Jeff Zients

American businessman and politician (born 1966), 31th White House Chief of Staff

Born in 1966 in Washington, D.C., and raised in Kensington, Maryland, Jeff Zients established a professional trajectory bridging the private sector and federal government. Educated at St. Albans School and Duke University, he transitioned from management consulting roles at Bain & Company into executive leadership, eventually navigating high-level policy and administrative duties across two distinct presidential administrations in the United States.

Private Sector and Corporate Leadership

Early in his career, Zients worked for Mercer Management Consulting and Bain & Company. He served as chief operating officer, chief executive officer, and chairman of the Advisory Board Company, and acted as chairman for the Corporate Executive Board. Under his leadership, these firms conducted initial public offerings. He founded the investment firm Portfolio Logic LLC, focusing on health care and business services. Later, he served as the chief executive officer of Cranemere and held a seat on the Facebook board of directors from 2018 to 2020.

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Service in the Obama Administration

Zients entered public service in 2009 as the United States chief performance officer and deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget. He chaired the President's Management Council and served as acting director of the Office of Management and Budget in 2010 and between 2012 and 2013. Following the 2013 launch of healthcare.gov, he led the effort to remediate the website's technical failures. From 2014 to 2017, he served as assistant to the president for economic policy and director of the National Economic Council, focusing on business outreach and regulatory initiatives such as the fiduciary rule.

Roles in the Biden Administration

During the Biden administration, Zients took on multiple senior responsibilities. From January 2021 to April 2022, he served as counselor to the president and coordinator of the COVID-19 Response. He subsequently transitioned to the position of White House chief of staff, serving from February 2023 until January 2025. These roles involved managing interagency operations and coordinating executive policy across federal departments.