Chief of Staff

Chief of Staff

STARK · Reports to the CEO · Miami or New York, with regular travel

$100,000 – $135,000 base, plus a 5 – 20% performance bonus

Build the system that helps a great company finish what it starts.

STARK is an 88-year-old, third-generation luxury carpet and rug company, sold through the interior design trade. Our leaders are wired to see what's next and start it. What we need now is a system wired to finish it.

Today, too much of that depends on our CEO noticing when something slips. We are hiring a Chief of Staff to change that: to build and run the system that makes problems visible while they are small, so leaders own their own results and the people at the top can spend their time leading.

This is a founding role. You will build it, not inherit it. And it comes with a clear growth path: into leading how STARK develops its leaders.

About STARK

Founded in 1938, STARK sells carpets and rugs to the interior design trade through showrooms nationwide, a wholesale division and a growing e-commerce channel, with warehouse and fabrication in Calhoun, Georgia. We are about $250M in revenue.

We are becoming a technology company that sells carpet. That doesn't mean adding AI on top of old processes. It means redesigning how work gets done so jobs are easier and more reliable. We have invested heavily in our leaders: conscious leadership training, AI training for about 60 managers, and a shared project-management method. You will turn that groundwork into how the company runs.

What you'll do

Run the leadership operating rhythm. Own the agendas and preparation for leadership meetings, monthly and quarterly business reviews, offsites and annual planning. Meetings start on time, end on time, and end with decisions, owners and dates.

Make execution visible. Keep the CEO's project board current. Set the standard for how leaders present their own status, and flag slips early, while they are still yellow. You escalate patterns; you don't chase every item.

Be the front door to the CEO. High-level admin, scheduling and coordination with the CEO route through you. You'll design that front door with him and teach the organization how to use it.

Build, and grow into leading, leadership development. Coordinate our leadership programs from day one. Design and teach spot-checking as a leadership skill for our next layer of leaders. Over 12 – 24 months, grow into leading how STARK develops its leaders.

Use AI where it helps. Build simple tools that make the rhythm repeatable. Judgment comes first.

What success looks like in 90 days

• The CEO's project board is current, and he trusts it without asking anyone
• Leaders present their own status, on cadence
• Problems are caught while they're small, and fewer of them reach the CEO
• Leadership meetings are noticeably more disciplined
• You've piloted your first leadership development session

What this role is not

• Not an executive assistant or a gatekeeper
• Not someone who chases every open item or solves other people's problems for them
• Not a functional leader. Our leaders own their results; you make them visible

What we commit to

This role only works if leadership changes too. Our CEO and leadership team have committed, in writing, to working inside the system you build: presenting our own status, answering your follow-ups, and giving you explicit permission to tell us, the CEO included, when we're going around it.

Who you are

• A finisher. You close loops, and you remember the commitment everyone else forgot
• A systems builder. You would rather fix the process than rescue the outcome
• A developer of people. You teach well, and you want to lead leadership development one day
• Direct and respectful. You are comfortable holding senior leaders to their word
• A learner, not a knower. Humble, curious, coachable, and calm under pressure
• Discreet. Ego-light, "we" over "I"

Background

• 3 – 7 years in operations, project management, consulting, a chief-of-staff or executive-office role, or as a military officer
• Real experience running meetings and operating rhythms
• Experience teaching, training or facilitating adults
• A clear, concise writer
• Comfortable with AI tools (Claude, Copilot, Granola or similar)
• Based in Miami or New York, or elsewhere on the East Coast if you can travel heavily between Miami, New York and Calhoun, Georgia

How to apply

Send your resume and a short answer (about 100 words) to each question:

1. Describe a specific time you noticed that a commitment owned by someone else, not you, was going to miss its date before it was due. How did you notice, what did you do in the first 48 hours, and how did it end?
2. Describe a system, process or tool you built that kept running after you stopped touching it.

We'll also send you a short online assessment (about 10 minutes; we cover the cost). Next comes a brief phone conversation with our People & Culture team, and then a one-way video interview that goes deeper on how you work. Candidates who move forward from there meet our CEO.

COMPANY INFO

About Us:

With more than 80 years of industry expertise, STARK is the discerning designer’s go-to source for luxurious custom carpet and rugs.

Our Mission:
To live our mission of helping create world class experiences, we believe our first responsibility is making design industry professionals the heroes in their projects because supporting businesses helps to preserve craftsmanship and enable unique and specially designed spaces to exist. In meeting their needs, we must continue to deliver peace of mind service while offering an expansive, diverse, and innovative product assortment that is accessible and convenient.

Our Heritage:
Established by Arthur Stark and his wife Nadia in 1938, the foundation of STARK was always to provide the very best products to our customers. With a rich history, third generation owners Chad Stark, as CEO, and Ashley Stark, as Creative Director, bring the STARK legacy into the new century by staying true to their founding principles. To seek out the best craftsman and methods of manufacturing for the most innovative and beautiful designs.

STARK is a certified Great Place to Work® (June 2026– June 2027) — and that comes straight from our people. 85% of our employees say STARK is a great place to work, 28 points above the typical U.S. company. See our full certified profile and what our team says about working here: greatplacetowork.com/certified-company/7023725

Stark Carpet Corporation provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, amnesty, or status as a covered veteran in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws.