Chief of Staff - Executive Leadership Program

Chief of Staff, Executive Leadership Program

Banyan Software  |  Two-year program  |  Remote: United States or Canada  |  Start date: Summer 2027  |  Open to final-year MBA candidates

Timelines:  -Select on-campus & virtual campus events: Oct/Nov 2026;   -Interviews starting Jan 2027;   -Offers: Feb 2027   -Start date: May/June 2027

The Opportunity

This is a high-impact opportunity to work directly alongside one of Banyan’s seasoned Operating Leaders, each overseeing a portfolio of software businesses in a buy, hold and grow investment model. As Chief of Staff, you become a trusted right hand to your Operating Leader and a close working partner to the CEOs and functional leaders across their companies.

The role is deliberately broad. Rather than a fixed rotation, you will move across multiple operating companies and business problems: shaping a go-to-market plan for one company, improving customer onboarding at another, or standing up the first 100 days of a newly acquired business. You will gain exposure to software M&A, but the core of the job is hands-on value creation and operating work. You own initiatives end to end.

The Executive Leadership Program (ELP) runs two years. Development is intentional. You will work through a range of experiences spanning go-to-market, M&A, customer, and finance priorities portfolio-wide, plus gain hands-on leadership reps, with regular check-ins and development opportunities to ready you for your next role. High performers move from the ELP program into a CEO or C-suite role within a Banyan operating company, or into a leadership role at Banyan Software HQ.

For those who want to learn how great vertical software businesses are built and run, and who want the fastest path available to running one themselves, this is the job.

What You’ll Gain

• A cohort of high-caliber peers. You grow and learn alongside other ELPs at Banyan, building a long-term network of future operators.
• Direct apprenticeship with senior operators. You will work very closely with an Operating Leader and see firsthand how experienced leaders make decisions across different software businesses.
• Dedicated development support. External executive coaching in Year 2, plus mentorship from Operating Leaders with decades of software experience.
• The fastest track we offer to running a business. High performers move directly from this program into a C-suite seat inside a Banyan operating company or a leadership role at HQ. It is not guaranteed, performance decides placement, but it is the first place Banyan looks when those seats open and we have a strong track record of placing CEOs through our ELP.
• Real operating reps, not case reps. You carry a genuine initiative inside a live business and leadership-level stretch assignments, decisions that show up in a P&L.

What You Will Own

Portfolio Value Creation

• Partner with CEOs and functional leaders across multiple operating companies to identify priorities and implement the Banyan Operating System, turning strategy into measurable operational improvements.
• Lead high-impact, cross-functional projects across product, go-to-market, sales, marketing, pricing, and customer success as the right hand to Leader.

M&A and Integration

• Gain exposure to Banyan’s acquisition process, including value-creation plan framing during diligence.
• Support integration planning and onboarding for newly acquired businesses, helping establish operating rhythms and priorities while respecting what already makes each business work.
• Help execute the value-creation plan once a deal closes, turning the diligence thesis into the specific operating bets a business needs to win in year one.

Executive Partnership

• Support your Operating Leader on critical initiatives, executive decision-making, and cross-company collaboration, frequently influencing outcomes without formal authority or direct reports.
• Build the judgment, breadth, and pattern recognition required for future general management by working different business problems across a portfolio of vertical software companies.

What We’re Looking For

Must-Haves

• Graduating or recently graduated from a top MBA program. This cycle is not open to first-year MBA students.
• 2–5 years of pre-MBA experience in an operating role (product, business operations, portfolio operations, or value creation), management consulting, private equity, or investment banking, with a demonstrated record of owning measurable outcomes.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal judgment, with the ability to synthesize complex information and influence senior stakeholders without relying on formal authority.
• High learning agility and comfort with ambiguity. You get smart quickly in unfamiliar areas, prioritize what matters, and move from analysis to action.
• Low ego and high ownership. You are ambitious but humble, seek feedback, build trust quickly, and are motivated by the work of operating a business rather than by title.
• US or Canadian work authorization is required.

Nice-to-Haves

• Experience in software, SaaS, or another recurring revenue business. Familiarity with vertical software economics is an advantage.
• Experience leading a team. Direct people management is not required; this role initially relies on leadership through influence.

Banyan is an equal opportunity employer.