Upwork
Chief of Staff to the COO & GM of Marketplace
Palo Alto, California, United States · Exec · Contract
Stay score
odds of building a lasting career here
Sponsors, but it's cap-subject — you still face the weighted lottery (~61% per draw at Level IV). Good if you win; have a cap-exempt backup on your list.
Lottery odds assume a STEM candidate.
Personalize to your clock →H-1B wage level
the lottery is wage-weighted — each level is one more entry
$12,821 more — $241,821 — moves this role to Level IV and 4 lottery entries. That figure is inside the range the employer already advertised.
Based on the DOL prevailing wage for this occupation and worksite, a base salary of $241,821 would place this position at wage Level IV. That figure is within the posted range, and I'd like to target it. This role classifies under "General and Operations Managers" for prevailing-wage purposes.
DOL prevailing wage, 2026-27 wage year · General and Operations Managers (11-1021) · San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA. Wage level is derived by USCIS from the offered wage, occupation and worksite; the occupation shown is inferred from the job title.
Employer immigration record
from this employer's Department of Labor filings
Files H-1B transfers
Sourced from Department of Labor LCA, PERM and prevailing-wage disclosure data. Employer matching is by name, so figures may be split across an employer's legal entities. Absence of a filing means none appears in our copy of the data, not that none exists.
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About the role
- Upwork Inc.'s (Nasdaq: UPWK) family of companies connects businesses with global, AI-enabled talent across every contingent work type including freelance, fractional, and payrolled.
- Learn more about the Upwork Marketplace at Upwork.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X; and learn more about Lifted at Go-Lifted and follow on LinkedIn.
- This role requires someone who has earned the confidence to walk into any room, speak with authority, and immediately earn credibility - with the COO's direct reports, with the executive team, and with external stakeholders.
Responsibilities
- Serve as a trusted thought partner - not as a gatekeeper, but as someone who makes every interaction with the COO more valuable.
- Maintain a clear line of sight across key initiatives and ensure the COO has the information, context, and preparation needed to drive outcomes - not just attend meetings.
- You will own the quality of materials that come to the COO, provide direct feedback to senior leaders preparing those materials, and ensure that executive time is protected for the work that only the COO can do.
- Own the operating rhythm of the COO organization.
- You'll work directly with finance and functional leads to ensure budget is managed with discipline and that trade-off decisions are made proactively, not reactively.
Requirements
- Please note that a criminal background check may be required once a conditional job offer is made.
- You have operated at the intersection of strategy and execution in a high-velocity environment - consulting, investment banking, a high-growth tech company, or some combination.
- You are organized in a way that others notice.
- Not in a process-for-process's-sake way, but in a way that instills confidence: things don't fall through the cracks around you, and the people you work with know it.
- You have the discretion and judgement to be a confidant - discreet with sensitive information, frank in private, and diplomatically effective in every other setting.
- You know when to be direct and when to be patient.
Nice to have
- 10+ years of relevant experience
- MBA or equivalent strongly preferred.
- Prior Chief of Staff experience or a similar senior operating role is a plus, but the profile matters more than the title.
Skills
- The Chief of Staff to the COO exists to make that model work:
- It is a senior, strategic seat, and will be treated as one.
Compensation
- Monthly and quarterly business reviews, annual planning cycles, leadership forums - you will ensure these are substantive, efficient, and connected to strategic priorities rather than calendar obligations.
Company info
- While we have a physical office in Palo Alto, we currently hire full-time employees in 34 U.S. states, making it easier than ever to join our mission from wherever you call home.
- Visit our Life at Upwork page to learn more about our values, working principles, and the overall employee experience.
- Our culture is built on trust, risk-taking, customer focus, and excellence, all in service of our core mission: to create economic opportunities so people have better lives.
Equal opportunity
- Upwork is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse and inclusive workforce.
Visa & Work Authorization
- Candidates who prefer not to have their interview recorded through BrightHire can opt out when the interview is scheduled.
This listing is sourced directly from Upwork's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.