What does an executive staff assistant do?
Executive Administrative Assistants are skilled employees who serve as the administrative point of contact between executives of an organization and internal or external clients. These assistants must perform a variety of administrative tasks such as taking messages, routing correspondence, and handling the requests of executives. They are required to maintain a diary to arrange meetings and appointments as well as provide reminders to the executives. Executive Administrative Assistants must also monitor their office supplies while developing an efficient system to keep and file documents.
Executive staff assistant responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real executive staff assistant resumes:
- Manage VIP pipelines, acknowledge visitors and support with special projects include research and events and dealing with clients.
- Compile, manage and organize travel and expense reports processing and submitting reports using PeopleSoft for reimbursement.
- Design and maintain a SharePoint site for the headquarters readiness office.
- Design and create SharePoint site for CIO to improve document tracking and to provide a document repository for authoritative items.
- Generate in-depth presentations using PowerPoint.
- Perform operational administrative/clerical work (payroll, inventory control )
- Handle all organization international and domestic wire transfers including biweekly payroll.
- Develop and present PowerPoint presentations summarizing to management the solutions provide and implement during each client engagement.
- Coordinate travel for all attendees, secure meeting locations, arrange all logistics, and organize extra-curricular activities.
- Compose and file memoranda of law, assist in trial preparation and execute criminal subpoenas.
Executive staff assistant skills and personality traits
We calculated that 14% of Executive Staff Assistants are proficient in PowerPoint, Provides Administrative Support, and Travel Arrangements. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Organizational skills, and Writing skills.
We break down the percentage of Executive Staff Assistants that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- PowerPoint, 14%
Developed and presented PowerPoint presentations summarizing to management the solutions provided and implemented during each client engagement.
- Provides Administrative Support, 9%
Manage Executive member of management schedule and provides administrative support to alternate management as well as clients.
- Travel Arrangements, 7%
Coordinated and booked international and domestic travel arrangements and hotel accommodations for embarking/disembarking crew members and passengers.
- Meeting Minutes, 6%
Prepared Board Agendas transcribed dictation and disseminated meeting minutes.
- Logistics, 6%
Coordinated travel for all attendees, secured meeting locations, arranged all logistics, and organized extra-curricular activities.
- Office Equipment, 5%
Supervised staff and administered office budget with regard to salaries, purchasing office equipment, monthly office expenses, etc.
Common skills that an executive staff assistant uses to do their job include "powerpoint," "provides administrative support," and "travel arrangements." You can find details on the most important executive staff assistant responsibilities below.
Interpersonal skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for an executive staff assistant to have is interpersonal skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "secretaries and administrative assistants interact with clients, customers, or staff." Executive staff assistants often use interpersonal skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "possess and effectively utilize excellent interpersonal skills. "
Organizational skills. Another essential skill to perform executive staff assistant duties is organizational skills. Executive staff assistants responsibilities require that "secretaries and administrative assistants keep files, folders, and schedules in order so that an office runs efficiently." Executive staff assistants also use organizational skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "maintained corporate organizational charts in visio. "
Writing skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of executive staff assistants is writing skills. This skill is critical to many everyday executive staff assistant duties, as "secretaries and administrative assistants write memos and emails when communicating with managers, employees, and customers." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "assisted cos with writing information bulletins and papers for other divisions within dndo. "
The three companies that hire the most executive staff assistants are:
- Kaiser Permanente6 executive staff assistants jobs
- Massachusetts General Hospital3 executive staff assistants jobs
- State of Arizona3 executive staff assistants jobs
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Compare different executive staff assistants
Executive staff assistant vs. Assistant to the president
In an academic institution, the dean's assistant is the first to speak on student and faculty concerns. As the school dean's right hand, you are responsible for running the faculty, event-planning, and other administrative duties. The Assistant is also the person who will help in resolving problems and emergencies and help the dean in organizing activities and calendar events and meetings. The Assistant is one of the single-most important positions in a school, and many institutions require a master's degree to fill the position.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between executive staff assistants and assistant to the president. For instance, executive staff assistant responsibilities require skills such as "travel arrangements," "logistics," "presentation materials," and "sharepoint." Whereas a assistant to the president is skilled in "real estate," "purchase orders," "trade shows," and "international travel arrangements." This is part of what separates the two careers.
On average, assistants to the president reach similar levels of education than executive staff assistants. Assistants to the president are 1.7% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 1.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Executive staff assistant vs. Assistant to the dean
As the administrative staff, they primarily provide administrative and secretarial support for the department. Typically, they do report-writing, filing and scheduling, and payroll. They plan department weekly meetings, schedule conference calls, and work on solving administrative related concerns and issues. They do a complex task that involves multi-tasking from the preparation of department reports, analyzing data, and finding solutions. It is a requirement to be an experienced, collaborator, and trained cross-functional communicator. Moreover, other duties will include scheduling company-initiated activities, meetings, and events.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that executive staff assistant responsibilities requires skills like "logistics," "presentation materials," "financial statements," and "sharepoint." But an assistant to the dean might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "alumni," "financial aid," "word processing," and "strategic plan."
Assistants to the dean earn similar levels of education than executive staff assistants in general. They're 0.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Executive staff assistant vs. Administrative staff
Assistants to executive vice presidents are responsible for managing the day to day operation and administrative activities of the executive vice presidents. They have varied roles and responsibilities, which include organizing the workflow of the executive vice president, preparing for meetings, and monitoring schedule. They are also expected to respond to the electronic mail as per the VP's request, prepare papers and documents, and handle all aspects of the VP's vacation and travel. This position is essential in helping the VP manage and prioritize competing demands for attention and time.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, executive staff assistants are more likely to have skills like "provides administrative support," "meeting minutes," "presentation materials," and "calendar management." But a administrative staff is more likely to have skills like "word processing," "personnel actions," "front desk," and "resource management."
Most administrative staff achieve a similar degree level compared to executive staff assistants. For example, they're 3.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Executive staff assistant vs. Assistant to executive vice president
Updated January 8, 2025
