Executive Assistant

Role Description

At Smith+Nephew, we are driven by our purpose of Life Unlimited helping restore people’s bodies and their self-belief. The Executive Assistant plays a critical role in enabling this purpose by acting as a highly proactive, trusted partner to a senior executive. This role goes beyond traditional administrative support. The Executive Assistant operates as an extension of the leader, enabling focus on strategic priorities, supporting effective decision-making, and ensuring seamless execution in a fast-paced, global, matrixed environment.

What will you be doing?

• Executive Partnership & Proactive Enablement:
  • Act as a trusted partner and advisor to the executive, anticipating needs, proactively identifying risks, and addressing issues before they escalate.
  • Exercise strong judgment to manage competing priorities, stakeholder requests, and executive access.
• Strategic Time & Priority Management:
  • Own end-to-end calendar and time strategy, ensuring the executive’s time is aligned to business priorities and enterprise outcomes.
  • Proactively identify conflicts, inefficiencies, and trade-offs; recommend solutions that optimize impact.
  • Prepare the executive with briefings, context, and key insights ahead of critical meetings and decisions.
• Meeting, Rhythm & Decision Support:
  • Enable effective leadership forums, including agenda planning, pre-reads, and follow-up to ensure outcomes and accountability.
  • Track decisions, actions, and commitments to ensure execution and closure.
  • Support core business rhythms such as leadership meetings, operating cadence, offsites, planning cycles, and talent discussions.
• Stakeholder & Communication Management:
  • Serve as a professional and reliable point of contact for senior internal and external stakeholders, representing the executive with credibility and discretion.
  • Draft and manage executive communications, ensuring clarity, consistency, and alignment with Smith+Nephew values and priorities.
  • Handle highly confidential and sensitive information with integrity, discretion, and sound judgment.
• Business & Operational Support:
  • Partner cross-functionally with HR, Finance, Legal, Communications, and other teams to enable efficient execution of executive priorities.
  • Support preparation for key enterprise activities, such as talent reviews, business reviews, and leadership communications.
  • Continuously identify opportunities to improve processes, ways of working, and executive effectiveness.
  • Book and coordinate all travel including completing expenses report.
• Leadership & Role Modelling:
  • Act as a role model for Smith+Nephew behaviours, demonstrating collaboration, accountability, and inclusion.
  • Provide informal mentoring or guidance to Executive Assistants, contributing to continuous improvement and capability uplift across the EA community.

Qualifications

• Strong executive presence with the ability to influence through judgment, credibility, and trust.
• Exceptional organizational skills with a proactive, anticipatory mindset.
• Ability to operate independently in a complex, fast-paced, and matrixed global environment.
• High levels of resilience, adaptability, and attention to detail.
• Discretion and integrity in handling sensitive business and people matters.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to synthesize information and provide concise executive-level insights.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel, and Teams.
• Experience supporting senior leaders in a regulated or highly complex organization preferred.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree preferred or equivalent experience.
• Significant experience supporting senior leaders at VP level and above.
• Proven track record of operating as a proactive executive partner, not solely an administrative support role.
• Experience navigating confidentiality, ambiguity, and competing priorities.
• Ability to travel infrequently for team or other meetings.
• This position is not offering any type of visa transfer or sponsorship now or in the future.

Benefits

• 401k Matching Program, 401k Plus Program, Discounted Stock Options, Tuition Reimbursement.
• Flexible Personal/Vacation Time Off, Paid Holidays, Flex Holidays, Paid Community Service Day.
• Medical, Dental, Vision, Health Savings Account (Employer Contribution of $500+ annually), Employee Assistance Program, Parental Leave, Fertility and Adoption Assistance Program.
• Hands-On, Team-Customized, Mentorship training.
• Discounts on fitness clubs, travel and more!