Chief of staff vs office manager

The differences between chiefs of staff and office managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes More than 10 years to become a chief of staff, becoming an office manager takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a chief of staff has an average salary of $130,835, which is higher than the $43,395 average annual salary of an office manager.

The top three skills for a chief of staff include PET, team support and project management. The most important skills for an office manager are customer service, patients, and financial statements.

Chief of staff vs office manager overview

	Chief Of Staff	Office Manager
Yearly salary	$130,835	$43,395
Hourly rate	$62.90	$20.86
Growth rate	6%	-8%
Number of jobs	124,272	53,712
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Average age	52	47
Years of experience	-	6

What does a chief of staff do?

A chief of staff primarily supports an executive through performing various administrative tasks. Most of their responsibilities revolve around collaborating with other executive support personnel to devise strategies that will help the company, responding to inquiries and correspondence, approving communications letters, managing schedules, setting appointments, and serving as an advisor to the executive. Furthermore, when it comes to issues and disputes, the chief of staff must be quick to conduct research and perform damage control to help the executive and the company rise from the occasion.

What does an office manager do?

Office managers oversee the entire workplace. They maintain office processes and services to ensure that everything is running well. They manage office supplies by managing inventory and procurement procedures. They also device filing systems, create needed and relevant office policies, and ensure that all the policies are being followed. As a way to make sure that the office is in top shape, office managers supervise most of the logistical aspects inside the office. They also provide support to both management teams and the rest of the employees. They often act as the bridge between the two and would sometimes even assist in the training of new employees.

Chief of staff vs office manager salary

Chiefs of staff and office managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Chief Of Staff	Office Manager
Average salary	$130,835	$43,395
Salary range	Between $85,000 And $200,000	Between $30,000 And $62,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	California	New York
Best paying company	Lyft	Moody's
Best paying industry	Start-up	Construction

Differences between chief of staff and office manager education

There are a few differences between a chief of staff and an office manager in terms of educational background:

	Chief Of Staff	Office Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	California State University - Bakersfield

Chief of staff vs office manager demographics

Here are the differences between chiefs of staff' and office managers' demographics:

	Chief Of Staff	Office Manager
Average age	52	47
Gender ratio	Male, 62.0% Female, 38.0%	Male, 13.5% Female, 86.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 7.8% White, 76.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 18.4% Asian, 5.2% White, 60.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	12%	8%

Differences between chief of staff and office manager duties and responsibilities

Chief of staff example responsibilities.

Lead headquarters (HQ) operations staff.
Manage the G3's fiscal year budget planning, formulation, and execution.
Supervise the G2 administrative section and maintain and manage the G2 budget and material resources.
Manage the predeployment training and the deployment process to receiving commands, and subsequent redeployment and deactivation.
Manage budgets of $75,000 to $22 million paying keen attention to cost containment and ROI.
Credit for managing and improving the HAZMAT program, which serve as a benchmark example for the base community.

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Office manager example responsibilities.

Manage international team development of RFP for new MPLS global network services.
Produce around $100k month sales/ billings, AIA documents, and manage customer accounts.
Monitor and manage the HVAC environment and nightly office cleaning performance for maximum comfort, appearance and functionality.
Manage PMO office functions including creation of strategic plan, marketing of services, and resource and project planning.
Manage production of an RFP to source $60m in software and services and manage a subset of the subsequent implementation.
Manage daily functions and systems to ensure patients receive appropriate accommodations under HIPAA guidelines.

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Chief of staff vs office manager skills

Common chief of staff skills

PET, 15%
Team Support, 11%
Project Management, 8%
Oversight, 7%
Direct Reports, 6%
Marketing Campaigns, 6%

Common office manager skills

Customer Service, 19%
Patients, 13%
Financial Statements, 6%
Office Operations, 4%
Office Equipment, 4%
Scheduling Appointments, 4%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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