Executive Assistant

Summary

This role is an enabler for the managing director. You are to take routine and non-strategic tasks off his plate so that he can focus on high-leverage work.

What success looks like

While every attempt has been made to provide objective standards for this role that should lead to success, the ultimate barometer is subjective – the Managing Director should feel as though his mental load has been reduced, and he has the bandwidth and capacity to focus on high-leverage work, such as:

-          Enterprise sales

-          Staff training

-          Strategy execution

This will manifest itself in a transformation of the Managing Director’s work life within 90 days:

-         His day-to-day workload is visibly lighter – low pay-off tasks are completed independently by you, and he has fewer but higher-impact things to focus on.

-          His mental load drops – he can give all his attention and effort to moving the business forward, without being distracted by administrative burden, because he knows they are capably and accurately taken care of by you.

-          Things are followed up and attended to without him having to think about them or ask.

-          Emails & messages sent on his behalf are high quality and sound like him.

Core responsibilities & standards

Inbox management

·       Inbox is at zero at the end of each working day

·       Every email has been actioned: replied to, assigned out, deferred to a date and scheduled

·       Anything needing the Managing Director's input reaches him as a drafted reply ready to approve or amend, not as a question.

·       Only emails that genuinely need his attention reach him, and time is blocked out for attending to them

Calendar & scheduling

·       None of the back-and-forth of scheduling is done by the Managing Director

·       His calendar is fully booked at least 1 week in advance, including protected focus blocks. He can open his calendar at the start of any day and know exactly what to do.

·       Conduct a weekly review with the Managing Director to confirm the plan and any other upcoming tasks/events

·       Rescheduling is done proactively, without him having to ask.

Meeting notes, actions & follow-ups

·       Capture notes from every meeting. Extract the action points, assign owners, and schedule the tasks.

·       Follow-up with the task owners to ensure they are completed.

·       Provide a list of outstanding actions from the previous meeting before each meeting

·       All notes are recorded in Basecamp

Projects & ad-hoc tasks

·       You clarify requirements before work starts (begin with full kit).

·       You come back with one of three things: 1. Done, what next? 2. This is my proposed solution 3. Here is a specific question/s that need your input before I can continue

·       A deadline is agreed prior to starting, and if this needs to be adjusted it happens before the deadline occurs

·       If a task requires knowledge or skills you don’t have, you independently look to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary using your initiative.

Travel, appointments & bookings

·       All travel bookings are arranged end to end, necessary info communicated to the Managing Director, and everything scheduled in his calendar.

·       Contingencies and context are considered so the Managing Director doesn’t have to double check.

Confidentiality

·       Sensitive information is never disclosed or mishandled, 100% of the time. This will include things such as financial, personal & employment information. You are required to have the maturity and intelligence to understand what is confidential and your absolute first loyalty is to Sober Check & the Managing Director.

Communication

·       You pick up the phone without hesitation and call anyone on the Managing Director’s behalf.

·       Any emails or messages sent in his name read as if he has written it.

Projects & ad-hoc tasks expanded

These are examples of the kind of work you will be expected to complete, including teaching yourself whatever skills the job needs and solving problems as you go.

• Getting website errors fixed and pending updates completed.

• Arranging updates to marketing collateral.

• Liaising with suppliers on labelling changes.

• Researching new 3PL distribution options and making a recommendation.

• Updating company information on vendor and customer portals.

• Maintaining licenses and registrations, including insurances.

• Updating procedures

• Cleaning up file storage

• Implementing an automation to take over a routine task

• Customising field and layouts in the CRM

You will be given an outcome and a timeframe, not necessarily a method. You work out how to achieve the outcome using your own agency.

The first 90 days

Within the first 90 days these signals will tell us if you are a right fit for the role or not:

·       How much has genuinely been taken off the Managing Director’s plate

·       How much the Managing Director’s mental load has reduced

·       How many things are followed up without the Managing Director having to think about them

·       The quality of the emails & correspondence sent on his behalf

·       Inbox at zero at the end of each working day

Who we are looking for

·       You should be an experienced EA with a solid baseline of skills that match this job description.

·       You will help define and shape the role, within the parameters of this job description. You are a self-starter and don’t wait to be told what to do.

·       You are assertive but respectful. You can make decisions, challenge thinking, and hold people to commitments, without getting out of your place. You back the Managing Director’s decisions once they are made.

·       You are completely comfortable on the phone. You recognize that this is the fastest way to communicate quickly and get answers, so you do not hesitate to pick up the phone and can accurately speak on the Managing Director’s behalf.

·       You can teach yourself the skills and acquire the knowledge necessary to complete tasks; you do not need to constantly refer back to the Managing Director for guidance.

You are discrete, reliable and absolutely 100% confidential.