Demanding EA role to successful Founder - French Speaker

Our client is a very successful founder & CEO who is looking for an experienced EA to support him across his various business ventures and personal affairs. He is French and is ideally looking for someone who speaks French as about 30% of his correspondence is in French. He is based in London with his young family and had a very high performing EA for many years based in Paris and is now looking for someone to take over and be based in London. He is incredibly busy and in back to back meetings so has very little face to face time with his EA, thus he has to be very direct in his communication style and he needs someone who is very proactive and forward thinking in order to make him run more efficiently and save time. For instance, when given a task to find the best hotel in a new location or children’s activity, he would expect this EA to use their initiative to present him with all the relevant information and 2 or 3 options so quick decisions can be made with little back and forth. A large portion of the role is managing his complex diary which is subject to change and needs lots of rescheduling constantly, and the principal likes to have regular updates on how tasks are progressing and be kept informed. The role will be split between business and personal support, and a muck in mentality is needed as you will be central to making his day move as smoothly as possible whether grabbing him a coffee between meetings or ensuring he has lunch.

Executive Assistant Responsibilities:

• Complex diary management, including planning and scheduling meetings, managing time to best effect
• Organising travel itineraries; flights, transfers, accommodation etc
• Drafting and responding to emails and invitations on the principal’s behalf
• Being the communication hub between the Founder and his various businesses
• Acting as gatekeeper / point of contact for the Founder
• Preparing internal and external reports and documentation as needed
• Building and nurturing relationships with stakeholders, clients and key contacts
• Assisting with events
• Sorting and managing all expenses/invoices
• Organising and maintaining files and records

Private PA tasks:

• All travel and holidays (finding villas/chalets/hotels, flight bookings, transfers, activities etc)
• Sourcing gifts for family and friends
• Being on top of important annual calendar dates (e.g. birthdays, anniversaries etc)
• Tracking all important documents, ensuring all is up to date (e.g. passport, driving licence, etc)
• Ad hoc research

The ideal candidate will be fluent in French, have supported a Founder or CEO previously and be confident in their abilities, have high emotional intelligence and be resilient. Excellent communication skills are key as is a solution orientated and super proactive mindset. French language skills would be a bonus but is not a prerequisite. You will be working across an interesting portfolio of ventures/businesses and working at a very high level. This role is not 24/7 but there will be some contact out of hours when there is an urgent need. This role is office based 5 days a week with some occasional working from home.