Estate Manager
Senior leadership for the private home, staff, vendors, budgets, and the day-to-day operation of one or more residences.
Executive Assistant
Hire an Executive Assistant
An exceptional executive assistant protects your focus and your time, managing the business side of your life so that your attention rests where it matters. Perla places assistants of this calibre, discreetly.
Core Responsibilities
What this role looks after, day to day
Calendar & Scheduling
Owning the diary, guarding the principal’s time and resolving the constant friction of competing priorities.
Travel Coordination
Arranging complex domestic and international travel, flights, ground transport, accommodation and itineraries.
Communications
Managing email and correspondence, drafting communications, and circulating meeting notes and follow-ups.
Briefings & Documents
Preparing the documents, agendas and briefings each meeting and engagement requires.
Liaison & Gatekeeping
Acting as a trusted first point of contact with boards, advisors, family office staff and external partners.
Expenses & Projects
Handling expenses, reporting and light project coordination with accuracy and discretion.
The Role
What an Executive Assistant Does
An executive assistant supports a principal’s professional life and business affairs, the counterpart to a personal assistant, who tends to home and family. Where the two roles overlap in a private household, the executive assistant’s centre of gravity is work.
The core of the role is the calendar. An executive assistant owns scheduling, guards the principal’s time, and resolves the constant friction of competing priorities. They coordinate complex domestic and international travel, flights, ground transport, accommodation and itineraries, and prepare the documents and briefings each engagement requires.
Beyond the diary, an executive assistant manages email and correspondence, drafts communications, takes and circulates meeting notes, and tracks follow-ups to completion. They liaise with boards, advisors, family office staff and external partners, handle expenses and light project coordination, and act as a trusted gatekeeper and first point of contact.
The Scope
Discretion & Judgement
The role rewards discretion, judgement and composure under pressure. A principal’s commercial interests, investments and confidential matters pass through an executive assistant’s hands daily.
Where business and private life are often closely entwined, the ability to hold confidence absolutely is non-negotiable. The best executive assistants combine the precision of a chief of staff with the tact and steadiness of a trusted confidant.
Why Perla
Why Hire Through Us
An executive assistant sits at the centre of your professional world, with sight of your schedule, your contacts and your confidential affairs. The placement must be exact.
Perla background-checks and reference-verifies every candidate, and we assess specifically for discretion, organisation and the poise to operate at a senior level. We look for assistants who have supported principals, founders or family offices, and who understand the weight of the information they hold.
Every conversation with us is confidential from the outset. Your name and your requirements remain private throughout.
What to Expect
Seasoned, Verified, Discreet
Expect seasoned assistants with substantial experience supporting senior executives, principals or family offices, verifiable references, and real fluency with calendars, travel and confidential workflows. Many bring backgrounds in private offices, professional services or high-level corporate support.
You can expect unwavering discretion. The executive assistants we place treat your business and personal affairs as strictly confidential.
Inside the Role
The quiet guardian of a principal’s time
A morning might begin before the principal is awake: reviewing the day’s schedule, confirming a car, and flagging the two decisions that need attention before a nine o’clock call. By mid-morning the executive assistant has rearranged a conflicting meeting, briefed an advisor, and quietly held back three requests that could wait.
The afternoon turns to travel: a multi-city trip that needs flights, accommodation, ground transport and a printed itinerary, each detail confirmed twice. In between, correspondence is answered, notes are circulated, and follow-ups are tracked to completion.
This is the rhythm of executive support done well, anticipatory, precise and entirely discreet, leaving the principal free to focus on the work only they can do.
Executive Assistants, Placed With Confidence
10+
Yrs avg. experience
4–6 wk
Typical time to place
100%
Background-checked
Global
Travel coordination
What Principals Say About Their Executive Assistants
All testimonials are anonymized and approved before publication; no client identities are ever disclosed.
Executive Assistant Searches
Searches we are running now
Executive Assistant
Questions, Answered
How much does it cost to hire an executive assistant?
Experienced executive assistants generally earn competitive six-figure compensation, scaled to seniority, travel demands and the complexity of the principal’s affairs. We share current market ranges during your first confidential conversation.
What is the difference between an executive assistant and a personal assistant?
An executive assistant supports a principal’s professional life and business affairs, the calendar, travel, correspondence and confidential matters, while a personal assistant tends to home and family life. Where the roles overlap in a private household, the executive assistant’s centre of gravity is work.
How does Perla vet executive assistants?
Every candidate is background-checked and reference-verified, and assessed specifically for discretion, organisation and the poise to operate at a senior level. We prioritise assistants who have supported principals, founders or family offices and understand the weight of the information they hold.
Can an executive assistant travel with the principal?
Yes. Many of the executive assistants we place travel regularly with principals to manage logistics, itineraries and daily needs on the road. We match specifically for travel flexibility when it matters to you.
How long does it take to place an executive assistant?
Most executive assistant searches move to a curated shortlist within a couple of weeks, with a placement typically confirmed inside four to six weeks. Timelines flex around your preferences and the seniority of the search.
Related Roles
An executive assistant is rarely staffed alone. You may also wish to consider a personal assistant to manage private and household life, an estate manager to oversee your residences, or a private chef for your home.
Personal Assistant
Trusted day-to-day support for a family's personal affairs, errands, travel, scheduling, and home logistics.
Private Chef
Bespoke daily dining and refined entertaining, tailored to the family's tastes, health, and lifestyle.
Nanny
Warm, professional, long-tenured childcare from caregivers who become a trusted part of family life.
Estate Manager
Senior leadership for the private home, staff, vendors, budgets, and the day-to-day operation of one or more residences.
Personal Assistant
Trusted day-to-day support for a family's personal affairs, errands, travel, scheduling, and home logistics.
Private Chef
Bespoke daily dining and refined entertaining, tailored to the family's tastes, health, and lifestyle.
Nanny
Warm, professional, long-tenured childcare from caregivers who become a trusted part of family life.
Request an Executive Assistant
When you are ready, begin quietly. Share your requirements through our confidential inquiry form and a Perla advisor will respond personally to discuss your needs and shortlist suitable candidates. Browse all private service roles, learn how to hire household staff, or review our placement process.