Land Development Chief of Staff

Chief of Staff – Land Development

**Silverthorne Homebuilders · In-person in Sycamore, IL (no remote) · Some travel to the Quad Cities · Full-time**

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Somewhere right now, a giant publicly-traded homebuilder is holding its fourth meeting of the week to decide who's allowed to schedule the meeting about the meeting about the next deal. Someone there has a job title with six words and a Roman numeral in it. A grading permit has been sitting in an inbox for nine days because "that's not my department."

**We are not that place.**

Silverthorne is a nimble, vertically-integrated homebuilder and land developer where good ideas don't have to survive a gauntlet of corporate investment committees, and the person who owns a problem actually gets to solve it. We move fast, we finish what we start, and we'd rather hand someone real responsibility than a 40-page process manual and a corporate ladder to climb.

We're looking for a **Chief of Staff – Land Development** — the President's right hand, and the person who makes the land pipeline actually *move*.

The role

You'll be the operating engine behind our land development deals: driving every deal forward — on schedule and on budget — and keeping a talented (but very busy) team accountable to what they said they'd do. It's about 70% strategic right-hand work and 30% rolling up your sleeves on the applications, permits, and consultant-wrangling that turn dirt into neighborhoods. You'll report directly to the President.

This is an **in-person role based in our Sycamore, IL office — no remote** — with some travel to our Quad Cities operations.

If you're the kind of person who builds a tracker for fun, follows up before anyone has to ask, and can charm a municipal planner and hold a senior VP to a deadline in the same afternoon — keep reading.

What you'll do

- Run the operating rhythm — a weekly deal review off one live tracker, with crisp notes and action items that actually get done.

- Drive accountability: turn commitments into tracked actions and chase them to the finish — 5 days out, 3 days out, day-of, daily-until-done.

- Keep every deal hitting its milestones on the dates we committed to. No more "it slipped."

- Own municipal applications, permitting, and the herd of consultants (engineers, surveyors, traffic, environmental) — and run the schedule yourself instead of hoping the engineer does.

- Own the pre-development and development budgets, with weekly cost updates and zero surprises.

What you'll need

- **Commercial real estate development *or* residential land development experience — required.** Civil engineers in these categories are encouraged to apply.

- **Illinois development experience is a must.** You already know how entitlements, municipalities, and regulatory agencies work in this state.

- Able to work in person in our Sycamore, IL office (again — not a remote role) and travel occasionally to the Quad Cities.

Who you are

- **Meticulous *and* assertive** — a rare combination, we know. You sweat the details on a plat and still walk into a room and hold people to their word.

- Relentless follow-through. Nothing falls through the cracks on your watch.

- Comfortable directing experts without needing to *be* the expert. Confidence over credentials.

What's in it for you

Here's where we're genuinely different from the big guys:

- **Profit sharing** — share in the success of the deals you help deliver. When we win, you win.

- **A real path to ownership** — earn equity in our projects and a genuine path to becoming a principal one day. Not a foosball table. Actual ownership.

- **Health, dental, and vision insurance.**

- **401(k) with company match.**

- **Employee discount program on new builds** — yes, on the homes we build.

- **Competitive base plus performance-based variable** — target total earnings of **$150,000–$250,000** in year one, with room to grow from there.

- A seat at the table, not a rung on a ladder.

Sound like you?

Apply right here on Indeed with your resume. Bonus points if you tell us about a time you dragged something across the finish line that would've died without you — those are our favorite stories.

*Silverthorne Homebuilders is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to any legally protected status.*

Pay: $150,000.00 - $250,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Employee discount
• Flexible schedule
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Professional development assistance
• Referral program
• Retirement plan
• Tuition reimbursement
• Vision insurance

Work Location: In person

Salary : $150,000 - $250,000