Executive Assistant to Founder / CEO

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for an Executive Assistant to Founder / CEO based in South Africa.

As an Executive Assistant to the Founder/CEO, you will play a pivotal role in enabling leadership effectiveness and ensuring the smooth execution of day-to-day operations within a fast-paced, remote-first organization. This is a high-trust, high-responsibility position where you will act as a strategic partner to the CEO, helping structure priorities, manage communications, and drive accountability across multiple initiatives. You will operate at the center of the organization, coordinating projects, people, and systems while ensuring nothing falls through the cracks. The role requires strong judgment, exceptional organization, and comfort working in a dynamic environment with non-traditional working hours aligned to an international timezone. This is an opportunity for someone who thrives on structure, efficiency, and impact, and who enjoys bringing order and momentum to complex workflows.

• Manage the CEO’s inbox, calendar, and daily communications, prioritizing urgent matters and ensuring timely and professional responses.
• Coordinate active projects across teams, tracking deliverables, deadlines, and follow-ups to ensure consistent execution and accountability.
• Act as a key communication bridge between the CEO and internal leadership, preparing agendas, documenting decisions, and ensuring follow-through on action items.
• Build and maintain efficient operational systems, including task management tools, shared drives, dashboards, and workflow structures.
• Identify opportunities to streamline processes and improve productivity through automation, AI tools, and modern digital platforms.
• Support cross-functional coordination by ensuring clarity, alignment, and momentum across multiple concurrent initiatives.
• Handle confidential information and sensitive communications with the highest level of discretion and professionalism.
• Proactively anticipate needs, flag risks, and ensure the CEO remains focused on strategic priorities.

Requirements

• Highly organized, disciplined, and detail-oriented with strong executive functioning and follow-through.
• Proven ability to work independently in a remote environment, including availability during non-traditional working hours aligned with international time zones.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with confidence interacting across leadership levels.
• Strong judgment and ability to prioritize effectively in fast-moving, ambiguous environments.
• Tech-savvy with a strong willingness to adopt new tools, platforms, and AI-driven productivity solutions.
• Experience using tools such as Notion, ClickUp, Google Workspace, or similar workflow and collaboration platforms is an advantage.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously while maintaining accuracy and consistency.
• Proactive mindset with strong initiative and the ability to anticipate needs before they are explicitly stated.
• Professional, calm, and approachable demeanor, with the ability to be firm and decisive when required.
• Comfortable operating as a trusted right hand to senior leadership in a high-responsibility environment.

Benefits

• Fully remote role with flexibility to work from anywhere in South Africa.
• Monthly salary ranging from R45,000 to R55,000.
• Opportunity to work directly with a US-based education organization.
• Exposure to high-level executive decision-making and fast-paced operational leadership.
• Strong autonomy and trust-based working environment.
• Opportunity to work with modern productivity systems and AI-powered tools.
• Role with high impact on organizational structure, clarity, and execution efficiency.