Executive Assistant
Also advertised as: assistant manager, Board Secretary, executive administrative assistant, Executive Assistant, executive secretary, foreign language assistant
Supports a senior leader with diary, travel, papers, briefings and confidential work.
What the job involves
Executive assistants protect a leader's time and make sure nothing is missed. You run complex diaries, prepare board papers, manage travel and correspondence, and often act as gatekeeper and trusted sounding board. Discretion matters as much as organisation.
Typical responsibilities
- Manage complex diaries and travel
- Prepare briefing packs and board papers
- Screen correspondence and requests
- Minute confidential meetings
- Coordinate with other senior offices
Common employers
- Corporates
- NHS trusts
- Universities
- Law firms
- Charities
Pay, hours and working environment
Typical pay
£26,000 – £32,000 a year
With experience
£38,000 – £55,000 a year
Typical hours
37.5 hours, occasionally longer around board dates
Working environment
Office based, some hybrid
Remote working
hybrid
Demand for this work
steady
Pay ranges are indicative guidance drawn from advertised UK vacancies and published careers information. They are not an offer, and actual pay varies by employer, location and experience.
Skills and qualifications
Core skills
- Diary management
- Discretion
- Written communication
- Prioritising
- Minute taking
Transferable skills you may already have
- Customer service
- Managing competing demands
- Handling confidential information
Requirements employers ask for
- Diary management
- Discretion
- Written communication
- Prioritising
- Minute taking
- No formal qualification required
- perform business research
- use different communication channels
- company policies
- manage office facility systems
- manage personnel agenda
- communicate schedules to the people concerned
- coordinate events
- maintain register of shareholders
- fix meetings
- draft corporate emails
- apply information security policies
- process commissioned instructions
Useful but not essential
- Customer service
- Managing competing demands
- Handling confidential information
- Level 3 Business Administrator
- Level 4 Executive Assistant certificate
- revise drafts made by managers
- build international relations
- liaise with board members
- prepare presentation material
- speak different languages
- international import export regulations
- work in an international environment
- translate language concepts
Helpful qualifications
- Level 3 Business Administrator
- Level 4 Executive Assistant certificate
Ways into this career
A degree is only one route. Where an apprenticeship, work-experience or qualification route exists, it is listed here alongside the academic option.
Apprenticeships and work-based routes
- Business Administrator (Level 3)
Degree and college routes
- Related subject: Business administration
- Related subject: English
Where this career can lead
next
Chief of Staff
next
Office Manager
next
Operations Manager
The good parts and the hard parts
What people enjoy
- Close view of how organisations are run
- Well paid at senior level
- Highly valued organisational skills
What people find hard
- Reactive workload
- Success depends on one relationship
Common questions
- Do you need a degree to become a executive assistant?
- No. As well as degree routes, this career can be entered through an apprenticeship or by building experience and qualifications on the job. not_required
- How much does a executive assistant earn in the UK?
- Typical advertised pay runs from £26,000 to £32,000 a year, rising towards £55,000 with experience. Figures are indicative guidance rather than an offer.
- What skills transfer into this career?
- Skills that transfer well include Customer service, Managing competing demands, Handling confidential information.
Related careers
Administrator
Handles the records, correspondence, bookings and systems that keep a team working.
Office Manager
Keeps a workplace running: facilities, suppliers, budgets, records and the admin team.
Where this information comes from
- National Careers Service
- Institute for Apprenticeships
Last reviewed 14 September 2026.
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