Specializations, Professional Certificates, and degrees. Coursera’s platform innovations — including AI-powered personalized guide and features, like Role Play and Course Builder, and role-based solutions like Skills Tracks — enable instructors, partners, and companies to deliver scalable, personalized, and verified learning. Institutions worldwide rely on Coursera to upskill and reskill their employees, students, and citizens in high-demand fields such as GenAI, data science, technology, and business, while learners globally turn to Coursera to master the skills they need to advance their careers. Coursera is a Delaware public benefit corporation and a B Corp. Coursera recently combined with Udemy to create one of the world’s most comprehensive skills development platforms.

Why Join Us

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We’re a globally distributed team and let you choose the best way you work, whether it's from home, a Coursera hub, or a co-working space near you. Our virtual hiring and onboarding make it easy to join us and start making an impact from anywhere. If you’re ready to make a global impact, scale unique products exclusive to Coursera, and expand your career horizons, apply below.

Job Overview:

We are looking for a Chief of Staff to join our team and serve as a strategic integrator for the Chief Data Officer, operating across a major function or business domain to connect strategy and execution. This role ensures that the Data organization scales effectively, translating company strategy into a cohesive operating system that drives alignment, accountability, and results across multiple teams.

At Coursera, we’re evolving how we operate to enable sustained growth and agility. The Chief of Staff plays a central role in that evolution, designing and improving the frameworks that underpin performance, including planning, governance, decision-making, and resource allocation. Operating at the intersection of strategy and operations, this role enables the executive and leadership team to deliver Coursera’s goals with greater clarity, speed, and discipline.

Objectives of this role:

Translate company strategy into functional operating systems that connect priorities, plans, and execution across teams
Drive cross-functional alignment within and adjacent to the Data organization, ensuring shared accountability for results
Design and evolve frameworks that bring structure, discipline, and visibility to planning, goal-setting, and performance tracking
Enable high-quality decision-making through data, narratives, and governance models that clarify tradeoffs and resource allocation
Ensure organizational readiness and adaptability, balancing scale with speed as Coursera continues to evolve
Strengthen the leadership system within the Data org, increasing focus, follow-through, and clarity across teams

Responsibilities:

Manage and continuously improve the CDO Org operating rhythm, including timely review and action of key performance indicators (KPIs)
Partner with executive-enabling function - People, Finance, Administration - to drive CDO’s strategic change and improvement initiatives org-wide
Drive the strategic and operational planning system for the CDO organization, defining and continuously improving processes that enable the CDO to effectively and efficiently manage their large team with ongoing visibility into results and impact
Oversee a portfolio of strategic projects, structuring and driving to completion complex, ambiguous initiatives, steering large, cross-functional projects, and building consensus with senior leadership across the organization
Lead employee engagement strategy, in collaboration with People Business Partner, crafting initiatives that foster a positive, inclusive, and dynamic work environment. Plan and execute internal communications within the team, ensuring that all team members are informed, aligned, and motivated
Create cross-functional connections between the principal’s org and adjacent functions to accelerate decision-making and remove friction
Facilitate strategic meetings, ensuring alignment and clarity on objectives, and drive follow-through on action items. Represent the CDO in certain cross-functional meetings and projects, advocating for their priorities and ensuring alignment with overall company strategy
Build and develop relationships with the CDO’s direct reports and other individuals in critical roles - providing an unbiased ear - to understand the need and opportunities in existing ways of working and helping define new strategies to address

Required Qualifications:

12-15 years in a business or executive management role
In-depth experience driving results in a Data organization
Extremely versatile, dedicated to efficient productivity
Experience defining, planning, and driving top-level strategic initiatives
Excellent communicator in written and verbal form
Demonstrated experience organizing and directing multiple teams and departments
Proven track record of data-driven approach to complex decision-making

Preferred Qualifications:

Master’s degree in Business Administration or similar field
Experience with data analysis
Experience with budget management
Consulting experience with a focus on operations management
Proven success in a project management role
Nimble business mind with a focus on developing creative solutions
Strong project reporting skills, with a focus on interdepartmental communication

Compensation:

This role is available in the following US Pay Zones:

US Zone 1: $188,480 - $235,600
US Zone 2: $180,120 - $225,150
US Zone 3: $167,200 - $209,000
US Zone 4: $155,420 - $194,275

At Coursera, we offer competitive, zone-based pay aligned to your location, experience, and role level across four U.S. pay zones. Our total rewards package goes beyond salary, with comprehensive health and wellness benefits, bonus and RSU equity programs, and global perks designed to help you grow and thrive wherever you are.

US Pay Zones:

US-Z1: Bay Area
US-Z2: NYC and Seattle Metro
US-Z3: CA, WA, NY, NJ, CO, CT, DC, GA, IL, MA, MD, OR, RI, TX, VA
US-Z4: AK, AZ, DE, FL, HI, ID, IN, IA, KS, KY, MI, MN, MO, MT, NC, NV, NH, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, UT, VT, WI

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