About vChief
What is vChief?
vChief is a fractional executive staffing service founded in 2016 by Maddy Niebauer. The origin story is told directly on the Our Company page: "When her boss launched a new nonprofit with a tighter budget and no room for a full-time role, Maddy stepped in with a solution: a part-time, virtual Chief of Staff. What started as a side gig quickly grew into the foundation for vChief — designed to help leaders stay in their 'zone of genius' by providing expert fractional support across a range of roles beyond just Chief of Staff."
The service places fractional and interim executives — Chief of Staff, Associate Chief of Staff, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, EOS Integrator, and HR Business Partner roles — drawn from a curated network of 400+ leaders with an average of 12 years of management experience. The company specialises in nonprofit, education, political, healthcare, and professional services. vChief was named One of the Best Places to Work in 2023 by Inc. and is a 2025 Inc. 5000 honoree.
Where will I work?
vChief's contractor network operates fully remote across the United States. The careers page is explicit on this point: "All of the candidates we work with are fully remote." The internal central team is based in Madison, Wisconsin (per WebSearch corroboration via Yahoo Finance, BRAVA Magazine, and ibmadison.com). Note: vChief's active domain is vchiefs.com; the legacy virtualchiefofstaff.com URL redirects to the new domain.
What is the vChief team like?
The internal team is built around four explicit core values: Impact ("we provide the highest quality of service that positions our clients to expand their capacity"), Leadership ("accountable for our actions, and execute our work with integrity"), Belonging ("our authentic identities, experiences, and perspectives are the key to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture"), and Balance ("we foster an environment of autonomy and flexibility for our team, knowing this leads to stronger results, enduring partnerships and greater satisfaction").
Named internal team members on the Our Company page: Maddy Niebauer (Founder & CEO), Allison Sell, Beth Jacobs, Brooke Tremblay, Cara Mills, Dolores Fabregas, Francesca Latham, Jenn Chandler, Leslie Vargas, Rebecca Buchanan, Theo Smith, and Tiana McKenna — 12 named individuals in total.
Work-Life Balance
For the contractor network, work is part-time per client — typically 20-120+ hours per month, averaging 3-9 months per engagement — with full flexibility to vary hours seasonally and combine multiple clients. Internal-team work-life policies (4-day work week / 32-hour cap, unlimited vacation with set minimums) are described in third-party press but are not part of the contractor network's engagement terms.
Perks and Benefits
For contractors in the network:
- Fully remote across the United States
- Variable hours seasonally — 20-120+ hours per month, 3-9 month engagements typical
- Diverse, vetted client pool (nonprofit, education, political, healthcare, professional services)
- Fast payment via ACH — no individual-client invoicing
- No business development required — vChief sources and matches clients
- Selective onboarding: 5-step process (apply, first-round phone, work samples + references, second-round phone, reference check + final decision)
New client engagements include a 20-hour risk-free trial: "Try vChief for 20 hours, risk-free — with any new engagement. Love our support, or your money back." Returning clients: 88% of clients recommend the service.