Responsibilities of a High-Profile Personal Assistant

High-Profile Executive Assistant

Just as the responsibilities of senior business leaders will differ significantly from the junior staff in their organization, executive assistants will face different expectations based on the unique requirements and status of their principal.

A high-profile executive assistant, often called an executive assistant, works with professionals in top-level positions and holds a similarly high-pressure role. Here, we’ll explore what their day-to-day responsibilities include, and the skills and character traits the best executive assistants possess.

Defining the Role of a High-profile Executive Assistant

Chief executives, senior managers, and business leaders of every stripe are under constant demand for their time, expertise, and guidance. It’s the role of an executive assistant or executive assistant to shield their principal from any unnecessary distractions and disruptions.

They will handle time-consuming admin, travel booking, and diary management, and be the gatekeeper for communications. They may also take on tasks relating to their principal’s executive life.

They allow the principal to stay focused on the important tasks and, as a result, help keep the wheels of the business turning.

Qualities of an Exceptional High-profile Executive Assistant

As they work with powerful businesspeople in a high-stakes environment, executive assistants need to have a particular set of qualities for them to thrive in the role. the most valuable of these include:

• Calm temperament – whether it’s answering phone calls from frustrated colleagues, partners, and clients, or dealing with a principal at boiling point, the best EAs need a cool head.
• Discretion – working for c-suite executives and senior management means handling sensitive data and being party to important business discussions. a high-profile executive assistant will need to stay tight-lipped about any information picked up during their working day.
• Organization – senior managers have more meetings, more calls, and more travel, and they need to be able to rely on their assistants to stay on top of this schedule. organization and time-management skills are a must-have.
• Communication – as the point-of-contact for their principal, the best assistants need excellent written and verbal communication, with an understanding of the correct tone to use with each correspondent. They also need to be able to relay information to their principal in a clear and concise manner.

Administrative Duties of a High-profile Executive Assistant

Like their more junior executive assistant counterparts, high-profile executive assistants will take on a lot of the admin tasks relating to their principal. Below, we’ll look at the most common tasks.

Managing Busy Schedules and Appointments

The diaries of senior managers will be handled by their executive assistants. This means the assistant will have a complete understanding of where their principal needs to be at any given time of the day, and what they will be doing. This could be a client meeting, giving a speech at a conference, or even attending their child’s school play.

Travel Arrangements and Itinerary Management

As well as knowing where their principal should be at a given time, a high-profile executive assistant will often be in charge of getting them there. Booking taxis, trains, planes, hotels, and restaurants is all within the assistant’s remit, and they will need to have the quick-thinking to make adjustments to these bookings, should anything go wrong.

Email and Communication Management

Certain senior staff may require their executive assistant to take full responsibility for their email inbox and phone calls. If this is the case, the assistant will need a strong grasp of the language and tone they should use in every interaction.

Document Organization and Filing

A high-profile executive assistant will be in charge of organizing and storing their principal’s physical and digital documents. many of these documents will contain sensitive information, and will likely be needed in the future, so an assistant needs a good organizational head, and an understanding of physical and digital security.

Executive Support and Concierge Services

As well as performing a range of business-related tasks for their principal, high-profile executive assistants will often offer support for executive matters. The extent of this crossover into the executive side will be up to the principal, but typically executive assistants may be expected to handle the following.

Shopping and Gift Procurement

During busy business hours, executive assistants may be asked to run shopping errands. it could be taking a suit to a tailor, picking it up from the dry cleaners, or purchasing a birthday gift for a family member.

Event Planning and Coordination

With their excellent organizational and diary management skills, high-profile executive assistants are a great help when planning executive events. From booking a function room for an anniversary party to finding a day in the diary for a picnic with the family, the responsibility is often passed on to an executive assistant.

Family Support and Household Management

Alongside handling their principal’s diary, executive assistants may be required to oversee a family schedule too. This could include children’s after-school and weekend activities, family holidays and more. Many high-profile executive assistants manage junior executive assistants within the business, and so are a natural choice to help manage their principal’s household staff. They may be expected to handle household staff rotas, payment, and hiring.

Confidentiality and Discretion

Due to the seniority of their principal, high-profile executive assistants will be entrusted with a lot of sensitive information. Whether it’s information in the reports they compile, or private discussions with clients and other senior colleagues, the assistant must treat everything they encounter with complete discretion.

The Importance of Confidentiality

leaked information can have a huge negative impact on every aspect of a business. The company’s public image, consumer confidence, profits, and employee morale can all be affected, so any executive assistant who is a party to confidential information should have a proven track record as a trustworthy employee.

Building Professional Relationships

More than any other assistant, a high-profile executive assistant will have direct relationships with clients, senior management, and even their principal’s family. Therefore, it’s important that they have a naturally sociable and polite manner.

Effective Communication with Employers and Colleagues

in many day-to-day situations, a high-profile executive assistant will be the voice of their principal – answering emails, phone calls, and talking with colleagues in the office. they should be able to communicate clearly to avoid any misunderstandings and diffuse potential issues from both clients and colleagues.

Collaborating with Other Support Staff

Although the high-profile executive assistant role may be very one-to-one, it also requires a knack for teamwork. most businesses will have more than one senior manager and so more than a high-level assistant. Just as the managers must constantly work together to best direct the business, so will their executive assistants need to coordinate on a daily basis.

Read some of our most frequently asked questions on the responsibilities of a high-profile executive assistant below.

If you’re looking to hire a high-profile executive assistant or other support staff, get in touch with your requirements today.

Author Jess Krisburg Tiger Recruitment Team