Austin Is Hiring a New Chief of Staff — the City Manager's No. 2 Job Pays $242,000 to $326,000
The posting went up Tuesday on the city's website and LinkedIn: the chief of staff acts for the City Manager in his absence and oversees the intergovernmental relations, legislative, media, labor relations, ethics and integrity, and corporate internal audit offices.
Austin is recruiting for one of the most powerful appointed jobs in city government. The city posted its chief of staff position on Tuesday, October 27, on the City of Austin website and on LinkedIn, according to KXAN, with a listed salary range of $242,000 to $326,000. The posting describes the chief of staff as a "strategic partner to the City Manager in advancing Council priorities and citywide operations."
The job's reach is the reason the hire matters beyond City Hall's org chart. The chief of staff acts on the City Manager's behalf in his absence and oversees six offices that shape how Austin deals with everyone else: intergovernmental relations, legislative affairs, media relations, labor relations, ethics and integrity, and the corporate internal audit office. The minimum qualifications, per the posting as reported, are a bachelor's degree — a master's is preferred — plus at least seven years of progressively responsible experience working directly with executive leadership, of which at least four years leading teams or managing cross-functional initiatives.
The office has been in the news this month in its own right: David Stout, who held the chief of staff role in an October KXAN interview, discussed the city's new program testing bars, liquor stores and other licensed businesses for checking identification — access tests that KXAN reports begin November 4, 2026. Whoever takes the job next inherits that file, the city's legislative program at the Capitol a few blocks away, and the day-to-day job of turning council priorities into operations across departments.
