Right Hand to CEO- Must Love Dogs (Maui or Remote Executive Assistant)

We are looking for an exceptional right hand Executive Assistant for our CEO who manages a portfolio of businesses focused on dog lovers. Our mission (and yours if you accept it) is to help improve the quality of life for dogs and the people who love them. We have been doing this since 2003 and we’re poised for exponential growth in 2024. Our CEO James Jacobson needs help, pronto.

As the CEO’s Right Hand, you will:

• Interface with him multiple times a day via phone, video chat and Microsoft Teams.
• Help the CEO manage our distributed team of contractors all over the world. (We call ourselves Team Dog.)
• Help manage projects in areas as diverse as operations, marketing, customer relations, sales initiatives, podcasting, publishing and public relations.
• You must be a quick professional with great time-management and multitasking abilities.

A Critical Member of Our Team

Your diligence and competence can help our CEO focus on growing the enterprise without worrying about whether other tasks may be falling through the cracks. The goal is to contribute to the efficiency of the overall business by ensuring all assigned administrative duties are carried out in a timely and efficient manner. To be successful in this role, you should be proactive, meet deadlines and communicate effectively.

Ultimately--after an extensive training period--you should be able to identify, anticipate and address the needs of the CEO and perform administrative tasks to ensure our company’s workflow runs smoothly.

Our ideal candidate also has previous experience as an Executive Assistant and Project Manager and is familiar with office management technologies.

The Ideal Right Hand will have:

• A general understanding of and appreciation for the driven, results-oriented mindset of the entrepreneur.
• A varied enough background to support a fast-growing company.
• Strong ability to triage situations and re-prioritize as events dictate.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
• Strong research skills.
• Fluency in the ever-evolving Microsoft Office 365 platform including Microsoft Teams and Microsoft To Do.
• High competence and comfort with virtual technologies. You do not need to be a computer programmer or coder (we have people who do that). But you do need to feel extremely comfortable on the Internet and managing cloud-based user interfaces. Here are just a few of the many tasks you should be able to do easily with little or no guidance once you have the log-in details:
• Schedule and set up a MS Teams meeting with participants in various time zones.
• Make changes to a WordPress website.
• Be able to understand the “backend” of Shopify.
• Update a customer record in a CRM such as Hubspot.

Responsibilities Include:

1. Administrative Support:

• Manage and prioritize our CEO’s incoming and outgoing e-mail using Office 365.
• Coordinate our CEO’s calendar.
• Assist in planning appointments, meetings, events, etc.
• Attend video conference calls and take notes, focusing on next actions for each participant.
• Receive and screen phone calls and redirect them when appropriate.
• Create regular reports and update internal databases.
• Make travel arrangements.
• Maintain electronic and paper records ensuring information is organized and easily accessible using One Drive and SharePoint.

2. Communication and Liaison:

• Act as the point of contact between our CEO and employees/clients.
• Facilitate internal communication (e.g., distribute information and schedule presentations).
• Handle confidential documents ensuring they remain secure.

3. Project Management and Coordination:

• Track and update projects in Microsoft Planner/To Do.
• Review and recommend changes to our company's standard operating procedures and policies.
• Conduct research and prepare presentations or reports as assigned.

4. Operational Efficiency and Support

• Research and suggest more efficient ways to run the office and troubleshoot malfunctions.
• Review credit card statements and provide assistance to our bookkeepers and accountants.
  

About Our CEO

James Jacobson is a dyed-in-the wool entrepreneur who has been recognized as a “visionary who is always thinking at least five years ahead.” In his early years, he grew up in the Washington, DC-area, worked as a US Senate page starting at age 12 and hosted a radio talk show at 16. He started his first business while an undergraduate at the University of Virginia. Since graduating in 1988, he has built several multi-million dollar companies in the media and e-commerce space. He co-founded Functional Nutriments in 2008.

James is looking for a Right Hand who can grow with the organization. He is a visionary leader and prefers to delegate to A-players once they have demonstrated their mastery. If you are the successful candidate, he’s eager to mentor you and cultivate your strengths.

Long Term Potential

At first, there will be a wide-range of responsibilities and tasks to orient you to the overall business. Then, as you gain familiarity with the responsibilities of the job and document them in our standard operating procedures system, you will train others and delegate the responsibilities you don’t adore to new hires, and you will focus on what you do best. This is a great position for someone who has been looking for their own place to settle in and grow into their strengths.

We encourage out Team Dog members to always be learning and pay for training and development programs to help our people grow.

Our portfolio of businesses is making a real difference in the lives of dogs all over the world. We are about to do that for people, too. This is a chance to come on board a fast-growing company with amazing potential to do some real good.

Compensation for this position is above market and based on your experience. It will include valuable stock options. As the company grows there is a significant potential financial upside for you.

Hours

This is a full time 40+ hours/week job. The desired hours of coverage are Monday-Friday from 8AM to 5PM Hawaii (GMT-10). That said, the hours are somewhat flexible, depending upon your time zone. The CEO lives in Hawaii and a good chunk of your working hours should be spent interfacing with him. On most days there will be a morning check in call around 9AM Hawaii.

This position does not require travel. Working hours and scheduling is negotiable.

What is not negotiable is your commitment, focus, and desire to help grow this enterprise. You’ll be working closely with an experienced entrepreneur, and this is an ideal opportunity for the right candidate.

Your Work Environment:

Since this is a remote position, you will probably be working from your own home. You should have a dedicated, well-equipped home office free from noise and distractions of any kind.

You will need:

• high speed internet (minimum 400 MBS download)
• computer that is under two years old with a good webcam (multiple monitors preferred)
• accessible router/switch to plug in a VOIP telephone
• document scanner

Your Skills:

• Proven work experience as a Senior Executive Assistant, Executive Administrative Assistant or similar role
• Solid experience with office management systems and Microsoft Office 365
• Strong communication skills (via phone, email and in-person)
• Experience exercising discretion and confidentiality with sensitive company information
• Excellent organizational skills with an ability to think proactively and prioritize work
• Familiarity with basic research methods and reporting techniques
• Excellent organizational and time-management skills
• Integrity and confidentiality
• Degree in business administration or related field/ related experience

• Work From Home
• Flexible Schedule
• Paid Time Off
• Stock Option Plan

One Last Thing...

Your skill with words and your ability to present a coherent, polished message to your audience (in this case, us) are critical to this position. Put time and effort into the application, and let us know who you really are. A guideline we follow here is to not show anyone else our work until we are “proud of it.” This ensures that everyone works to their own highest standards, and builds trust between team members. We are looking for the right fit for James Jacobson, and we will wait for our ideal Right Hand.

We hope that’s you, and we’re looking forward to hearing from you.