Executive Assistant at AHEAD, New York, NY

Executive Assistant at AHEAD in New York, NY. $85,000 to $115,000 a year. Apply with swipeandhired.

AHEAD builds platforms for digital business. By weaving together advances in cloud infrastructure, automation and analytics, and software delivery, we help enterprises deliver on the promise of digital transformation.

At AHEAD, we prioritize creating a culture of belonging, where all perspectives and voices are represented, valued, respected, and heard. We create spaces to empower everyone to speak up, make change, and drive the culture at AHEAD.

We are an equal opportunity employer, and do not discriminate based on an individual's race, national origin, color, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, marital status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law, whether actual or perceived.

We embrace all candidates that will contribute to the diversification and enrichment of ideas and perspectives at AHEAD.

The Executive Assistant serves as a trusted and highly proactive partner to one or more C-level executives at AHEAD. By protecting executive time, anticipating needs, organizing competing priorities, and driving follow-through, this role creates the leverage needed to focus on the highest-value work. A central part of the role is making day-to-day executive work easier by knowing what is needed before it is requested, removing friction, and creating a smooth, well-organized experience around the work.
The ideal candidate brings exceptional judgment, discretion, organization, and communication skills. They are comfortable operating with limited direction, quickly distinguish what is urgent from what is important, and represent executive leadership and AHEAD with professionalism and polish in every interaction.

Role & Responsibilities:
Executive partnership and prioritization

• Serve as a strategic thought partner and primary point of contact for executive leadership, internal leaders, employees, clients, partners, and other external stakeholders.

• Develop a strong understanding of each executive’s priorities, working style, relationships, and decision-making preferences.

• Anticipate needs, identify risks, and recommend solutions before issues become urgent.

• Triage competing requests by determining what requires two or more executives’ attention, what can be delegated, and what should be deferred.

• Maintain visibility into open commitments, decisions, and follow-up items, and drive accountability through completion.

Calendar and meeting leadership

• Own the complex and dynamic calendars of multiple executives, balancing strategic priorities, internal operating rhythms, client and partner commitments, travel, and personal focus time.

• Protect executive time by resolving conflicts, managing tradeoffs, and ensuring that meetings have a clear purpose and the right participants.

• Prepare the relevant executive for meetings by gathering background information, briefing materials, agendas, talking points, and relevant decisions or action items.

• Capture and distribute action items as appropriate, ensuring that decisions and next steps are documented and advanced.

Communications and information flow

• Communicate on behalf of the executive in a tone that is clear, thoughtful, responsive, and aligned with AHEAD’s standards.

• Monitor executive inboxes and incoming requests with sound judgment, confidentiality, and an understanding of organizational context.

• When required to draft, edit, and proofread correspondence, presentations, meeting materials, and other communications in the appropriate executive’s voice.

• Provide timely updates on emerging issues, organizational developments, upcoming commitments, and decisions requiring attention.

Travel, expenses, and logistics

• Coordinate domestic and international travel, including air, hotel, ground transportation, itineraries, changes, and travel-related materials.

• Manage expense reporting and related approvals accurately and on time.

• Own end-to-end logistics for executive meetings, offsites, and events, including:

• Room selection, setup, and AV or virtual platform readiness

• Catering and refreshment orders, dietary needs, and vendor coordination

• On-site hosting of guests, including greeting, directions, and parking or access

• Post-meeting cleanup and room reset, stepping in personally when needed

Special projects and executive operations

• Create practical systems, templates, and operating rhythms that improve executive effectiveness and reduce friction.

• Partner with other Executive Assistants and cross-functional teams to coordinate coverage, improve processes, and provide consistent executive experience.

• Support preparation for senior leadership, board, advisory, and client-facing engagements as assigned.

• Handle sensitive information with the highest level of discretion and professionalism.

Office Presence, Availability, and Responsiveness

• Work in the office 4-5 days per week. An in-person presence is required when the executive(s) you support are in the office, when the office administrator needs backup coverage, as well as key meetings and events .

• Treat the role as a 24/7 executive support position, remaining available and attentive beyond standard business hours.

• Always respond promptly to time-sensitive needs.

• Anticipate what the supported executives may need before they ask.

Required Qualifications:

• Five or more years of experience supporting one or more C-level executives, senior executives, or equivalent leaders in a complex, fast-moving organization.

• Demonstrated ability to manage a high-volume, constantly changing workload while maintaining accuracy, composure, and attention to detail.

• Exceptional organizational, prioritization, and time-management skills.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to draft polished executive communications.

• High emotional intelligence, sound judgment, and the ability to handle confidential information appropriately.

• Always demonstrates professionalism, including in high-pressure situations and when representing the executive and AHEAD.

• A genuine can-do attitude. Always willing to roll up your sleeves and chip in. You move comfortably between strategic work, like advising on sensitive matters, and hands-on tasks, like resetting a room after an executive lunch.

• Proven ability to anticipate needs, identify risks, and independently move work forward.

• Strong proficiency with Microsoft 365, calendar and travel tools, virtual meeting platforms, and presentation and document tools.

• A college degree or equivalent professional experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience supporting an executive in a professional services, technology, consulting, or similarly client-focused environment.

• Experience coordinating executive leadership meetings, offsites, board or advisory meetings, and high-visibility company events.

• Experience working across multiple time zones and with geographically distributed stakeholders.

• Experience managing projects, improving administrative systems, or coordinating work across an EA team.

How You Work:

• You are proactive rather than reactive and bring solutions, not just problems.

• You are discreet, dependable, and trusted with sensitive information.

• You remain calm under pressure and are comfortable making informed decisions with incomplete information.

• You stay above the fray, maintaining perspective, discretion, and professionalism even when circumstances are tense or competing priorities arise.

• You communicate directly and thoughtfully, and you follow through on your commitments.

• You know when to move independently and when to escalate.

• You balance warmth and approachability with the confidence to protect priorities and maintain boundaries.

• You take pride in creating a polished, seamless experience for the supported executives and everyone who works with them.

What Success Looks like:
Success in this role means enabling the executive and key stakeholders to work with greater focus, clarity, and consistency.

• Executive time is aligned with the highest-value priorities, with fewer avoidable conflicts and interruptions.

• Meetings are purposeful, well-prepared, and followed by clear decisions and next steps.

• Important information reaches the appropriate executive at the right time, with appropriate context and a recommended path forward.

• Commitments are tracked, stakeholders are informed, and follow-through is reliable.

• Travel booking, expenses, events, and executive logistics are handled smoothly and proactively.

• The supported executives, leadership team, and key partners experience the EA as a trusted, responsive, and highly capable representative of AHEAD.

Progress in this role is demonstrated through increasing impact, autonomy, and scope—not simply through the volume of tasks completed.

First 90 days

• Build trusted working relationships with the supported executives and key stakeholders.

• Establish a reliable understanding of each executive’s priorities, preferences, communication norms, recurring commitments, and decision-making patterns.

• Bring the calendar, inbox, travel, expenses, and follow-up systems to a consistent and well-organized state.

• Identify recurring friction points and implement at least two practical improvements to reduce avoidable interruptions, rework, or scheduling conflicts.

• Consistently prepare the relevant executives for priority meetings with the right context, materials, and next steps.

By six months

• Independently manage each executive’s operating rhythm, including calendar strategy, meeting preparation, travel, communications, and follow-through.

• Demonstrate measurable improvement in calendar quality, including fewer avoidable conflicts, clearer meeting purposes, better preparation, and protected focus time.

• Maintain a dependable action-item and commitment-tracking process, with timely follow-up and clear ownership.

• Earn strong trust from the supported executives and key partners through discretion, responsiveness, sound judgment, and proactive communication.

Ongoing measures of success

• Executive time is increasingly focused on the highest-value priorities.

• Priority meetings are prepared, decisions are clear, and follow-through is visible.

• Requests and information are triaged accurately and handled with appropriate urgency.

• Stakeholders experience timely communication, clear expectations, and dependable execution.

• Travel, expenses, events, and logistics are completed accurately with minimal escalation.

• The scope of responsibility, level of independence, and strategic contribution continue to grow.

Reporting Relationship:
This role reports to the Manager, Executive Experience and Services, while receiving day-to-day direction from the C-level executive or executives it supports. The role works closely with the Executive Leadership Team, other Executive Assistants, and cross-functional partners across AHEAD.

The compensation range indicated in this posting reflects the On-Target Earnings (“OTE”) for this role, which includes a base salary and any applicable target bonus amount. This OTE range may vary based on the candidate’s relevant experience, qualifications, and geographic location.

Why AHEAD:

Through our daily work and internal groups like Moving Women AHEAD and RISE AHEAD, we value and benefit from diversity of people, ideas, experience, and everything in between.

We fuel growth by stacking our office with top-notch technologies in a multi-million-dollar lab, by encouraging cross department training and development, sponsoring certifications and credentials for continued learning.

USA Employment Benefits include:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• 401(k)
• Paid company holidays
• Paid time off
• Paid parental and caregiver leave
• Plus more! See benefits https://www.aheadbenefits.com/ for additional details.

Use of AI:
We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, assessing responses, or to capture recordings and create transcriptions or summaries during interviews. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans.

If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please refer to the Candidate Privacy Notice or contact us at [email protected].

You may opt-out of the review or analysis of your application and resume by AI tools by using the General Application. Please include the role you wish to apply for in the Additional Information field. You may also choose to opt-out of recording and transcription at any time, including after joining an interview. Candidates will not be penalized for choosing to opt-out.