Senior Executive Assistant

The Work

As a Senior Executive Assistant, you will serve as a trusted partner to one or more senior executives and a senior member of the Executive Assistant function within the Office of the Executive. You will provide proactive, high-quality support across executive priorities, stakeholder management, communications, planning, travel, meetings, and strategic initiatives, ensuring executives are able to operate effectively in a fast-paced and highly dynamic environment.

Reporting to the Manager, Executive Office & Board Liaison, you will act as an extension of both the executive and the Executive Office, exercising sound judgment, discretion, and independence in managing competing priorities, stakeholder relationships, and operational requirements. In addition to executive support responsibilities, you will contribute to the effectiveness of the Executive Office by supporting team initiatives, mentoring peers, sharing best practices, and helping drive consistency, continuous improvement, and operational excellence across the Executive Assistant function.

As a senior member of the Executive Assistant function, this role serves as a trusted resource to the Executive Office and plays a key role in supporting operational excellence, consistency of service, team development, and the advancement of executive support practices across the organization.

The successful candidate will be highly organized, solutions-oriented, and capable of operating with minimal direction while managing highly sensitive and confidential matters. This position requires exceptional relationship management skills, strong business acumen, and the ability to anticipate issues, remove administrative friction, and proactively support executive and organizational priorities.

The Core Responsibilities

Executive Office and Team Support

• Serve as a senior member of the Executive Assistant team and model best practices across the function.
• Provide onboarding support, informal mentorship, guidance, and knowledge sharing to Executive Assistants.
• Act as a resource for team members requiring support with complex scheduling, executive travel, stakeholder management, event coordination, and executive office matters.
• Support the Manager, Executive Office & Board Liaison with team initiatives, process improvements, onboarding activities, training efforts, and change management.
• Help promote consistent service standards, collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement across the Executive Assistant function.
• Provide leadership, coordination, and continuity during periods of absence, high-volume activity, executive transitions, special projects, and business-critical events.
• Manage and coordinate briefing materials, executive preparation, follow-up activities, and key communications to ensure executives are informed and prepared for stakeholder engagements and decision-making.

Stakeholder and Relationship Management

• Act as a trusted point of contact between the executive and internal and external stakeholders.
• Build effective working relationships across the Executive Leadership Team, Executive Assistant community, business units, and external partners.
• Represent the executive and the Office of the Executive with professionalism, diplomacy, responsiveness, and sound judgment.
• Coordinate stakeholder requests and ensure commitments are appropriately tracked and addressed.
• Develop and maintain productive relationships with senior internal and external stakeholders, acting as a trusted representative of the executive and the Office of the Executive.
• Exercise discretion and judgment when managing stakeholder access, meeting requests, competing priorities, and sensitive communications on behalf of the executive.

Executive Calendar and Priority Management

• Manage complex executive calendars, ensuring appropriate prioritization of meetings, preparation time, travel, and key business commitments.
• Proactively identify and resolve scheduling conflicts, evaluate competing demands, assess stakeholder priorities, and make recommendations regarding allocation of executive time based on business objectives and organizational priorities.
• Anticipate upcoming requirements and ensure the executive is appropriately prepared for meetings, decisions, events, and stakeholder engagements.
• Respond effectively to last-minute changes while maintaining accuracy, professionalism, and alignment with executive priorities.

Executive Communications

• Draft executive-level correspondence, briefing notes, presentations, talking points, and communications with minimal direction while ensuring alignment with organizational objectives and executive preferences.
• Monitor and triage executive correspondence, identifying urgent, sensitive, or high-priority matters for attention.
• Exercise judgment in determining which matters can be addressed independently and which require escalation.
• Ensure communications are accurate, appropriately tailored to the audience, and consistent with organizational standards.

Initiative and Deliverable Tracking

• Track executive priorities, commitments, strategic initiatives, and follow-up actions to ensure deadlines and deliverables are met.
• Identify risks, delays, competing priorities, and potential barriers to execution, escalating as appropriate.
• Coordinate across business units and stakeholders to support progress, accountability, and timely decision-making.
• Maintain planning documents, briefing materials, action trackers, and executive reporting tools as required.

Meeting and Event Coordination

• Coordinate executive, leadership, stakeholder, and special-purpose meetings, including scheduling, agendas, briefing materials, logistics, catering, room reservations, technology, and follow-up.
• Prepare and distribute meeting materials in a timely and organized manner.
• Record decisions, action items, and accountabilities where required, ensuring appropriate follow-up and completion.
• Support leadership events, offsites, conferences, town halls, and other executive activities in partnership with internal and external stakeholders.

Briefing Materials, Documents and Records

• Prepare, edit, format, and coordinate confidential reports, presentations, correspondence, briefing notes, and other executive materials.
• Maintain organized and secure records and digital filing systems.
• Ensure the executive has timely access to accurate and relevant materials.
• Handle confidential and sensitive information with a high degree of discretion and integrity.

Travel and Expense Management

• Coordinate detailed domestic and international travel arrangements, including transportation, accommodation, itineraries, meeting logistics, and contingency planning.
• Proactively manage changes, disruptions, and time-sensitive travel requirements.
• Prepare, submit, and reconcile executive expenses accurately and within established timelines.
• Maintain appropriate supporting documentation in accordance with company policies and procedures.

Process Improvement and Digital Enablement

• Champion the adoption of Microsoft 365, automation, AI-enabled tools, and approved digital solutions to improve executive productivity, collaboration, and operational effectiveness.
• Identify opportunities to improve processes, workflows, templates, service delivery, and administrative practices across the Executive Office.
• Contribute to the development and adoption of consistent standards and best practices across the Executive Assistant function.
• Support the implementation of new tools, technologies, processes, and ways of working introduced by the Office of the Executive.
• Provide recommendations to improve efficiency, executive effectiveness, and service delivery through innovation and continuous improvement.

Issue Management and Escalation

• Serve as an initial point of contact for urgent executive-office matters.
• Assess issues, gather relevant information, and determine the appropriate response or escalation path.
• Resolve routine administrative and stakeholder matters independently within the scope of the role.
• Escalate sensitive, high-risk, governance-related, or materially consequential matters to the Manager, Executive Office & Board Liaison or the appropriate executive.

General Operational Support

• Provide administrative and logistical support required for the effective operation of the executive office.
• Coordinate couriers, meeting materials, office access, visitors, supplies, and other logistics where connected to executive activities.
• Conduct research, analysis, and information gathering to support executive decision-making, briefing materials, strategic initiatives, and stakeholder engagements.
• Undertake other reasonable responsibilities consistent with the scope and level of the position.

Let's Talk About You

• 5-8 years of progressive experience supporting senior executives, Executive Leadership Teams, or C-suite leaders within a complex corporate environment, preferably within financial services or another regulated industry.
• Demonstrated experience supporting Executive Leadership Team members, C-suite executives, or equivalent senior leaders.
• Strong judgment and the ability to operate independently while keeping the executive and manager appropriately informed of changes, risks, and sensitive matters.
• Excellent organizational, planning, prioritization, and follow-through skills.
• Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills, including the ability to draft polished executive-level correspondence.
• High attention to detail, accuracy, and quality.
• Proven ability to anticipate needs, assess urgency, and respond effectively to changing priorities.
• Ability to build trusted relationships with senior leaders, colleagues, external stakeholders, and other administrative professionals.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Teams, and SharePoint, with working proficiency in Excel and Concur.
• Demonstrated interest in using technology, automation, and approved AI-enabled tools to improve productivity and service delivery.
• Proven ability to manage highly sensitive and confidential information with discretion, integrity, and professionalism.
• Strong business acumen and understanding of executive operations, organizational priorities, and corporate governance practices.
• Demonstrated ability to build credibility and influence with senior leaders and stakeholders through professionalism, judgment, responsiveness, and execution.
• Ability to work collaboratively within a team-based executive-support model, including providing and receiving coverage.
• Post-secondary education in business administration or a related discipline is preferred.
• Bilingualism in English and French is an asset.
• Commitment to inclusive, respectful, and professional interactions.