Bring in worker for chief (9)
I believe the answer is:
important
'for chief' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'bring in worker' is the wordplay.
'bring in' becomes 'import' (bring in to a country).
'worker' becomes 'ant' (worker is a type of ant).
'import'+'ant'='IMPORTANT'
(Other definitions for important that I've seen before include "Meaningful" , "Eminent" , "Significant, valuable" , "major" , "Noted" .)