Chief of staff for founders, owners and managing directors in Dubai whose business has outgrown one calendar. The chief of staff is the owner's right hand on substance, not on logistics: they hold the list of priorities, run the projects that cross several teams, prepare and follow up the leadership meetings and make sure decisions actually land. We assess candidates on a real owner's week: a messy set of priorities, a stuck cross-team project and a meeting that needs a decision.
Hire a chief of staffLooking for a job?A chief of staff who turns the owner's intentions into a tracked list of decisions, owners and dates, and who can tell the owner what is not moving and why.
Chief of staff is not a licensed role, and the title is used loosely in Dubai: some candidates are strong EAs, some are junior consultants without a team behind them. The checks below are about judgment, follow-through and trust.
How it differs from neighbouring roles. An executive assistant owns the owner's time: calendar, travel, inbox, documents. A chief of staff owns the owner's agenda: priorities, projects, decisions and their follow-through across teams, and usually does not do travel or diary. A COO owns operations with their own budget, team and targets; the chief of staff has no department and works through the authority of the owner. Hire a chief of staff when you have several teams and no time to drive the cross-team work yourself; hire an EA when the problem is your calendar and inbox; hire a COO when you need someone accountable for running the business day to day. Common hiring mistakes: hiring a chief of staff and using them as an EA, or expecting them to run departments without authority.
| Level | Salary, AED/month |
|---|---|
| Chief of staff to an owner of a mid-size business | 25,000 - 32,000 |
| Chief of staff in a group with several companies or a family holding | 32,000 - 40,000 |
| Senior EA stepping into the role | 18,000 - 25,000 |
Orientation only, market estimate: pay depends on the size of the business, the candidate's background (consulting or operations sits higher) and whether the role carries a team. Total package, basic salary plus allowances; the employer also pays visa, health insurance and gratuity provision. For comparison, an executive assistant to a C-level person or a family office is about 20,000 - 30,000.
Besides the salary, the employer covers the work permit and residence visa, medical test, Emirates ID and mandatory health insurance. By UAE law these costs cannot be deducted from the employee's pay.
Exact visa and insurance costs depend on company category, emirate and plan. See the full cost of hiring guide or ask us for a budget for your case.
Orientation, market estimate: about 25,000 - 40,000 AED per month total package, depending on the size of the business, the candidate's background and whether they manage anyone. A senior executive assistant moving into the role is usually 18,000 - 25,000 AED. The employer also pays visa, health insurance and gratuity provision.
If your problem is time (calendar, travel, inbox), you need an executive assistant. If your problem is that decisions and cross-team projects stall because nobody drives them, you need a chief of staff: they hold priorities and follow-through but have no department of their own. If you need someone accountable for operations with a budget and targets, that is a COO. Many owners hire an EA first and a chief of staff when the business has several teams.
Our fee is fixed for each role and agreed before the search starts. A 10% prepayment of the fee starts the search, the rest is due once the person has started work. If it does not work out, we find a replacement free of charge; the period is set in the contract.
A free 15-minute review: salary, requirements and timeline for your business.
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