Chief operating officer vs chief of staff

The differences between chief operating officers and chiefs of staff can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes More than 10 years to become both a chief operating officer and a chief of staff. Additionally, a chief operating officer has an average salary of $136,604, which is higher than the $130,835 average annual salary of a chief of staff.

The top three skills for a chief operating officer include healthcare, customer service and oversight. The most important skills for a chief of staff are PET, team support, and project management.

Chief operating officer vs chief of staff overview

	Chief Operating Officer	Chief Of Staff
Yearly salary	$136,604	$130,835
Hourly rate	$65.67	$62.90
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	128,993	124,272
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 65%	Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Average age	52	52
Years of experience	-	-

What does a chief operating officer do?

A chief operating officer, also known as a COO, is a high-ranking official who oversees a company or organization's daily administrative and overall operations. They are typically the second in the chain of command, reporting directly to the company's chief executive officer, also known as a CEO. Among their duties include developing strategies and guidelines, reviewing reports, performing assessments, and implementing the company's policies, standards, and regulations. Additionally, they lead and empower staff to reach goals, helping solve issues and concerns when any arise.

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.

Chief operating officer vs chief of staff salary

Chief operating officers and chiefs of staff have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Chief Operating Officer	Chief Of Staff
Average salary	$136,604	$130,835
Salary range	Between $81,000 And $229,000	Between $85,000 And $200,000
Highest paying City	Jersey City, NJ	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	New Jersey	California
Best paying company	Baker McKenzie	Lyft
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Start-up

Differences between chief operating officer and chief of staff education

There are a few differences between a chief operating officer and a chief of staff in terms of educational background:

	Chief Operating Officer	Chief Of Staff
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 65%	Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Chief operating officer vs chief of staff demographics

Here are the differences between chief operating officers' and chiefs of staff' demographics:

	Chief Operating Officer	Chief Of Staff
Average age	52	52
Gender ratio	Male, 76.6% Female, 23.4%	Male, 62.0% Female, 38.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.7% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 7.5% Asian, 7.5% White, 76.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	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%
LGBT Percentage	12%	12%

Differences between chief operating officer and chief of staff duties and responsibilities

Chief operating officer example responsibilities.

Manage the RFP process and present investment packages to local and regional lenders to procure acquisition and long term debt financing.
Develop and integrate care services, achieve and maintain JCAHO accreditation.
Attain ISO registration, resulting in excellent documentation and adherence to operational and administrative process controls.
Manage the implementation of a new supply base global ERP system that reduce inventory and enable just-in-time delivery.
Establish, manage and coordinate activities of this start-up management company specializing in turning around trouble health insurance plans.
Manage all financial functions including controlling/accounting, board and regulatory reporting, treasury and cash management, and asset/liability management.

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.

Chief operating officer vs chief of staff skills

Common chief operating officer skills

Healthcare, 11%
Customer Service, 8%
Oversight, 7%
Financial Management, 7%
Business Strategies, 6%
Human Resources, 6%

Common chief of staff skills

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

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Chief Operating Officer vs Chief Of Staff

Updated January 8, 2025

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