Here are examples of business, strategic, and operational tasks you can entrust to a high‑quality Executive Assistant:

Managing vendor and partner interactions, contracts, negotiation support, and helping to set up external stakeholder communication

Coordinating administrative and project‑oriented workflows: monitoring deadlines, following up on action items, ensuring tasks are completed accurately.

Handling correspondence: filtering emails, drafting responses, prioritising communications, and maintaining flow with clients, partners, and internal teams.

Organising and managing your calendar, meetings, and travel logistics; including business trips, negotiations, and stakeholder engagements.

Business owners who want to simplify their workload, delegating both strategic and tactical tasks with confidence.

HR Directors or people leaders trying to upgrade the EA role in their organisation, reducing turnover and enhancing reliability.

Entrepreneurs juggling multiple businesses or projects who need consistent oversight and support across their portfolio.

Founders, CEOs, or senior executives overloaded with operations and seeking someone to take on execution and coordination.

We offer tailored recruitment paths based on experience level and speed of placement

Long‑term support

Mentoring, onboarding, adaptation check‑ins to ensure your EA becomes a true extension of your leadership.

Speed plus quality

Shortlist delivered rapidly without sacrificing vetting, references, or alignment.

Transfer of both strategic and operational load

Tasks range from preparing presentations and reports to handling client correspondence and stakeholder coordination.

Perfect Match

EA candidates matched not just on skills but on working pace, communication style, and leadership exposure.

We have an active talent pool of over 14,000 pre‑screened assistants.

Since 2016, we’ve specialised in business assistant roles and understand what a high‑performing EA looks like.

Our process is tried & tested: we shape the profile to your style, deliver candidates fast, and provide guarantee + adaptation support.

[ 03 ] Candidate Search & Vetting

Using our internal database plus active recruiting, we shortlist in line with your profile. We carry out interviews, check references, evaluate for both technical and soft skills.

[ 04 ] Shortlist Presentation

You receive 3‑5 top candidates, interview them with our support, and decide who fits best.

[ 05 ] Offer, Onboarding & Adaptation

Once hired, we assist in the onboarding process. We provide adaptation tools, check‑ins, and mentoring through early months.

[ 06 ] Guarantee & Replacement

If the match doesn’t work out within the guarantee period aligned to your tier, we provide a free replacement.

[ 02 ] Tier Selection

You choose between Standard or Express tracks depending on experience needed and urgency.

[ 01 ] Initial Briefing & Profile Setup

We discuss your leadership style, business tasks, scope of the EA’s role, preferred experience, and communication workflow.

Client Profile:
A London fintech founder raising Series A who was spending ~60% of their time on operational tasks, investor liaison, and travel logistics, leaving little room for strategic focus.

Challenge:
The founder’s existing support was fragmented: ad‑hoc assistants, delays in important email responses, missed follow‑ups with investors, and lack of operational oversight. This was creating burnout and slowing decision‑making.

Solution:
Placed a Business Executive Assistant with 3+ years of experience, strong communication, stakeholder engagement and financial reporting abilities. The EA took over investor communications, travel & event logistics, board meeting preparations, email triage, and schedule prioritisation.

Outcome:

• Founder’s weekly operational hours reduced by ~15 hours (from ~45 to ~30)
• Investor meeting preparation time cut by 50%
• Response times to investor/board emails moved from 24‑48h to under 6h
• Board/documents and reporting improved in quality; more strategic time freed to work on core product roadmap.

Case Study EA‑1: Scaling a Fintech Founder’s Capacity

Client Profile:
A mid‑sized UK corporation with multiple C‑Suite executives, each relying on Personal/Executive Assistants. The company was experiencing high turnover among EAs, long onboarding cycles, and inconsistencies in support quality.

Challenge:
Frequent vacancies, inconsistent skill levels, and cultural mismatch meant executives often lacked reliable support. Onboarding took too long; some EAs failed probation due to unclear expectations & poor match.

Solution:
Smart & Talented provided a Standard EA Recruitment track, including detailed briefing, vetting, sample scenarios to test skills, culture matching, followed by mentoring post‑placement. A new EA was placed in each of two C‑Suite positions.

Outcome:

• First shortlists delivered within 7 days of brief
• Both EAs passed probation with strong feedback after 3 months
• EA turnover in the executive team fell by 80% year over year
• HR satisfaction rose; executives reported at least 30% more consistency and reliability from their assistants

Case Study EA‑2: Corporate HR Director Reducing EA Turnover

Client Profile:
A serial entrepreneur often splitting time between London, Geneva, and remote work. Prior support was part‑time, remote, and inconsistent; needed someone who could travel with them, manage changing schedules and stakeholders.

Challenge:
Frequent changes in location, timezone, and partner contacts made it hard for support staff to be consistently effective. Miscommunications, travel mishaps, scheduling conflicts were common.

Solution:
Placed an EA with experience in travel coordination, multi‑timezone executive work, multilingual communication, and stakeholder management. The assistant proactively managed travel logistics, liaised with legal and finances across jurisdictions, arranged itineraries, and managed calendar overlap.

Outcome:

• Travel and scheduling conflicts reduced by ~70%
• CEO regained ~10 hours a week previously lost to planning & corrections
• Stakeholder meetings no longer dropped or double‑booked
• The EA’s proactive suggestions (e.g. travel buffer times, local accommodations) saved ~£5‑10k annually in avoidable costs

Case Study EA‑3: Founder Moving Between Cities

Client Profile:

A tech start‑up founder managing product, fundraising, team growth, and expansion into new markets. As roles grew, administrative load became a bottleneck.

Challenge:
Founder was spending evening/weekend hours chasing small tasks: investor follow‑ups, scheduling, content review, supplier contracts, vendor management — reducing creative and strategic output.

Solution:
Smart & Talented placed a high‑calibre EA with strong organizational skills, English proficiency, and experience in start‑up environments. EA handled investor updates, content coordination, vendor/supplier contracts review, meeting preparation and follow‑ups.

Outcome:

• Founder time on admin tasks dropped by 70% over first month
• Strategic planning time increased by ~12 hours/week
• Deliverables (e.g. content, contracts) had fewer errors and revisions due to better oversight
• Start‑up saw faster project execution, product launch timelines improved by ~2 weeks

Case Study EA‑4: Start‑Up Leadership Partner

Client Profile:
A private principal managing family office affairs, real estate, philanthropic activities, and multiple events. Support had previously been a mix of part‑time domestic help and ad‑hoc admin, but lacked executive‑level coordination.

Challenge:
Communication gaps, event scheduling errors, lack of professional oversight for contracts, and overload in household/personal admin were causing stress & inefficiency.

Solution:
Placed an Executive Assistant with experience in high net worth aptitudes: etiquette, logistics, event coordination, vendor contracts, confidentiality. EA provides end‑to‑end support: personal & business calendars, event planning, vendor liaison, document control, travel coordination.

Outcome:

• Event planning errors dropped by 90%
• Household & business admin consolidated; principal saved ~15 hours/week previously spent on small tasks
• Improved satisfaction in work/life balance and less last‑minute crisis work
• Long‑term match; EA remains in role past 12 months with high performance feedback

Case Study EA‑5: Enhancing Executive Productivity in a Private Office