Executive Assistant in York

We are seeking an experienced Executive Assistant to support the Founder and Principal of a privately held international group with operations in physical commodities trading, proprietary financial trading, industrial metals recycling, and philanthropy. The Principal operates across multiple businesses, three continents, and a fast-moving commercial schedule. This role is the operational hub that keeps the Principal's professional and personal life running smoothly. It is a demanding, high-trust, senior EA role for someone who has done this before at comparable scale.

What you will do:

• Diary and schedule management: Own the Principal's diary across multiple time zones. Protect deep work time, optimise travel-meeting efficiency, and anticipate conflicts before they arise. Manage a schedule that moves daily and sometimes hourly.
• Travel: Plan and book international travel at short notice, including complex multi-leg itineraries, commercial and occasional private aviation, ground transfers, accommodation, restaurant bookings, and visa logistics. Travel frequently involves the UK, Singapore, India, continental Europe, the Middle East, and occasionally other destinations.
• Inbox and correspondence: Triage the Principal's inbox, draft and send correspondence on the Principal's behalf, maintain filing and follow-up discipline on all outstanding matters. The Principal will trust you to handle significant correspondence independently within clearly defined boundaries.
• Meeting support: Prepare pre-meeting briefs, attend key meetings when required, take minutes, track actions, and follow up with counterparties. Ensure the Principal is never under-briefed for a meeting.
• Internal and external coordination: Liaise with senior colleagues across the group's offices in Singapore, London, and India. Manage external relationships with lawyers, bankers, brokers, accountants, recruiters, property agents, and family service providers with professionalism and discretion.
• Confidential and personal support: Manage confidential and personal matters for the Principal and immediate family with absolute discretion. This includes household coordination, family travel, school-related logistics, and personal administration. The role blurs professional and personal support in the way that senior private office EA roles do.
• Project coordination: Coordinate special projects on behalf of the Principal, including property searches, philanthropic programme administration, charitable event logistics, and ad-hoc due diligence support on new ventures.
• Event management: Manage the Principal's attendance at business and social events, including client dinners, industry conferences, and private engagements. Organise the Principal's own events where required.

What we are looking for:

• Essential: 7+ years as an EA, PA, or Private Office professional, with at least 3 years supporting a principal at C-suite, founder, or HNWI level.
• Demonstrable experience managing complex international travel and multi-time-zone diaries.
• Excellent written English with the ability to draft correspondence in the Principal's voice.
• Absolute discretion — you will be handling confidential commercial, financial, and personal information on a daily basis.
• High proactivity — the Principal expects you to anticipate needs, flag risks early, and run ahead of the schedule rather than react to it.
• Strong judgement on what to escalate, what to handle, and what to defer.
• Calm temperament under pressure; operates well when the schedule breaks.
• Fluent use of standard productivity tools (Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, calendar, document management, expense systems) and willingness to adopt new ones.
• Right to work in the UK.

• Desirable: Prior experience in private office, family office, or single-principal support at a group of comparable scale.
• Exposure to any of: financial services, commodities, international trade, philanthropy, or legal environments.
• Additional language skills — particularly useful: Hindi, one continental European language, Mandarin.
• Experience managing a small support function (drivers, household, junior administrative staff).

What we do not require:

• A specific degree or qualification (experience is what matters).
• Sector expertise in metals recycling or commodities trading — the Principal has commercial teams for that.

What we offer:

• Base salary: £60,000 – £75,000 depending on experience and prior role scale.
• Annual bonus: Discretionary, linked to overall group performance and personal contribution.
• Benefits: Pension, private medical insurance, generous holiday allowance.
• Location: Central London office base.
• Hours: Core hours are London business hours, with reasonable flexibility expected around Principal's international schedule. This is not a 9-to-5 role, but it is also not a role that expects you on-call 24/7; boundaries are respected where set in advance.

How to apply:

Please submit a CV and a short covering note (no more than one page) addressing:

• The scale and nature of the principal you most recently supported.
• One example of a complex situation you managed independently.
• Why this role interests you specifically.

Applications without a covering note will not be shortlisted. The process involves two interview stages plus a practical exercise, with background and reference checks before offer. Target start: within 6–8 weeks.

Confidentiality: the Principal's name and the specific group entities are not disclosed in public advertising. These are shared at first interview under NDA. Please respect this in any questions you ask during the application process.