Executive Assistant to the Founder New Abingdon, UK

Are you an established Executive Assistant who would enjoy supporting a visionary founder of a successful scale‑up in the nanotechnology industry? Do you have a flexible and adaptable mindset where no two days look the same? Can you build effective relationships with the wider technical community and internal team members? If this sounds like you, read on….

Reward and Benefits

• £38,000 to £48,000 (depending on experience)
• 25 days annual leave
• Death in service and private health care benefits
• Personal pension contributions of 4% with salary sacrifice
• A generous EMI Share scheme

Based in Abingdon, Oxford, UK, we are a high calibre team of 100 plus people and we are growing fast. We are backed by global financial and industry investors including Applied Ventures, the strategic venture arm of the industry leading equipment company.

Location and work pattern

This role requires working from our headquarters at: Suite 1, Hitching Court, Abingdon Business Park, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 1RG, United Kingdom for the majority of the time.

About the role

You will be providing comprehensive support to a very busy CTO, ensuring the smooth running of all aspects of his day. A typical day for an Executive Assistant could look like this:

• Proactively managing complex and fast‑changing diaries, coordinating meetings, appointments, and travel across multiple time zones.
• Using tech such as co‑pilot to support meetings with: preparing agendas, minutes, tracking actions, and following up.
• Ensuring CTO is fully briefed ahead of meetings and his time is managed effectively (Pre‑reading presentations and documents ahead of time).
• Handling email correspondence and wider communications on behalf of the CTO, ensuring timely and professional responses.
• Supporting ad‑hoc projects and initiatives as required by the CTO.
• Coordinating overseas and domestic travel arrangements and producing detailed travel itineraries to ensure smooth journeys.

Who we are looking for

To succeed as an Executive Assistant, we do need you to have skills and experience of:

• Executive Assistant or Personal Assistant at a C‑suite level.
• A high level of attention to detail and accuracy – you will be working for a scientist!
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to interact professionally with individuals at all levels.
• Confident with all Microsoft and relevant AI tools.
• Discretion, tact, and the ability to handle confidential information appropriately.
• Flexibility and adaptability to changing priorities and demands.
• Ability to work closely with existing PA to CEO, to support each other’s workloads and provide holiday cover when required.

We look for these attributes for our team

• Self‑management: Able to work independently, setting priorities for own work based upon the company goals and targets.
• Teamwork: Engages with other members of the company to bring the best solutions to the problem. Recognise the value that fellow company members bring to enhance own abilities. Supports colleagues with their tasks when critical to the company goals.
• Impact and Influence: Establishes themselves as the knowledge centre in their own field.
• Ownership & Initiative: React and address both short‑ and medium‑term issues and proactively takes action to solve them.
• Results Orientation: Focus on the company goal, avoid distraction, making timely decisions to achieve the target.

A bit about us

Infinitesima is a privately owned company founded in 2001, as a spin‑out of the University of Bristol, by CTO Professor Andrew Humphris. Our dynamic team of scientists and engineers is focussed on enabling the next generation of semiconductor devices through delivery of innovative products to customers around the world. Our strength lies in the varied perspectives that come from different cultures, experiences, and identities. We believe that true innovation is fuelled by collaboration, locally and globally. We strive to foster an environment where everyone can contribute meaningfully and thrive.

If you require adjustments to take part in the recruitment process, please let us know, we’ll do our best to support you.

Note to recruitment agencies: Infinitesima Ltd only works with approved agencies and does not accept unsolicited agency CVs. Please do not submit candidate details in response to this advert, or to any Infinitesima Ltd employees. Infinitesima Ltd is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited CVs.

A note on how we run interviews

We use AI only to transcribe our interviews so we can focus fully on you instead of scribbling notes. The AI does not take part in any decision making at any stage. All hiring decisions are made by real humans based on the conversation we have with you. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and aim to create a fair, supportive recruitment process.

To keep things clear, this role needs someone who already has the permanent right to work in the UK. If a role calls for unique expertise that’s hard to find locally, we may explore sponsorship options — though this is uncommon.