Executive Assistant

Executive Assistant needed on-site at a Law firm in Mid-town. $120K-$135K plus bonus. Previous experience as a Legal Secretary, Legal Assistant or Executive Assistant, ideally supporting a senior partner or regional lead in an international law firm or professional services environment.

Position Overview

The Executive Assistant (EA) will report to the Head of the New York Office, providing high-level administrative and organizational support to partners and lawyers to ensure efficient client service and day-to-day operations. This is an opportunity to join an international law firm in a fast-paced, collaborative and professional environment.

The successful candidate must have substantial EA experience within an international law firm based in the US, strong professionalism, discretion and commercial awareness, sound judgement, and a proactive approach that goes above and beyond while maintaining confidentiality.

This role requires five days per week in the office. The EA will serve as a key point of contact for clients and visitors, representing the office in a highly visible, client-facing capacity.

Roles and Responsibilities

1. Executive Support, Diary and Stakeholder Management

Proactively manage complex, high-volume partner diaries and coordinate internal and external meetings across multiple time zones, balancing competing priorities among senior stakeholders.

Act as a gatekeeper by triaging meeting requests, queries, issues and complaints, redirecting appropriately and resolving matters without unnecessary involvement from the Head.

Prepare agendas, attend meetings with or chaired by partners, take detailed notes and maintain action logs, and follow up with action owners to ensure timely completion.

Support strategic and commercial decision-making by preparing briefing materials, summaries, background information and data.

Anticipate information needs and coordinate with Finance, Business Development (BD), HR, Compliance and Business Operations teams ahead of meetings and decisions.

Assist the Office Manager with ad hoc duties, including greeting clients, preparing refreshments and setting up meeting rooms.

2. Travel, Logistics and Trip Optimization

Arrange complex international travel from start to finish, including multi-destination itineraries, transport, accommodation and airport transfers.

Manage visas, permits and travel documentation, allowing sufficient lead time and meeting jurisdiction-specific requirements.

Optimize travel by combining client and internal meetings, events and business development objectives into efficient itineraries.

Coordinate with colleagues across offices and business functions to ensure a joined-up firm approach and maximize the value of each trip.

Handle last-minute travel and scheduling changes calmly, flexibly and efficiently.

Prepare post-trip reports covering meetings, outcomes, opportunities and agreed next steps for relevant stakeholders.

Promptly schedule, track and progress all travel-related follow-up meetings and actions to completion.

3. Marketing and Business Development Support

Manage speaking engagements and thought-leadership commitments, tracking article and submission deadlines, coordinating research, and drafting panel questions, speaker scripts and other briefing materials.

Arrange preparatory and briefing meetings for panels, speaking engagements and publications to ensure partners are fully prepared.

Liaise with the Knowledge team and other stakeholders to obtain research and background materials, ensuring contributions are accurate, relevant and high quality.

Register partners for events and prepare comprehensive pre-event briefings covering attendees and engagement objectives.

Work with partners and Business Development teams to maintain up-to-date client target lists and track target status.

Follow up on actions and deliverables assigned to relationship partners, ensuring progress and completion.

Regularly update partners on progress, upcoming actions and delays against agreed objectives.

4. Billing, Finance and Expenses

Manage the complete monthly billing process for partners' matters, maintaining detailed knowledge of client fee agreements, caps and billing arrangements.

Prepare draft bills for approval, liaise with Finance, and issue approved invoices in clients' preferred formats with appropriate covering correspondence.

Coordinate client billing queries with Finance and partners.

Oversee partner expense submissions, ensuring accurate descriptions, correct coding and appropriate budget-holder approval in accordance with firm policy.

5. CRM and Relationship Management

Maintain partner contact and relationship data in InterAction, accurately recording activities, meetings and relationship notes.

Help partners maintain effective relationships with other law firms and referrers, supporting collaboration across jurisdictions.

Track inbound and outbound referrals between the firm and external law firms, ensuring accurate records and monitoring progress.

Ensure referral relationships remain active through appropriate follow-up on agreed actions and opportunities.

Skills and Experience

Previous experience as a Legal Secretary, Legal Assistant or Executive Assistant, ideally supporting a senior partner or regional lead in an international law firm or professional services environment.

Demonstrated experience managing complex diaries and scheduling across multiple time zones for senior stakeholders.

Strong experience arranging complex international travel, including multi-destination itineraries, visas and short-notice changes.

Experience with legal billing and financial processes, including preparing draft bills, liaising with Finance and following up on client payments.

Experience supporting people and performance review processes, including scheduling meetings, preparing documentation and assisting with system requirements.

Experience coordinating with HR, Finance, Business Development, Compliance and Business Operations teams, including tracking actions effectively.

Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office, including Word, Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint, plus experience with practice management, CRM, document management and expense management systems.

Preferred Skills

Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to present complex information clearly and concisely and draft correspondence and reports on behalf of senior leaders.

Proven ability to build and maintain effective relationships with a wide range of stakeholders.

Flexible, adaptable and resilient, with the ability to respond effectively to changing priorities in a fast-paced environment.

Highly organized, detail-oriented and skilled in proofreading, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and tight deadlines.

Professional, proactive and client-service-oriented, with sound judgement and discretion when handling confidential and sensitive information.